Teaching Fellows’ Meetings

All-Fellows' Summer Meetings

July 26-28, 2007

In August, the five science and three mathematics cohorts of KSTF Teaching Fellows met in Chicago, Illinois. As in years past, the primary focus of this meeting was lesson study. During the previous academic year, all of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 Fellows taught the lesson study sequences that they had planned at prior Summer Fellows' Meetings. They used the lesson study time at this meeting to review videotape of themselves teaching the lessons and examples of student work. By doing this they were able to engage in in-depth discussions of and reflection on their teaching. Opportunities to study their teaching with other fellows is central to the iterative process of lesson study and leads to a reworked instructional sequence that the fellows commit to teach again in the coming academic year. The 2006 cohorts continued to plan the lessons that they will teach in the upcoming school year. The 2007 Science and Mathematics Teaching Fellows began the process of lesson study at this meeting by investigating what it means to understand a scientific or mathematical concept and by studying the planning of instructional sequences.

As a capstone to their work over the past four years, one of the 2003 lesson study groups presented their instructional sequence on gas laws. The presentation highlighted what they have learned about student understanding, how their lesson study has changed over the past few years, as well as the value of lesson study to their teaching. We were also pleased to have 12 expert teachers at the summer meeting who worked with the fellows throughout the weekend on lesson study and other issues related to content and pedagogy. Their guidance was invaluable as a way of pushing the fellows to think more critically about their teaching.

In addition to lesson study, each fellow had the opportunity to attend panel sessions on early career teaching issues and KSTF supported opportunities. These panels were led by fellows and facilitated by KSTF staff. Sessions were also scheduled for fellows to participate in roundtable discussions about different teaching issues and to reflect with fellows from different cohorts on the events of the meeting.

George “Pinky” Nelson, a former NASA astronaut and the director of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at Western Washington University, delivered a keynote address on the importance of teaching science to students of all abilities. KSTF Young Scholars Mark Olson (2005), Laurie Rubel (2006), April Luehmann (2007), Ravit Duncan (2007) and Erin Furtak (2007) attended the meeting and presented workshops for the teaching fellows on topics including scientific modeling, formative assessment and culturally relevant teaching. Finally, we were pleased to recognize our first set of KSTF Alumni, the former 2002 Science Teaching Fellows.

August 3-5, 2006

In August, the five science and two mathematics cohorts of KSTF Teaching Fellows met in Chicago, Illinois. As in years past, the primary focus of this meeting was lesson study. The summer meeting also included some major structural changes to the schedule as we addressed the growing needs of our fellows. One big change that occurred at the summer meeting was the addition of a variety of formats and content topics designed to offer a greater number of choices for the fellows' different professional needs and compliment their work on lesson study.

The meeting began on Thursday morning with a welcome from KSTF's Executive Director, Angelo Collins. Following the welcome, Dr. Carol S. Weinstein, emerita professor from Rutgers University, conducted a workshop for all fellows on classroom management designed to support improved student understanding, based on her book Secondary classroom management: Lessons from research and practice. The fellows received and read this book prior to the summer meeting.

In addition to Dr. Weinstein, we were joined at the meeting by Mike Lach, Acting Chief Officer of Mathematics and Science for the Chicago Public Schools, who gave a keynote address on the challenges of beginning teachers. KSTF Young Scholars Dr. Mark Olson (2005) and Dr. Laurie Rubel (2006) attended the meeting as well. Dr. Olson gave a workshop to the science fellows on using demonstrations in science classrooms. Dr. Rubel's workshop for the mathematics fellows addressed connecting mathematics to social justice issues.

We were also pleased to have three expert teachers at the summer meeting who worked with the fellows throughout the weekend on issues related to content and pedagogy. Their guidance was invaluable as a way of pushing the fellows to think more critically about their teaching.

A large part of this summer meeting was spent on lesson study. During the previous academic year, all of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Fellows taught the lesson study sequences that they had planned at the 2005 Summer Fellows' Meeting. They used the lesson study time at this meeting to review, in their study group, videotape of themselves teaching the lessons and copies of student work. By doing this they were able to engage in in-depth discussions of and reflection on their teaching. Opportunities to study their teaching with other fellows is central to the iterative process of lesson study and leads to a reworked instructional sequence that the fellows commit to teach again in the coming academic year. The 2006 Science and Mathematics Teaching Fellows began the process of lesson study at this meeting by investigating what it means to understand a scientific or mathematical concept and by studying the planning of instructional sequences.

In addition to lesson study, each fellow had the opportunity to attend panel sessions on early career teaching issues ("Surviving Student Teaching,""What I Wish I Had Known Before My First Year of Teaching" and "Becoming a Professional: Beyond Year One"), facilitated by current fellows and KSTF supported opportunities ("Mentoring Grants," "Teaching Materials Grants," "Classroom Observations," and "Presenting and Publishing"), facilitated by KSTF staff. Sessions were also scheduled for fellows to participate in roundtable discussions about different teaching issues and to reflect with fellows from different cohorts on the events of the meeting.

