How Can We Make Changes In Science Education Due To The Instructional Shifts Of NGSS?

    I recently begin attending meetings with a group of awesome science teachers and instructional coaches I met via Twitter called Teaching with Ambitious Science Teaching & OpenSciEd Discussion Group. I was thrilled and flattered when I received the invite. I saw this as another way to educate myself about the recent instructional shifts of NGSS and learn more about instructional coaching since I am considering taken this path in my teaching career. This particular meeting was "Potluck" night. It was an open discussion. I found it refreshing. It was refreshing to know other educators are struggling with the anchoring phenomena routine like I currently do. I also learned not to rush the transitions, because it may be years before implementation. Here are my key takeaways from our "potluck" meeting tonight.

Key Takeaways:

1. Have an implementation plan in place when making transitions.

• Your science team, school, or district should have a vision of what NGSS should look like locally.
• Implement checkpoints. Where should we be in the process in 3 months, 6 months, and years later?

2.  Don't pressure yourself to do everything at once.

• If you try to make the switch all at once, you hinder the learning process for yourself.
• Start with one step in the process. I would suggest the anchoring phenomena routine. I found that one to be the most difficult.

3.  Administrators need to support their science team in the transition.  This transition is difficult for teachers who like to front-load vocabulary and believe in using a science textbook.

• Administrators should educate themselves about the process. Go to high-quality curriculum websites, for example, OpenSciEd, Amplify, and attend professional development. They have videos to assist teachers in what the process should look like in the classroom.
• Make changes to ALL the documents, including the curriculum map templates to reflect changes in science instruction.

4. Have someone to point out when "deep science is happening" when it is possible.

• For myself, this would most likely be my paraprofessional. She always gives me feedback about our lessons. 

5.  Resistant teachers stop fighting the instructional shift and EMBRACE IT.  Usually, the resistant teachers are the ones who fear the changes taking place because of their lack of knowledge about the process. The solution: embrace the process and attend professional development.

• I would choose a professional development that complements my learning style. For example, I would benefit from professional development that breaks the storyline process down into different sessions and uses different roles (student and teacher hats).

6.  Stop panicking! You got this! I believe in you!! 😁 Remember this is a learning process. You can't master everything at once.

7.  Be forgiving. I learned this when I first started teaching. No one is perfect.

8.  The science team HAS to be on one accord.  

• Science teams need to meet often to discuss changes. What is working? What is not working? It doesn't have to be in person. Schedule a Zoom or Google Meet video conference meeting for 30 minutes.  

Finally this is for the science teacher that has been pushing the transition since it has began.  GOOD JOB.  I know you probably felt as if you are on island, and you continued to make every effort to use these shifts in the classroom.  I appreciated you.