The Inconsistent Blogger is Back...With Random Thoughts

My thought was to rename this blog "The Inconsistent Blogger". New ideas always pop into my head but finding the time to post is nearly impossible.  Today I will post some random thoughts and hopefully develop some of these ideas soon.

I still need to tell you about inquiry science. The students learn more in a rigorous, thought provoking way than in any other way I have ever seen.  Here is a link to the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry.  They can explain it very well.

Inquiry can be done successfully in math, science, reading, social studies, writing, and probable any discipline.  It begins with having questions or a desire to learn something new.  Just think about how many questions come to mind every day about the world around you.

Right now I am so disappointed with the state of science in Connecticut and in the U.S.
Science is treated as a closest, not a discipline. 

You can teach reading, writing, math, social studies, social skills, technology, and engineering through science. Can you do the same through the others? 

Bobby Valentine will be a good fit for the Red Sox.  Everyday will sure be fun!

I am quite impressed with the professors at Sacred Heart University's Farrington School of Education.  They really make you learn in a rigorous, thought provoking, engaging way.

After last year's debacle, I officially passed on raising the trout this year.  (See last year)

Giving specific effective feedback really helps to improve student learning. 

Atul Gawande deserves the Time Man of the Year Award.  Just read his stuff.  He is far ahead of his time.

Making students go back to their work really helps to improve student learning.

I have heard more lightbulbs go off then any other year of my teaching career. 

Cognitive Coaching training helps people become better teachers.

Get sleep. Eat right. Laugh a lot.  This will make everyday better.

You learn something new about people you already know all of the time. 

Have fun.

Another Week of Science Inquiry... Want to Know?

You must be on the edge of your seat waiting to find out all of the fascinating details of the week.  You will not be able to move on until you know what this group of teachers from Danbury, New Milford, and Newtown accomplished over the past week.  

Their work was so important they were visited by the Danbury News Times.

Their work was so regarded that they were visited by Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Their work was so exciting they landed on the front page of the Danbury News Times on August 16th.

What did this group of teachers do over the past week?

Want to know?

Well to understand you need to go back about a year ago.  Back to last August when they first met for a similar week long experience.

But that won't help because you need to go a bit further back to when the seeds of thought for this group began to be formulated.

Are you more confused?  Do you have more questions?  Do you want answers to those questions?

That is what inquiry is all about.

I will tell you.

Just not right now.

Feel free to ask.  I will let you know soon enough.  You just may be able to find out for yourself.

It is Sunday

A long way back Philly broke the summer up into parts, like one long weekend.  The part left in June was like a Friday night.  A little chunk, a break away from the daily grind.  July is Saturday.   A whole month to enjoy all that summer brings.  August...Sunday, with all of the anticipation that leads to the work week ahead or in an educator's case a school year ahead.

We are now fully into Sunday.  The thoughts of the new year begin to creep into our minds with all that a new year brings. A routine is good. The excitement of what will be is good too.

Can we hold onto Sunday just a little bit longer though?

The CMT Results are in and...They did great, again!

Just a quick blog to report the great scores again for the students at my school.  The students and teachers deserve a bit of recognition for their continued improvement every year.  All of the teachers from kindergarten through whatever grade have helped the students to learn and make the growth year after year.  It is only one test, but it is the only comparative test we have until there is a national curriculum and national test.

Let

Percent of students at or above goal:

Grade 5

Math         94.2

Reading    85.4

Writing     91.5

Grade 6        

Math         94.9
Reading    95.6
Writing     88.7

These scores have basically gone up every year and are far above the state averages.  I won't bore you with all of the information.  It is unfortunate that the press messes it all up and finds only bad things to say for the most part.

We should be proud of our students.

(I apologize for only focusing on two grades.)

Moby-Duck, A Great Summer Read

Anyone interested in inquiry, science, adventure, toys, teaching, the environment, high seas, mysteries, and basically anything else will need to pick up this book for a great summer read.

I just picked up the book Moby-Duck, by Donovan Hohn from my local library.  I was intrigued by the story since Eric Carle's Ten Little Rubber Ducks is based on the same topic.

A container ship south of the Aleutians loses two containers in a vicious storm on January  10, 1992.

One paragraph from the prologue sucked me in and I know I won't be able to put this book down.

"Follow one line of inquiry and it will lead you to another, and another. Spot a yellow duck dropped atop the seaweed at the tide line, ask yourself where it came from, and the next thing you know you're way out at sea, no land in sight, dog-paddling around in mysteries four miles deep.  You're wondering when and why yellow ducks became icons of childhood.  You want to know what it's like inside the toy factories of Guangdong.  You're marveling at the scale of humanity's impact on this terraqueous globe and at the oceanic magnitude of your own ignorance.  You're giving the plight of the Laysan albatross many moments of thought."




If this isn't pure real life inquiry, I'm not sure what is.  It sure is a great example for teachers of inquiry science.

Happy Reading.

Here is a link to an NPR story on the topic

Oh That State Budget

860-566-4840

The Connecticut budget situation has now begun to severely affect the lives of many children across the state.  Funding for most inter-destrict grants has been eliminated at this point due to the ongoing budget negotiations.  This means that many students who have an opportunity to attend a camp that provides the experience of hiking, beach activities, a trip to Mystic or the Bronx Zoo, a visit to Talcott Mountain Science Center, along with many other fun and educational activities will not be able have camp.  This adds up to 600 students just for the organization ctscience4kids.org that I work for.

Many of the students that attend these camps are unable to pay for camp.  These camps are virtually free for all who attend.  Now these kids will not have camp.  What a disgrace.

Please call Governor Malloy's office to express your concern that students attending inter-district camps will be unable to have a once in a lifetime experience that many of the children could not otherwise afford.  It is not too late for them to hear the message.

The phone number is 860-566-4840.

Thank you.

A Workshop Week and Then Some!

My fellow DESICA science cohorts and I have spent the last week in professional development, with two more days to go this week and five more days to go in August.

Why in the world do we do this to ourselves?

We drag out of bed in the summer pre-dawn hours to trek across the state to Hartford or Danbury.  Is this what we had in mind when we first became teachers?  No. Summers off with days on the beach, watching the sunset in the evening by some dock of the bay wasting time was more of what was going through my mind. I think we ask "why" basically everyday.  None of us seem to answer the question because we all know and understand without saying.

Most of the presentations and activities are excellent, some are not.  That is true for any type of professional development though.  Overall we have learned a great deal about teaching and learning and have made incremental and in some cases vast changes in the way we instruct on a daily basis.  This goes not just for science, but math, reading, writing, and social studies as well. We have developed connections and resources that make our jobs so much easier.  We have support from colleagues and peers from other towns in Connecticut.   We are more confident in our daily instruction.

So back to the original question.  Why do we do this to ourselves in the summer when we don't have to be attending professional development?

Beneath the chatter of being tired, mileage on our cars, missing our families, or plain old goofing around we all have a deep unspoken understanding that we are there to help improve the science instruction in our schools.  If we can begin to improve our instruction in our classroom, then begin to help others in our school, we will systemically be able to improve science instruction and learning for all of the children in our schools.  If this can be done in science, it can be done in all the other subjects.  Slowly but surely I think we can get there.  It is all for the kids!

This is why we go.  Even though it would be nice to sleep past 6:00 am some day.

Happy Independence Day.