Written Assignment #1 TEMPLATE, EDU 361

Formatting Requirements: Single Space, 12 font, Times New Roman Font

#1 Next Generation Science Standards Impressions **REQUIRED**
What is your impression?
I really like what I have seen from looking through the Next Generation Science Standards because
they require much more than memorization and simple answers. The standards are very thorough and
explain each aspect of what exactly the students should know.
Does what you see here surprise you, why or why not?
In comparison to the CCSS I am relatively surprised by how thorough it is, but I'm not at all surprised
that they are thriving for all students to know more in depth information about the content. It is
important for students to be able to explain why or how something is the way that it is so that they can
connect that knowledge to other areas. Example, if students know and understand the Earth's rotation,
they would be able to answer questions about the tides and why we have them on earth. By being
knowledgable about the Earth's rotation, students are able to explain many other concepts that have to
do with what things happen the way that they do on earth.
Is it like what you experienced in your elementary science experience explain your answer?
The new science standards, from what I remember, are similar to what I experienced in elementary
school. Before I got to high school, learning included a lot of experience-based instruction that enabled
us to see, feel, and hear things as they are. Learning this way helped me to understand things in another
light and was much more beneficial to my knowledge than learning through a lecture. As far as the
expectations in the new standards, I can't remember what exactly I learned in elementary school or how
everything was taught, but I do think that they were a lot less strict than the CCSS we have now.
How do you currently or plan to in the future, use the Next Generation Science Standards in your
elementary school classroom?
I plan on being a much more inquiry-based instructor who allows students all of the opportunities they
need for research, exploration, and observation. I will come up with unit topics based on the standards
and allow my students to explore based on what is required for them to know. Assessments will be used
for the students to illustrate their full understanding of a topic and most answers will include them
writing their findings.
#2 Article Review/Critque**REQUIRED**
A. Title of Article

In Step with the New Science Standards, Educational Leadership, (2015)

B. Summary of the article: in your own words, highlight as accurately as

possible the full sense of the original article, but in a much more condensed
form. Focus on each of the sections and emphasize the main points and
supporting details of the article.

The article shares information about the new science standards for elementary and high school use.
Included in the article are different ways that the new science standards will change the ways of
teaching and learning for schools who adapt them, as well as five recommendations for success.
It begins by stressing the importance of making 'higher-order thinking the norm' (pg. 17). This means
that students will be engaging in science by doing; modeling, designing, and analyzing. The new
generation standards include new performance expectations that gear learning into a complex process
that will be gained through a period of exploring, studying and investigating. This is different from the
former standards in that students will not be able to achieve these expectations in a day or two of class
time. Another benefit of the new science standards is that specific practices are incorporated into the
concepts that are being studied. This way, students will be able to conceptualize the meaning of a
concept and how it relates to their investigations. While it isn't up to the standards to provide a
curriculum, there are suggestions on strategies for teaching in which will promote successful learning
for all students. Inquiry-based learning is encouraged here because of it's strengths within classrooms of
all kinds. It has been shown in a five-year study that 'students of teachers who focus heavily on inquirybased instruction significantly outperform similar students in classrooms where the teacher uses more
traditional forms of instruction' (pg. 19). This type of teaching has many benefits aside from the
findings of the study mentioned above; it provides opportunities to more differentiated instruction,
provides a strategy to reengage those who previously failed to see purpose and meaning in school, and
it fosters mastery of more advanced, higher-order thinking skills (pg. 19). The final point the article
makes on the changes that will occur for teaching and learning these new standards, are the assessment
boundaries that are provided. These assessment boundaries are there to help provide a boundary and
guide the depth of learning. Instead of promoting rote memorization, teachers should include
assessment that asks their students to illustrate their understanding through different perspectives.
The five recommendations for success include; 'moving rocks not boulders,' 'offer a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich instead of Brussels sprouts,' 'muck around, and then make sense,' 'run the marathon
instead of the sprint,' and 'put the challenges in perspective.'
The idea of moving rocks, not boulders is to start small. A rubric discussed is one that provides
indicators of practice that are linked to student success that teachers can use to differentiate their
instruction, assessment, curriculum, and discourse in the classroom. With this rubric, there are four
levels of proficiency; pre-inquiry, developing inquiry, proficient inquiry, and exemplary inquiry (pg.
20). The article explains the proficient inquiry as 'opportunities provided by the teacher for students to
explore major concepts before the formal explanation occurs' (pg. 20).
Offering a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of Brussels sprouts refers to making change
gradually instead of avoiding it or forcing it. Two recommendations for this are scaffolding the change
and using the sandwich effect. Scaffolding the change doesn't overwhelm anyone, it allows everyone to
remain in their comfort levels. Sandwiching is used to explain the process of making a slight change
within an activity that the students are familiar with. This slight change isn't overwhelming because it is
something that students can figure out with problem solving skills. At first, students amy struggle with
these changes, but over time, they will be able to apply their previous knowledge on their own.
Exploring opportunities before explanation is an important aspect of inquiry-based instruction. Muck
around, and then make sense is all about pre-exploration in the classroom. Allowing students to do their
own research on how to solve a problem enables them to expand their thinking.
Running the marathon instead of the sprint refers to creating goals that should be sustained growth over
an extended period of time (pg. 22). If students are running the sprint, they are only seeking out

