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“It was cool to see NGSS through a different, refreshed, and relevant lens. I’m looking forward to learning more about how else to manage the shift to NGSS, but specifically unpacking the PEs, SEPs, and CCCs and how it affects teaching with cultural relevance and socio-emotional learning.”

“This [way of teaching] needs to start at an early age. I wish every teacher could take this course to truly understand the importance of teaching science AND that it is equally important as language arts and math. In the long run, this would affect how people understand and question what they hear in the media.”

“My moment today was the graph from Inequality to Equality to Equity to Justice. Just realizing that myself, as well as most of my colleagues, have subconsciously settled on reaching equity as the pinnacle instead of also growing beyond that towards justice was enlightening. Also being provided the words and visual understanding to not only move myself forward, but to also positively engage the movement with my colleagues.”

“As I begin to look at my curriculum again, I have a new perspective on sense making.  Being able to identify sources of confusion across a story line and time can only be done by listening to student voices.  Allowing students to ask the questions and be keepers of the knowledge is key to their understanding of how scientists work.”

“I really enjoyed being able to think about a lesson that I was proud of. Being able to describe the idea behind the lesson and how students did with it allowed me to reflect on what I did (or didn’t do) to prepare my students for the activity. Then, when we came back and assessed ourselves on whether or not it met the 4 aspects of learning science was a mind-blown moment. Here was a lesson that my students and I thoroughly enjoyed, but I could only confidently say that it met 2/4 of those aspects discussed. It was definitely a good reminder that we (and our lessons) always have room for growth and improvement.”

“My biggest take away from the program was how we position students when we teach. They are not empty buckets that need to be filled, but rather have knowledge in which we assist in guiding and promoting to higher levels.”

“I think the biggest lightbulb moment for me was being given an explicit way to talk about “positioning” students to engage in the nature of science and seeing teacher tools. Prior to this, I had intuitions or tendencies to seek to do this, but I didn’t have the words or the clarity of what it looks like when well played out.  As a result, my attempts to position the students in such a way, were often a bit disjointed or messy.  It is definitely something I am looking forward to growing in.”

“I really enjoyed gaining a better understanding of what it means to teach with anchoring/investigative phenomena as well as learning about the resources available.”

“People say things all the time which unveil their values and beliefs. But it takes time, and the discretionary space, to continue the conversation and ensure all parties are feeling heard, valued, and respected. I’m looking forward to implementing a few practices into my teaching this school year and coming back and talking with my colleagues about how it all went, and where to go from there.”

“My light bulb moment today was about the research behind social emotional learning. As a classroom teacher for 17 years, I feel that I have learned this by trial and error on my own.  Some teachers are better and more attentive to students needs than others.  Emphasized that school culture needs to reflect the research to help students learn.”

“I appreciated taking the time to take a step back and reflect on my teacher beliefs. So much of my worry/concern about this upcoming year is students not being able to build community like they could in the classroom. And now I realize this is because one of my biggest teacher beliefs is that my students are assets, and I want them to be able to see themselves and each other as assets.” 

“Another light bulb moment that I had was when we were reading about the background for the Framework. The Scientific Method has been emphasized as a large part of science learning for over 70 years. 70 YEARS! That is so much unlearning that we as educators have to do. And it honestly makes me feel a little better when I’m not able to “do“ NGSS correctly right away. We have just been conditioned for so long that science is a linear process. I’m excited to continue this journey of unlearning with this group!”

“My lightbulb moment was in regards to implicit bias. I learned that it’s not about whether or not one holds implicit bias, but rather how we can all go about uncovering our implicit biases. I learned that the effort to do so is an ongoing PROCESS, not a one-time fix.”

“My lightbulb moment today was  about personal beliefs and how we can change them as we learn more. I’m looking forward to creating a more shared understanding of NGSS.”

“The info learned from this program will come through as a lead my science department and student teacher in challenging them to create better classroom environments that value equity and the SEP’s the way the framework intended.”