Teaching K-12 Science and Engineering During a Crisis (2020) / Chapter Skim
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7 Supporting Collaborations and Leveraging Partnerships
7 Supporting Collaborations and Leveraging Partnerships
Pages 101-112
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From page 101... ...
How can teachers be given the time and resources to collaborate and support each other? Teachers, like students, need opportunities to learn over time and to get feedback that helps them grow professionally.1 In spring 2020, very few school systems had the time to set up ways for administrators to support teachers by observing their virtual classes or providing feedback on their lesson plans, but more schools and districts are making plans to incorporate these kinds of opportu nities in the coming months, with a focus on teacher learning rather than teacher evaluation.
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From page 102... ...
BOX 7-1 A VIRTUAL TEACHER LEARNING COMMUNITY Seven new and experienced secondary science teachers participated in an online teacher learning community called the virtual teacher learning community (or vTLC) to sup port their codesign of formative assessment activities around modeling.
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From page 103... ...
They spent time over many weeks deepening their understanding and working together to figure out what application of high-quality learning and teaching principles could look like in their remote classrooms. In addition to PLCs, teachers will need multiple, ongoing opportunities for professional learning to help them support an effective transition to the new demands of changing instructional models for remote, hybrid, and other new school models.
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From page 104... ...
For example, teachers in elementary grades are more likely to need more time to engage in professional learning related to several different academic disciplines than middle and high school teachers. Teacher professional learning in the near future will be conducted remotely, giving teachers the opportunity to experience instruction in the ways their stu dents have been experiencing it.4 WestEd's K–12 Alliance5 did virtual professional learning for teachers in summer 2020 and found that many of the same principles about how to engage students virtually (see Chapter 4)
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From page 105... ...
worked with NSTA and NSELA to produce a series of brief guidance documents to aid science education practitioners in their planning.9 Similarly, teachers throughout the country have been connecting regularly to share ideas and resources related to teaching science and engineering during the pandemic environment through both synchronous and asynchronous Twitter chats at #NGSSchat and #NGSSslowchat. A recent study of the #NGSSchat activity 6For more information, see Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards.
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From page 106... ...
I think my strongest tool will be to have my students white board their ideas often. I think Google Jamboard might be the way to go due to the sharing features.
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From page 107... ...
They also have the opportunity to be a part of a community that is larger than their own district or state, and to see that teachers like them are struggling with similar issues and figuring out solutions to common problems. Most school systems throughout the country are currently working to implement Framework-based standards, so there are likely many shared goals and shared measures of success that can facilitate collaborations.11 Sharing ideas 11For more information, see Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards.
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14For more information, see Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards. Available: https://www.nap.edu/read/18802/chapter/9#71.
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From page 109... ...
For example, Thorne Nature Experience16 is providing child care and support for small groups of 1st- to 5th-grade students enrolled in Boulder Valley School District to help them with their remote learning activities. The site is working with the school district to identify low-income and high-needs students to participate, and the organization will provide access to wireless internet, food, and school support for students.
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From page 110... ...
Another effective model is that of community schools,17 which lever age community partnerships to organize relationships and resources between a school and its community, promoting equitable outcomes in health, education, and employment. During the pandemic, these kinds of partnerships have focused on opening channels of communications between families and schools, gathering data on family needs, helping connect families with food, broadband access, and 17See http://www.communityschools.org/.
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From page 111... ...
In addition, many of these partners can contribute to instructional activities to help deepen student knowledge of science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas by connecting content to real-world phenomena and problems.19 Some families and community organizations might not immediately understand how they can be helpful to schools, and they may have been historically discounted by school systems. They might need targeted, personal communications and invitations to share their expertise.
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From page 112... ...
• Invite community partners to help brainstorm and implement solutions to chal lenges in the school system. 112 Teaching K–12 Science and Engineering During a Crisis
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