solutions to the problem in order to answer the question. This method involves memorization, which in
turn doesn't last as long as digging deeper into the concept to find the solution.
The biggest challenge in incorporating the new science standards along with these ideas, is that they
both include a lot of change. Inquiry-based instruction isn't easy to do, nor is it easy to change to after
teaching a non-inquiry based instruction. It is important for teachers to see the statistics and how their
hard work or changing their instruction could benefit their students in the long run. Another change that
can be challenging for teachers and students alike, is the change of the atmosphere in the classroom. It
may go from lines of desks filled with students who are intently listening to lectures, to groupings of
desks filled with students who are collaborating and sharing ideas to share with the class. The way that
the teacher speaks to her students changes as she shifts from teacher-as-teller to teacher-as-facilitator.

C. A critique of the article: Discuss what you believe are the strengths and
weaknesses of the research/content/main points of the article.

I actually really enjoyed reading this article as it was one that was very interesting and simple to
understand. Usually when I read articles, I am lost in what the author is trying to convey because of
their large vocabulary and deep knowledge of the subject. The figurative language in the text makes it
easily connectable and helps to steer it off of a serious, to-the-point article that we usually read for
courses.
The main points of the article were well organized and not one area was over or under done. Each
section included all that it needed in a purposeful way in order for its readers to understand. I think that
the research was well supported throughout and that the five recommendations included at the end
paired well with the points made beforehand.
The examples included in each section were extremely helpful for me to connect what I was reading to
real-life experiences and to things that I will experience in my future classroom.
While I believe that there was enough information for the article to be understood, I think that there
were some areas where the author could have gone further, especially when discussing the rubric and
the four levels of proficiency on page 20.

D. Questions you have about the research/content: Include at least two

questions that you have as a result of reading the article?

Are there any accommodations in the new science standards for students who are special needs or who
are developmentally delayed?
Is it too late to direct teachers who are set in their own way to teach based on inquiry-based instruction?
If they aren't willing to work hard to make the change, is there a way that they can be guided?
If inquiry-based instruction is proven to be so beneficial for students' education, why aren't all schools
changing to this type of instruction?

E. Professional Application: Explain how you believe the research/content of

the article could be applied in a real-world classroom and/or school setting.

After reading this article, I am definitely going to keep in mind the strategies I have learned. Because I
am not yet a teacher, I have the opportunity to start out as an inquiry-based instructor in my future
classroom. I think that classrooms all around can benefit from these new science standards and how
they direct learning for students.
Because it is difficult to change routes to inquiry-based instruction, there should be adequate
professional support and trainings so that teachers are never felt like they are lost or struggling on their
own. Schools who can provide the support knowledge needed, will be the ones who will be able to
benefit their students all around.
I believe that for students to dig deeper into a concept, they need to be very interested in it. Teachers
should allow their students (to a certain extent) to choose topics to study that they have questions about
and together create a lesson plan that includes their questions, how they plan on finding the answers to
the questions, how they can test their answers, and an overall evaluation on the subject. With this idea,
students are answering their own questions and digging to learn as much as they can about this subject
that they are curious about.
It is interesting to provide students with a topic that they think they already know about, like plants.
Teachers can ask introductory questions to students, things like how much sun does this type of plan
need to grow? How much water is too much water? Is there such thing as too much water? These
types of questions lead to research and experiment that can be carried on over a lengthy amount of
time. Students are able to collaborate thoughts with their peers and share their findings at the end of the
unit.