Science safety and Follow up to Draft Standards Review

Thank so much to those of you who could attend the “Sharing is Caring” MISciPLN session on Wednesday to review the Draft Science Teacher Prep Standards for Middle Grades and High School!

I wanted to pass along the links below from Rachel (Thank YOU!) since several of you expressed interest in them. Also, I wanted to say thanks for the inspiration to clarify some things – since we met I added the information to the “foundations boxes” views that can be found in Appendix B: Standards with Foundations Boxes. I would love to hear if you have any feedback on whether including these helps to clarify any of the standards for you. Clarification or boundary statements would be yet to come at some point in the future, but hopefully this would still be of some help.

There is still time to review, if you haven’t been able to yet. Please consult earlier emails for links and directions. And again, thanks so much for all you do to support this work!

Take care,

Darcy

Here is the information I mentioned at the standards review.

Required GHS Training – The Right to Understand | Flinn Scientific

Lab Safety Courses (flinnsci.com)

Have a good day.

Stay safe.

Rachel Badanowski

Elementary Science Conversations

Join us Thursday for our next Elementary Science Conversation! We are meeting most Thursdays this summer, at noon, to hear from experts. This week’s conversation includes Jan Douglas from P-CCS, Jeanane Charara-STEM Coach, Kimberley Astle from Washington, Kimber Hershberger from Pennsylvania, and Amy Quinn from West Bloomfield!

Noon Thursday! Link below….see you then.

Mary

News from Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network for 07/06/2021

Again, thank you all for your interest in assisting with OEE endeavors! I am re-sending the information about reviewing the draft science standards, complete with corrected links and working survey! And also, just to say, that there is still time to review these for us: Survey responses are due July 21st and full reviews are due by July 27th. Complete info below and links at the end. Thank you!

I am writing today with an opportunity for you to review draft standards for the preparation of science teachers at the Middle Grades (grades 5-9) and High School (grades 7-12) levels. (See links to the documents below) Your feedback will be considered and potentially incorporated into future drafts of these standards. We expect review of these standards to take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending upon how deeply one reads and responds and all levels of feedback are appreciated. Our stakeholder team has been working on the development of these standards for more than a year and is eager to have feedback in the following areas:

• Viability and Achievability: Are the standards viable to be implemented by teacher preparation programs and would they be achievable by teacher candidates?
• Alignment: Are the standards aligned to the Michigan K-12 Science Standards and A Framework for K-12 Science Education?
• Coherence: Are these standards internally coherent? Are they externally coherent with other MDE expectations and initiatives? That is, are they consistent in promoting a vision of teacher competencies, or do they contain contradictory elements?
• Completeness: Do these standards represent a comprehensive portrait of essential knowledge and skills for well-prepared beginning science teachers? (NOTE: An additional category on engineering is planned for both grade bands.)
• Accuracy: Do the standards truly represent what well prepared beginners need to know and do?

Some background for better understanding these standards documents:

1. These standards are for teacher preparation programs to follow in development of their programs to prepare future science teachers at the middle grades (5-9) and high school (7-12) grade bands. They will not impact current in-service teachers or K-12 science programs except in how they help to prepare future science teachers.
2. These documents have been designed for the new grade band certification structure and follow a revised endorsement structure for the science disciplines. The endorsement structure is structured so that all future science teachers in these grade bands will need to earn a Science endorsement. They may add an optional disciplinary specialization endorsement in Biology, Earth/Space, or Physical Science for middle grades or Biology, Earth/Space, Chemistry or Physics for high school science teachers. All the standards for these endorsements (both the broad Science endorsement for all science teachers, and the disciplinary specialization endorsements are contained in these two documents by grade band.
3. The documents have hyperlinked tables of contents. Please feel free to focus on particular areas of interest and/or expertise and use these and the “back to top” link in the footer of each page to help you navigate.
4. These standards were developed to mirror the Michigan K-12 Science Standards (MSS) in their three-dimensional aspect. They have been developed using three facets critical to science teacher education. If you would like more background about the Facets, please see Appendix A in either document. It is also our intention to provide a foundations boxes style view of the standards, which is still under development. You can see some examples of this in Appendix B. All of the content area questions have also been created with the intention of incorporating at least two of the dimensions from the MSS into each question.
5. If you only have 30 minutes to review, please give one of the documents a quick skim focusing on the Standards. In the middle grades document these can be found on pages and in the high school document on pages . Then please complete the quick survey which asks you to answer the above questions with space for comments.
6. If you can devote a longer amount of time, we invite you to make a copy of one or both of the documents and use suggestion mode and comments to submit your feedback. Depending on your time, interest and expertise feel free to do this for as much or little of the document as you like.

