Comments on: Students Need Time to Define http://www.middleweb.com/2806/lesson-design-defining-the-problem/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lesson-design-defining-the-problem All About the Middle Grades Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:19:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Anne Jolly http://www.middleweb.com/2806/lesson-design-defining-the-problem/#comment-388 Anne Jolly Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:07:09 +0000 http://www.middleweb.com/?p=2806#comment-388 I am registered for all of the NGSS webinars that NSTA is doing. Are you one of the hundreds who have registered for those? I’m blown away by what some of the presenters are showing us happening in science classrooms where these standards are implemented. Clearly, the most important support component for doing this correctly is time. Instead of two days, kids get 5 or 6 days to identify and define a problem, brainstorm and test multiple solutions, construct models and revise, and muck around in the thinking that goes into real world problem solving.

That’s where I think you’re right about the NGSS helping – if a state or district adopts the NGSS standards and implements these with fidelity, the issue of time to engage in engineering solutions will have to be part of that. How long do you think it’ll take for the huge status quo system we have now to make that turn?

]]> By: Caroline Goode http://www.middleweb.com/2806/lesson-design-defining-the-problem/#comment-330 Caroline Goode Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:08:57 +0000 http://www.middleweb.com/?p=2806#comment-330 The dilemma you describe is do real, Anne, and even after 30 years in middle school science teaching and lesson development, I am unable to find the time for students to dig into the “need and define the problem”. Perhaps the NGSS focus on bringing engineering into our science curricula will help?

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