Ambitious Science teaching’s authors provide this visual to help you understand the concept and give you a framework for answering these kinds of questions. Ambitious Science Teaching believes that teaching and learning can be guided by engaging phenomena, content, and experiences. These are grounded in equitable opportunities for all students. Visit here to learn more about Ambitious Science Teaching.
You are likely feeling inspired, curious, and innovative if you’ve taken the time to visit the Ambitious Science Teaching website. You might also feel overwhelmed. How can I as an educator implement the strategies of a successful science teacher in my classroom? Let’s take a closer look at one portion. The following seven foothold practices are recommended by AST as key to creating a learning environment that encourages reform-minded teaching and learning.
Task
- Create new content through authentic, meaningful learning experiences that are rich in ideas and require students to use their previous experiences.
- Use familiar language and experience to introduce new vocabulary (content discipline terminology).
- Students should be allowed to share ideas science spectrum, discover new paths, and receive peer feedback.
Tools
- Give students the tools they need to tackle intellectual problems (Engle & Conant 2002).
- Strategy: Sentence frames (distinguishing between helpful and nice feedback)
- Give examples and clear directions (remove scaffolding slowly).
- Strategy: Post-It Note feedback
Talk
- Encourage and encourage student autonomy
- Facilitate meta-cognition (“thinking over thinking”) by using classroom discussion.
Strategy: Gallery Walk
I hope that you’ll join us in our conversation about Ambitious Science Teaching. Please comment below with your thoughts and observations. To start the conversation, use the following sentence starter: An practice that I use (or could see myself using).