Please find links to the documents below:

Draft Science Standards Middle Grades

Draft Science Standards High School

We invite you to submit your feedback in one or both of the following ways:

• Brief Review: Complete the McMahonD2 by July 27th.

  From: Emmerling, James <James.Emmerling>
  Sent: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 12:40 PM
  To: McMahon, Darcy (MDE) <McMahonD2>
  Cc: Mary Starr <starrm>
  Subject: RE: News from Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network for 07/06/2021

  CAUTION: This is an External email. Please send suspicious emails to abuse

  Hi Darcy,

  I corrected the link on the blog post. If you’d like to create another post, you’re welcome to or Mary can forward an email with the correction.

  James

  From: McMahon, Darcy (MDE) <McMahonD2>
  Sent: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 8:42 AM
  To: Emmerling, James <James.Emmerling>
  Cc: agschafer
  Subject: RE: News from Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network for 07/06/2021

  Hello James and Adam,

  Thank you for reviewing and sending along!

  Here is the corrected link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-yDy1Di0h_9fuGHrCafXeli8vgXn4UrIF-jFvVGW8pg/edit?usp=sharing

  Should I reply to the newsletter to send that out to everyone or is that something you can correct on your end? Sorry that I missed that earlier.

  Thanks so much,
  Darcy

  From: Emmerling, James <James.Emmerling>
  Sent: Tuesday, July 6, 2021 4:39 PM
  To: McMahon, Darcy (MDE) <McMahonD2>
  Subject: Fwd: News from Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network for 07/06/2021

  CAUTION: This is an External email. Please send suspicious emails to abuse

July PL opportunity: IM 6-12 Math

IM Certified Professional Learning
Have you heard about IM Math curricula? If you’re interested in learning about it OR if you’re already planning to teach & learn with IM Math starting in the fall, join MMSLN July 26 and 27 at our recently added Teach & Learn with IM 6-12 Math Academy.
Each of our IM certified events is designed to support math teachers, coaches, consultants, and administrators as you implement IM Math curricula.

MMSLN is a proud member of the Professional Learning Partner Guide (PLPG). Find out more about the PLPG and why it matters.

Please Review: Draft Science Teacher Preparation Standards

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for your interest in assisting with OEE projects in the area of science! Your feedback is vital in our work to ensure that all Michigan students have well-prepared science teachers!

I am writing today with an opportunity for you to review draft standards for the preparation of science teachers at the Middle Grades (grades 5-9) and High School (grades 7-12) levels. (See links to the documents below) Your feedback will be considered and potentially incorporated into future drafts of these standards. We expect review of these standards to take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending upon how deeply one reads and responds and all levels of feedback are appreciated. Our stakeholder team has been working on the development of these standards for more than a year and is eager to have feedback in the following areas:

• Viability and Achievability: Are the standards viable to be implemented by teacher preparation programs and would they be achievable by teacher candidates?
• Alignment: Are the standards aligned to the Michigan K-12 Science Standards and A Framework for K-12 Science Education?
• Coherence: Are these standards internally coherent? Are they externally coherent with other MDE expectations and initiatives. That is, are they consistent in promoting a vision of teacher competencies, or do they contain contradictory elements?
• Completeness: Do these standards represent a comprehensive portrait of essential knowledge and skills for well-prepared beginning science teachers? (NOTE: An additional category on engineering is planned for both grade bands)
• Accuracy: Do the standards truly represent what well prepared beginners need to know and do?

Some background for better understanding these standards documents:

1. These standards are for teacher preparation programs to follow in development of their programs to prepare future science teachers at the middle grades (5-9) and high school (7-12) grade bands. They will not impact current in-service teachers or K-12 science programs except in how they help to prepare future science teachers.
2. These documents have been designed for the new grade band certification structure and follow a revised endorsement structure for the science disciplines. The endorsement structure is structured so that all future science teachers in these grade bands will need to earn a Science endorsement. They may add an optional disciplinary specialization endorsement in Biology, Earth/Space, or Physical Science for middle grades or Biology, Earth/Space, Chemistry or Physics for high school science teachers. All the standards for these endorsements (both the broad Science endorsement for all science teachers, and the disciplinary specialization endorsements are contained in these two documents by grade band.
3. The documents have hyperlinked tables of contents. Please feel free to focus on particular areas of interest and/or expertise and use these and the “back to top” link in the footer of each page to help you navigate.
4. These standards were developed to mirror the Michigan K-12 Science Standards (MSS) in their three-dimensional aspect. They have been developed using three facets critical to science teacher education. If you would like more background about the Facets, please see Appendix A in either document. It is also our intention to provide a foundations boxes style view of the standards, which is still under development. You can see some examples of this in Appendix B. All of the content area questions have also been created with the intention of incorporating at least two of the dimensions from the MSS into each question.
5. If you only have 30 minutes to review, please give one of the documents a quick skim focusing on the Standards. In the middle grades document these can be found on pages and in the high school document on pages . Then please complete the quick survey which asks you to answer the above questions with space for comments.
6. If you can devote a longer amount of time, we invite you to make a copy of one or both of the documents and use suggestion mode and comments to submit your feedback. Depending on your time, interest and expertise feel free to do this for as much or little of the document as you like.

