You can learn anything!Growing your mindABSTRACT: One hundred years after its conception, the scientific method continues
to reinforce a kind of cultural lore about what it means to participate in inquiry. As commonly implemented in venues ranging from middle school classrooms to undergraduate laboratories, it emphasizes the testing of predictions rather than ideas, focuses learners on material activity at the expense of deep subject matter understanding, and lacks epistemic framing relevant to the discipline. While critiques of the scientific method are not new, its cumulative effects on learners’ conceptions of science have not been clearly articulated. We discuss these effects using findings from a series of five studies with degree-holding graduates of our educational system who were preparing to enter the teaching profession and apprentice their own young learners into unproblematic images of how science is done. We then offer an alternative vision for investigative science—model-based inquiry (MBI)-- as a system of activity and discourse that engages learners more deeply with content and embodies five epistemic characteristics of scientific knowledge: that ideas represented in the form of models are testable, revisable, explanatory, conjectural, and generative. We represent MBI as an interconnected set of classroom conversations and provide examples of its implementation and its limitations. Read the complete paper here. Please make sure your child is completing their reading summaries for homework each night assigned. They should come to class prepared to ask questions and discuss the ideas in the readings so they can use their classroom time to explore concepts more deeply and participate in investigations to develop their skills.
Nightly reading and writing in the Science Fusion textbook should not take more than ten minutes to do, and the Reading Summary is only about seven sentences long and should not take more than five minutes to complete. Feel free to read with your child, ask questions to prompt thoughtful responses, and find out what they don't understand so they can get clarification in class. Late Reading Summaries will not be accepted for a grade, as they will not be useful after the ideas and questions are already discussed in class. Interims come out on Wednesday. Tomorrow will be the last day before reports go out for students to turn in missing work if they want it to be included in their interim grades.
As you know, RPS has recently changed the grading scale from an eight point grading scale to a ten point scale this year. Please note that this is different from what is posted in the Classroom Policies and Procedures information.
Classroom management policies have changed as well. Reward cards have been introduced along side of the treasure box. Students will be able to spend their hard earned checkbook money on special privileges in the classroom. Students will be able to earn checkbook money by being extra helpful, by showing that they follow class rules, by working a class job, and by occasional homework and classwork incentives. Some ways students will earn fines are by not following class rules, being disruptive or disrespectful, and interrupting quick and quiet transitions between classes and activities. They will be given a verbal reminder for the first infraction, and after that, they will begin receiving increasing checkbook deductions. Check back soon for a revision in the homework policy. There have been requests from parents to space the homework assignments out so that students receive a certain amount each day instead of have homework due at the next class meeting. Thank you to the parents for giving me this valuable feedback. Changing classes for different subjects and block scheduling are new to many of us, so any feedback from home is appreciated so we can find out what will work best for all. A big "thank you" to all the parents and students who were able to come to Open House tonight. It was a privilege to meet the parents of the students I get to see each day at school. I really enjoyed sharing what we have been doing in class, and I know the students took pride in demonstrating what they have learned to all of you. Please remember that if you have any questions about science class I am just an email away!
ku·dos noun \ˈkü-ˌdäs, ˈkyü-, -ˌdōs\: praise or respect that you get because of something you have done or achieved.
Special kudos go to Chayse, Ilaria and Amille from Ms. Wood's homeroom for being such good ambassadors of F.R.E.D to all the 4th and 5th grade classes. Chayse took the initiative to spread the word of this very useful technique everyone can use to calm yourself, relax and reflect when times are stressful or you are about to get angry and act out. Ilaria and Amille were great support for Chayse when she spread the word to all the classes. I see leadership qualities growing in all three of these helpful Patrick Henry citizens. Ask your child about F.R.E.D.! Visit this page to find out what's going on in science class. I will be posting reminders, some important due dates and details of expectations for upcoming assignments. To find out what your child has for homework on a daily basis, please see their agenda. Homework is posted in the same place on the board every day. All homework assignments should be copied from there into their agenda. If it is recorded correctly, they should have a stamp for that day and subject. If they do not, it means it is incorrect or incomplete or illegible and I can't approve it.
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