Last year we were excited to develop a Science Vision for TBS with the work of faculty and parenting adults. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, I encourage you to–it’s an inspiring document!
Sima Misra, Director of Teaching & Learning
In order to make progress towards this vision, and to better use technology to enable students to “engage a changing world” and strengthen connections within our community, the school asked for funds from our community through the 2016 “Count Me In” program.
These generous gifts made possible further professional development from BaySci at the Lawrence Hall of Science for all K-8th science teachers in August and again later this year. Our ongoing partnership with BaySci has helped us dig deeper into the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and prompt students to do more “figuring out” than “learning about” in science. This year, teachers learned ways to help students use evidence and reasoning to develop respectful argumentation in the classroom, an important skill for developing ideas and learning to think and act like a scientist.
These funds also allowed the purchase of Full Option Science System (FOSS) kits for each of the elementary classrooms, to help align one of their 4-8 week science units to the NGSS:
- Kindergarten: Forces & Motion
- 1st/2nd: Plants & Animals as well as Solids & Liquids (for both classes)
- 3rd: Water & Climate
- 4th/5th: Energy as well as Earth & Sun (for both classes)
To further this work, this year our new Faculty Science & Technology committee, chaired by Middle School Teacher Loa Ortiz, includes nine faculty and administrators from each campus and each division to make progress on two important goals:
- Align the TBS science curriculum scope & sequence to the NGSS by comparing the curricula and supporting teachers in updating at least one science unit.
- Study technology education at TBS, create a Technology Vision statement, and develop a scope and sequence for technology education based on best practices from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
Teachers from the Science & Technology committee have worked with the rest of the faculty to create a detailed document with all of the K-8th grade NGSS performance expectations and the current TBS science learning outcomes, to identify gaps and redundancies, and to decide what will be taught when. The Professional Development and FOSS kits purchased by 2016 “Count Me In” funds have provided important support and guidance in the classrooms, and next year we plan to purchase more FOSS kits, including a Middle School kit.
To work towards the second goal, around technology education, faculty and staff on the Science and Technology Committee surveyed the faculty in January using the ISTE standards to find out when skills were taught and whether they were necessary at each level: Early Childhood, K-2nd, 3rd-5th, and Middle School. Using that data and the standards, our team, led by EdTech Specialist Susan Winesmith, has begun drafting a scope and sequence for technology education at TBS that will ensure all students are introduced to basic technology skills at age-appropriate times so that they are confident and competent by the time they graduate 8th grade. The team is also drafting a vision statement for technology use at TBS, after researching similar statements at other schools and analyzing the survey data from our teachers.
Of course much of technology education depends on devices. And although we had class sets of Chromebooks in the Middle school and a few iPads, 2016 “Count Me In” gifts funded 26 Chromebooks for the 3rd-5th grade and 6 more iPads for the K-8th students, which have been used in a multitude of ways to broaden and deepen student learning. Having a full class set of Chromebooks facilitated special keyboarding and digital citizenship lessons from our EdTech Specialist; student research using online databases in Info Literacy with guidance from our Librarian; and the opportunity to more easily write and revise written work with their classroom teachers. Our elementary Spanish teachers have used Chromebooks to allow students to listen to and read Spanish books, for example, when rotating through stations. Likewise, iPads are used by students in many ways: to collect data and document learning on science field trips, create stop motion films in Middle School Art, learn using educational apps in classrooms or the Learning Support office, make videos to educate others, or capture student-submitted work for the school newspaper.
Another way we would like students to use technology is to allow them to connect more with others, for example, in partnerships with students at other Ashoka changemaker schools. Strengthening connections for others who are not physically present can also make it possible to be more inclusive, for example, for parenting adults or a student who can’t be at a presentation of learning for some reason. Last year’s “Count Me In” funds are paying for the Livestreaming of Halloween and Lunar New Year parades at the Early Childhood Campus, Spring Sings at both campuses, Graduation, and our end-of-year assembly. These opportunities help us to feel more connected to each other in our TBS community.
Changing the way we teach science and use technology for education is vital, to prepare our students for the changing world they are growing into. Faculty are committed to making these changes, and we are grateful for the generosity of the TBS community and “Count Me In” in providing the professional development, curriculum and materials, and devices and technology that have facilitated our growth as a learning institution.
Click here to learn more about this year’s Count Me In initiative, called “Seen & Celebrated,” supporting identity, diversity, and belonging at The Berkeley School.
Sima Misra
K-8 Director of Teaching & Learning
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