Please find links to the documents below:
Draft Science Standards Middle Grades
Draft Science Standards High School

We invite you to submit your feedback in one or both of the following ways:

• Brief Review: Complete the McMahonD2 by July 27th.

Thank you so much for sharing your time and expertise!
Darcy

Darcy McMahon, M.A.
Higher Education Consultant, Educator Preparation Unit
Office of Educator Excellence
Michigan Department of Education
608 W. Allegan Street
Lansing, MI 48933
e: mcmahond2
o: 517-241-7096
c: 989-615-4372
https://www.michigan.gov/mde
Share Your Experience! To assist us in striving to make your experience better, please take a moment to complete this survey.

Are you, or do you know, a certified teacher wanting to get back to the classroom?
We can help streamline the path back. Please click here.

Interactions & Carbon TIME PL Opportunities this summer

The NextGen Project-Based Learning (NGPBL) Initiative at MSU’s CREATE for STEM Institute would like to share information about virtual professional learning programs for science teachers. Programs support year-long research-based curricula; links here connect you to professional learning programs and dates:

• Interactions: year-long physical science course for 9th grade

• Carbon TIME: MS/HS life & earth science units with year-long support for Biology

We hope that you will share this information with colleagues, administrators, and teachers who may be interested in using MSU’s high quality instructional materials to support NGSS-aligned science classroom practice. We know that your voice and connections are important in our science education communities.

These professional learning programs have a per-teacher fee, and districts can use Title II, the new America Rescue Plan Act, or other educational funds to enroll teachers. Additionally, the Michigan Education Association (MEA) is sponsoring SCECHs for professional learning participants who are MEA members in good standing.

The professional learning registration link is now open, with registrations closing 1 week before each program start date. Additional information will be available through the NGPBL website (nextgen-pbl.org) and through CREATE for STEM’s social media.

Questions? Send them to me or to nextgenpbl

We send the very best wishes. Please be in touch with questions or ideas; we’re happy to hear from you.
Chris & the MSU NextGen-PBL team

MiSTEM Support for Initiatives Needs Your Input

The MiSTEM Network, working with a variety of partners, is supporting both summer learning opportunities and school improvement initiatives in the coming year. Please connect with your regional directors to inquire how these initiatives can support your local education needs (in-school, outside-of-school, and workforce development). We are seeking help from regional stakeholders in identifying the most pressing STEM needs, and this is an opportunity to stay informed of the MiSTEM Advisory Council grant consortia able to support your work.

Summer Learning Support – Click here

Connect with Your MiSTEM Regional Director – Click here

Join our List-serve for Updates – Click here

MI Sci PLN – WOW!…That’s all I gotta say ’bout that.

“Teaching science at the elementary is an act of justice…We demand that children are learning science!” – Andrea Pisani, Unite STEM

Yes! She said it in her presentation of Great First 8. If you missed last weeks’ MI Sci PLN meeting, I’m sorry. It was AWE-SOME!

In our effort to figure out the best practices to help districts implement high-quality science instruction equitably, in all elementary schools throughout the state, we invited three leaders that have had great success in their regions and districts advancing this cause. Thank you to each of them for sharing their challenges and success in their elementary implementation stories. They were (are) wonderful!

· Kevin St. Onge, EUP MiSTEM Region Director

· Amy Quinn, K-12 Math & Science Coordinator, West Bloomfield Schools

· Colleen Stamm, K-12 Math/Science Coordinator, Farmington Public Schools

Their stories lead to some great group discussion and shared learning.

Following the panel discussion, Andrea Pisani, United STEM, shared the work of a team of researchers from around the country led by UM’s Nell Duke. They are developing Great First 8. It is an assets-based, all-day curriculum that centers equity and justice for 0-8-year-old children living and learning in metropolitan areas (website available in the fall, https://greatfirsteight.org/).

Again, the follow up discussion was excellent (and so was Andrea’s presentation)! To view a recording, click the link.

To find out what else you missed, see the full agenda here, 2021.06.07 MI Sci PLN Agenda

Oh, and here are the MI Sci PLN Updates, from our friends around the state.

Mark your calendars now for the 2021-22 MI Sci PLN meetings!