On Saturday, Charley Sabatier (2005 Science Fellow) conducted a workshop for those interested in the CASTLE (Capacitor-Aided System for Teaching and Learning Electricity) curriculum. This workshop was followed by a presentation by Anne Watson (2004 Science Fellow) and two of her former students who presented work that they have done on a sustainable greenhouse project. This workshop and presentation, along with the sessions described above marked a major change in the summer meeting, with fellows taking a more active role in sharing their work.

At the close of the meeting, on Saturday evening, the fellows shared their work and experiences with fellows from other cohorts.

August 4-6, 2005

In August, the four science cohorts and the first mathematics cohort of KSTF Fellows met at the Samoset Resort in Camden, Maine.

On Thursday morning, the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Science Fellows met with Alicia Allbaugh from Rochester Institute of Technology to learn more about video analysis of science laboratory experiences. In the afternoon, they continued work on their three-day lesson study sequence. During the previous academic year, all of the 2002 and 2003 fellows and some of the 2004 fellows taught the lesson study sequence that they had planned at the 2004 Summer Fellows Meeting. They used their time at this meeting to review, in their study group, videotape of themselves teaching the lessons and copies of student work. By doing this they were able to engage in in-depth discussions of and reflection on their teaching. Opportunities to study their teaching with other fellows is central to the iterative process of lesson study and leads to a reworked instructional sequence that the fellows commit to teach again in the coming academic year.

The 2005 Science and Mathematics Teaching Fellows began the process of lesson study at this meeting by investigating what it means to understand a scientific or mathematical concept and by studying the planning of instructional sequences. As part of this process, the 2005 Science Teaching Fellows examined their own understanding of science and teaching as they began to engage in lesson study. Through this process they selected a topic that is taught in both high school physics and chemistry classes and investigated the rationale for teaching this topic and goals for students learning within the scope and sequence of their topic's curricula. The 2005 Mathematics Teaching Fellows cohort worked with Ginger Rhodes throughout the meeting as they began to investigate issues related to mathematics teaching. They analyzed videotapes of others teaching mathematics topics and, working in small groups, discussed what needed to be considered when planning a mathematics lesson.

In addition to lesson study, each cohort of Science Teaching Fellows met with Dr. Eileen Lewis from the University of California, Berkeley, for one day to study different aspects of science teaching appropriate for their level of experience. Topics that were addressed in Dr. Lewis's workshops included metacognition, nature of science, questioning, inquiry and misconceptions.

On Thursday evening, all of the fellows met for a poster session and reception held before dinner, during which some of the fellows shared their professional development experiences. The purpose of this session was to make all fellows aware of the interesting opportunities available to them as they continue their fellowships.

On Friday evening, a group of researchers from the University of Maine's Center for Science and Mathematics Education Research shared studies that they are conducting in different areas of science and education. Dr. Susan McKay, the Center's director, spoke to the fellows about the work that they are doing at the Center. This presentation and poster session was followed by a lobster bake on the Samoset Grounds overlooking the Penobscot Bay.

At the close of the meeting, on Saturday evening, the fellows shared their work and experiences with fellows from other cohorts.

August 4-7, 2004

In August, all three cohorts of Knowles Science Teaching Fellows met at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Thursday, the 2002 and 2003 fellows began work on three-day lesson study units. In groups, they selected a science topic that they wanted to teach and spent the day preparing lessons for that topic. They were joined by Tony Rugari, a nationally board certified science teacher from Virginia, who guided them through their planning. The 2004 fellows began to examine their content understanding and discussed how one comes to know something. That evening, Janet Carlson Powell from BSCS spoke to all three cohorts on developing student understanding.

The fellows spent Friday morning exploring the "Garden of the Gods" with Steve Getty from Colorado College. Their morning was focused by inquiry-based lessons on fossils and was a good opportunity to enjoy the natural wonders of the Colorado Springs area. They continued to work on their lesson studies in the afternoon and that evening, the 2002 and 2003 fellows shared their summer professional development experiences through a poster session format.

On Saturday, Tony Rugari spoke to all three cohorts about becoming NBPTS certified. They then continued their lesson study work. That evening they shared their work with one another.

August 1-2, 2003

All of the Knowles Science Teaching Fellows met in August in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to several joint sessions on high school science teaching, the 2002 fellows worked with Dr. Steve Oliver to design a series of lessons on force and motion. Each of them will teach these lessons in the coming academic year. The 2003 fellows worked with Dr. Collins to become more familiar with the Atlas of Scientific Literacy. They used the Atlas as a springboard for discussions on what it means to understand a science concept and to teach for understanding. The KSTF Teaching Fellows joined the Physics Teacher Resource Association (PTRA) of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) for a picnic supper one night. Jim Nelson, John Layman and Jack Hehn, in Madison for the AAPT meeting, spoke on the role of professional organizations in the life of a teacher. Several Fellows stayed for part of the summer AAPT meeting the next few days.