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I'm going to be doing a lot of training for teachers at the elementary and middle school levels, so I am hoping to gain a lot of information and strategies to help make NGSS less scary for those who are not coming from a strong science background.

Ted Most of the teachers I talk to about science are afraid that they lack the content knowledge to comfortably teach science. Another common comment I hear is that science should be a hands on experience and most teachers are pressed for time and just don't have the time or patience to setup and break down labs. Another challenge is that many elementary and middle school teachers are stressed and preoccupied about meeting district and state assessment requirements that focus more on reading, math and CCSS ELA/math results and place less emphasis on science test scores--until junior high and high school. I know many of my teacher friends would love to devote more time to science but with all of the accountability pressures it's a major challenge. In my opinion, giving teachers information that doesn't require them to do their own research and lesson planning development--especially when many districts in our area require teachers to develop their own CCSS ELA/Math curriculum--is a better way to insure that they will use NGSS in their practice.

I really enjoyed the conference, feel much more knowledgeable about NGSS and found following the online chat particularly addictive. However I'm still left with two questions: 1. What route will most schools take through the standards in middle school? A colleague, from another London based International school suggested the University of MIchigan proposal. I think she got this idea from you? I've looked at this model and don't see NGSS performance expectations at its heart, am I missing something? 2. What will good assessments look like? thanks for any responses to these two questions. Julia Stuart

I agree with Yoli's assessment that "Most of the teachers I talk to about science are afraid that they lack the content knowledge to comfortably teach science." I've also noticed that many of the teachers that I've worked with, especially those at the elementary level are uncomfortable teaching science because they are not confident in their own science content knowledge. I think there are several ways that we can help these teachers incorporate science content lessons into their teaching routine. 1. Provide elementary teachers with PD opportunities that enable them to explore and experience the science concepts they will be teaching. 2. Provide teachers with "out of the box" lessons that will help promote hands-on science learning in their classrooms. 3. Ensure state and/or district science coordinators are aware of the resources available in the NGSS Hub@NSTA so this information can flow down to classroom teachers. 4. Ensure mentor teachers are modeling effective science instruction for less experienced teachers. While science has always been a challenging subject to teach at the elementary level, I firmly believe that providing elementary teachers with the tools to help them effectively teach science will help us implement the NGSS nationwide. Maureen

It was a good conference and I like most the topic on modeling, of which I am interested. I am doing a lot of application stuff connecting with the content. It would be nice if there is a library in NSTA containing most of the resources that teachers can use for the implementation of the NGSS. There is not a lot of free time that we teachers have to work on many of these stuff but if there are already resources in place, then many teachers will go use them and be not scared of teaching science based on the NGSS scheme. .

I think it is a general fear of "doing it wrong" by elementary teachers combined with many teachers who don't understand or enjoy science, so they shy away from teaching it or learning more about it. For the middle school teachers, my sense is that they are mostly strapped for time and the resistance to changing the way they've always done it. So... hoping I can calm some fears and build some excitement for them all as they see how well it meets the kids' needs!

I'd love to see something around kids actually experiencing a phenomenon at the museum. For a traditional science museum, there would be lots of options that are not practical in a science classroom. For a natural history museum, maybe taking observations and measurements of actual artifacts?

Nicole, that's a wonderful thought. We love to do things that are just out of reach for teachers in terms of messiness, expense, or complexity. Do you feel that offering this in a field trip model be helpful?

I think the field trip model is best, since it is most useful if it's something that's impractical in the science classroom. Often, that's space and safety tools. But, if it's just materials as a limiting factor, an in-classroom event could work, too.

Julianne, I will look forward to seeing that! Sounds terrific!

We will never stop learning! That is a good thing!

Wondering what you thought about the 4th and 5th grade web seminars? I would love some feedback. What needs to happen next? What resources could we work together on? Lots of questions.

I use that as my answer to lack of content knowledge. We DON'T know everything in science - never will, so it shouldn't be a bad thing to admit this. Where else will science go next? Somewhere that we already know about?