MI Sci PLN 2021-22 SAVE-the-DATES:

All meetings will be virtual and are scheduled from 9am-3pm

· October 29, 2021

· January 25, 2022

· March 16, 2022

· May 20, 2022 (Face-to-face w/ virtual option)

A few parting thoughts…

“As the format for school this fall continues to be hotly debated, we should not retreat from our commitment to science education. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 brought the need for a scientifically literate populace to the forefront of American consciousness. In the same way, we must consider this pandemic our generation’s calling to enliven science education, particularly in the early grade-levels.”

Jim Ryan and Janet Carlson from their Hechinger Report article,

Opinion: Distrust of science in the coronavirus era reminds us why we must boost elementary science education

“Our nation is facing one of the greatest public health crises in its history, and the world is confronting a climate crisis that generations to come will inherit. Students must be equipped to tackle these realities with a high-quality science education from the earliest grades. Let us leverage this extraordinary moment to catapult science to the core of the curriculum. It matters for our health, well-being and even our collective survival.”

– Jacqueline Barber, University of California, Berkeley.

THANK YOU MI Sci PLN Leadership Team for an amazing year!

The MI Sci PLN Leadership Team has done an amazing job this year. Please take a minute to let them know you appreciate their efforts. They include;

· Betty Crowder, MSTA & Oakland University, crowder@oakland.edu

· James Emmerling, MMSLN & Oakland Schools, james.emmerling@oakland.k12.mi.us

· Linnea Gibson, Northern Michigan Learning Consortium, gibsonl@copesd.org

· Nancy Karre, Battle Creek Math and Science Center, nancy@bcamsc.org

· TJ Smolek, MDE, SmolekT@michigan.gov

· Nathan Spencer, Wayne RESA, SpenceN@resa.net

· Christie Morrison Thomas, MSU’s CREATE for STEM Next Gen PBL, morris73@msu.edu

· Wendi Vogel, MSELA & Kent ISD, wendivogel@kentisd.org

MI Sci PLN

Building our Science Education Community Together

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Great Lakes learning for UP students

We are actively planning for the Wisconsin and Upper Peninsula of Michigan Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS). This event is sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association, the U.S. Armed Forces, and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UWL). Our goal is to spread the word to as many potential participants as possible and we would love to have additional participation from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!

This program is of benefit to both teachers and high school students and provides the opportunity to earn very generous scholarships, is a qualifying event for the National JSHS, and even offers a teacher award.

Students in 9–12 grade are encouraged to share their original research (e.g., experimental, field, observational, applied) during a 12-minute oral presentation or poster presentation. Research presented at the regional JSHS competition can align with any of the following eight categories:
1. Chemistry
2. Biomedical Science
3. Engineering
4. Environmental Science
5. Life Sciences
6. Math & Computer Science
7. Medicine and Health
8. Physical Science

Students attending the regional symposium for the second time are required to present a research project orally or in a poster session. The top ten research papers will be given the opportunity to present orally for scholarships. First time attendees are not expected to present a project, though they are encouraged to do so, if desired. All students who attend the regional JSHS must be chaperoned by a teacher or adult.

Additional information/deadlines/registration can be found on our website: https://www.uwlax.edu/ex/jshs/

January 22-23, 2022 | Wisconsin Upper-Peninsula of Michigan Regional JSHS (this is a qualifying event for the National JSHS)
2022 Regional Awards:
The top five student oral presentation award recipients will receive an all-expense paid trip to the 60th National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

1st Place
Oral presentation – $2,000 and compete for additional scholarships by presenting at the national symposium
Poster presentation – $150
2nd Place
Oral presentation – $1,500 and compete for additional scholarships by presenting at the national symposium
Poster presentation – $100
3rd Place
Oral presentation – $1,000 and eligible to present work in a poster session at the national symposium
Poster presentation – $50
4th Place
Oral presentation – Eligible to present work in a poster session
at the national symposium
5th Place
Oral presentation – Eligible to present work in a poster session at the national symposium
Teacher Award: One teacher will receive a $500 award and an all-expense paid trip to the 60th National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

April 2022 | National JSHS
2022 National Awards – there are 8 categories (see above) and there are awards for each category
Oral presenters that finish in their respective categories will receive:
1st Place: $12,000 scholarship
2nd Place: $8,000 scholarship
3rd Place: $4,000 scholarship
Poster presenters that finish in their respective categories will receive:
1st Place: $550
2nd Place: $450
3rd Place: $350

Would you mind sharing this information or letting me know how to share this information with your membership in the Upper-Peninsula of Michigan? We would love to have more participants and spread the word regarding this amazing opportunity.

Thanks so much for your assistance. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have.

Best regards,
Michele

logo-uwl-wordmark-color logo
Michele Overgard

Marketing Manager, Extended Learning | UW-La Crosse

movergard | 608.785.6507 | 205A Morris Hall