Entry #33: It's time for science fair and
some reflections on science teaching

The countdown has begun in earnest and all the telltale signs are in plain sight. Teachers are noticeably tired and the kids are more than a little wired. The lengths of shirts, skirts and shorts seem to rise exponentially as the temperature inches higher. It's definitely time to reissue the school's dress code.

It's hard to stay focused on rigorous instruction and high standards when you're hit with one battery of tests after another which completely disrupt your schedule. It's equally difficult to stay on track if your room is sealed, the mercury hits 85 degrees and the air conditioning is on the fritz...grr.

It's kind of funny though that the same kids who were groaning about the heat in my room at 2:30 were able to rally and stay after school until 4:30 for our "Ask the Girls" and "Smart Alex" clubs. I guess it gets back to the whole issue of motivation and ownership.

Last week in "Ask the Girls" we started building cars. We're using balsa wood, saws, hand drills, glue and other materials in our LINX kits. We finished our frames today and added axles and wheels. Next week we'll start building the bodies and then we can get creative as we personalize our decoration of each car.

I had twenty girls today, mostly from grade six. Most of them had never worked with hand tools before and there was a real sense of purpose and accomplishment in the air. There was also a good deal of laughing, some singing and a fair amount of good natured teasing.

There weren't any real put downs and nobody gave up or refused to try, even though the equipment and task were pretty foreign. This experience was in sharp contrast to those I had earlier today. In club, the girls want to take risks. They want to participate. They want to succeed.

In my classes, there are lots of kids who have clearly given up and decided that just passing is fine.

Science fair: going through the motions

Take our school science fair which is scheduled for May 19th. Students have been anxious to use tech time to work on their boards, which are due Monday, and I have agreed to suspend my regularly scheduled activities for the last three days.

Despite the willingness of myself and most of my colleagues to assist our students, many are just going through the motions.

The science projects were selected by the students in the Fall. In most cases, the kids were free to choose their own project and their team. Our staff worked pretty cooperatively to support the requirements for student research and experimental design.

This year our schedule stretched from Sept. to May in direct response to previous complaints that our process was too hurried to be meaningful. ( We used to run the process from Sept. to January)

As the tech teacher and a former science teacher, I opened my classroom and my resources to all takers, staff and students. I have club every morning and my phone number is posted and distributed.

Although the projects are due on Monday, in many cases they are incomplete or done in a haphazard way. The majority of the boards I've seen are sloppy, and the science behind them is sloppier still.

I am very concerned about this situation. As science leader, I have invested a lot of time and energy into trying to make the process rigorous, but user-friendly.

I have argued against assigned, one-person projects. I have encouraged a model which promoted an inquiry-based, cooperative approach where students would generate problems or questions which they cared about.

My room is filled with books like, "The Secret Life of Cosmetics" and "The Science of Sports" as well as a wide range of magazines, encyclopedias and tradebooks. Kids are able to access the internet every morning before school and usually during class.

Other teachers have less extensive collections, but generally pitch in to help with the projects. Given all of these supports, why are kids so disengaged? Why are so many merely going through the motions?

Is this year really qualitatively different or am I just feeling a sense of loss because I'm on the fringe? Part of the problem may be attributed to staff turnover, but I don't think that's the whole answer.

A science department problem

We have a cyclical problem in our science department. New folks come in, they're nervous about teaching science, but they do it. After a year they switch disciplines and another new crew moves into position and so, on and on, we go.

This year, due to assignment changes and or promotions, a handful of our most experienced science teachers are out of the classroom. Our absence has shifted the responsibilty for our day-to-day program onto the shoulders of quite a few new teachers, some of whom, as I outlined above, would rather be teaching something, make that, anything, else.

In my opinion, lots of these folks are good teachers, but I question whether it's possible to really engage kids in a topic which you either don't like, or feel unprepared to teach.

I always knew I wasn't a scientist, but I thought being an enthusiast made up for it. I believed science was a place to explore and learn together, so I wasn't uptight about not knowing an answer or answers. I'd go to a book or the web and we'd be off and running.

In the meantime, I took every class and workshop which the District offered and joined the science teachers' organization locally and nationally.

I was excited about science. I think I was able to share that enthusiasm pretty effectively. I think my kids left me with a decent understanding of some basic science and a readiness for further exploration. In fact my primary goal was a desire to convince my kids that science was for everybody and not just for "white males in lab coats, with broken glasses, bad hair and pocket protectors."

So why do most other people think they have to be experts? Where is it written that anyone can teach reading and writing, social studies and even a little math, but only weirdos and or geniuses can teach science?

Is it this same attitude toward science as the domain of "weirdos and geniuses" which stalls the kids? I don't get it, but then, I'm joked about as one of the weirdos.

We don't use a science textbook

Is it the subject matter, the content, or the mess of teaching a hands-on curriculum which scares folks off...? I know from experience that most teachers want a textbook and we don't use one.

We couldn't find a book, a series, that did it all for middle school science. I/we looked at lots of texts. We went to more than a few publisher's dinners and workshops. I sat on the District's committee which evaluates resources for science instruction and while I saw a unit here and a set of activities there, I did not see a complete package which seemed appropriate.

Last year AAAS joined with Project 2061 to confirm my suspicions that there was not a single program which adequately met the needs of an effective Middle School Science Program. I felt vindicated on the one hand, but on the other, there's still the problem of teachers, who feel like they're left in the lurch.

I know my intentions were correct. I didn't want to see the kids taught science from the book, especially since the books weren't that good. Using a book seemed to exemplify the "mile wide and an inch deep" method of covering the science curriculum.

However, if not using a book, has led to increased fear and trepidation on the part of teachers or should I say, a lack of ownership with no desire to become a buyer, then how have the kids been served?

Next year we are going to work with Johns Hopkins to offer teachers more training in the use of science kits, that our school will provide, but I worry that folks will still look to transfer out of the discipline after one year. How can we cut through this science anxiety so that our teachers believe that science is for all people?

Is the answer more science majors who teach?

I've heard it said that while nobody boasts that they cannot read or write, it is perfectly acceptable to admit that you hate math or cannot balance your checkbook. Women in particular will admit to rampant math anxiety.

Is the scenario even worse in the fields of science and technology? Are we perpetuating an economic and cultural divide not just in the area of technology, but in terms of science in general? If most adults, especially women, actively campaign against participating in science is it any wonder that our kids don't look forward to science projects?

Is the answer that more science majors need to become teachers? Do adults really need to be science specialists at a college level to teach kids the scientific method and expose them to a general scientific overview of the world?

Given our pay scale and the salaries available in the business world, why would science majors want to teach? My step-daughter is graduating on Memorial Day with a chemistry degree. She starts work in June doing AIDS research in Chicago. Her starting salary, benefits and working conditions will be well beyond those of an experienced teacher and yet she says may want to teach at some point.

She recognizes that she was taught by too many men in a style that was not welcoming. In other words, if she teaches, the decision will be largely social or political. If she teaches, it will be at the secondary level or above.

As an educator,I hope she becomes a teacher. As a parent, I'm backing off and letting her decide freely.

As a middle school teacher, I'm worried about who will hook our kids while they're young. Who will teach them when it's still cool to be curious? Who will be willing, as Ms. Frizzle says, "to make a mess and take chances" in order to find answers? Who will even encourage them to ask the questions, if they're not in the books?


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