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Expert Corner: Coming Next Gen. Science Standards Educator Spotlight: Christine Nolan-Dack New Geometry Gizmos Lesson Materials
Expert Corner: Coming Next Gen. Science Standards Kurt Rosenkrantz is a science curriculum writer and Gizmo designer for ExploreLearning. Kurt holds a Master of Science in Geology from the University of Cincinnati, and a bachelor's degree in Earth Science from Harvard. He taught high school and middle school science for eight years before joining ExploreLearning in 2005. For the last two years, Achieve Inc. has been working to develop a set of national science standards similar to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. The Next Generation Science Standards were built on the previously published book, A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. A major goal of the standards is to integrate scientific practices into the standards themselves while using crosscutting concepts to allow students to make connections among disciplines. This will elevate these new standards above those previously developed that were just checklists of content with separate inquiry or science process standards. By integrating the practices into the standards themselves, the way that students learn cannot be unraveled from the content they learn. So far, 26 states have committed to be lead partners in the development of the standards. The lead state partners have worked with Achieve to develop the standards and will give “serious consideration” to adopting the standards when they are completed. Click here to see if your state is on the list. It is quite possible that additional states will adopt the new standards once they are finalized. On Tuesday, January 8, the second draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released for public comment. The public comment period will last until January 29, 2013. The final draft of the standards is planned for release in late March. Gizmos are a great fit for the proposed science standards. Gizmos allow students to engage in inquiry-driven investigations that fulfill the goals of the Standards of Scientific and Engineering Practice, Crosscutting Concepts and Disciplinary Core ideas described in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. A great example of this is our Food Chain Gizmo, where students see how populations of producers and consumers fluctuate in an ecosystem. The Gizmo supports the Crosscutting Concept “Stability and Change” and targets DCIs LS1 and LS2. If you wish to comment on the second draft of the NGSS, click here. This is a great opportunity to influence the development of new science standards and we urge that you take advantage of it. Here at ExploreLearning we are keeping a close eye on the development of the standards and how our Gizmos fit in. It is likely that much of our future Gizmo development will continue to enhance our alignment to these new science standards and support educators implementing them in classrooms.
Educator Spotlight: Christine Nolan-Dack Christine Nolan-Dack is a technology resource teacher for grades 3-5 at Boca Raton Elementary School. She has been a teacher for 16 years and has taught a variety of classes, including technology, art, ESE, and ESOL education. Mrs. Nolan-Dack has used Gizmos for three years and Reflex for one year. She coordinates with classroom teachers, choosing Gizmos that expand on what students are learning in the classroom. Mrs. Nolan-Dack reports that Gizmos provide opportunities for practice, hands-on learning, and enhanced understanding. By collaborating with classroom teachers, she has been able to provide individualized instruction with Gizmos, allowing more students to master difficult concepts. Mrs. Nolan-Dack’s students particularly like some of the math Gizmos that mix humor with a clear presentation of concepts, including Fido’s Flower Bed (Perimeter and Area) and Cannonball Clowns (Number Line Estimation). Boca Raton Elementary also adopted ExploreLearning Reflex last year as part of a pilot project. Mrs. Nolan-Dack started using Reflex with only a few students, but demand from teachers and students quickly increased. Before long, 192 students were enrolled in Reflex. Students talked about the program to each other, and parents called to find out more. Mrs. Nolan-Dack says she has never seen an educational program engender a response like that before! Over the course of the pilot, students' overall math fact fluency rose by an average of 40 percentage points. Thanks in part to Gizmos and Reflex, Boca Raton Elementary had some of their strongest FCAT scores ever, with scores rising over 25% from the previous year. It was also impressive that scores rose most prominently for those in the lowest quartile. Mrs. Nolan-Dack is thrilled to be a part of these gains and is looking forward to another great year!
New Geometry Gizmos Lesson Materials It’s a new year—and we’ve got new Lesson Materials to support six of our Geometry Gizmos.
As always, our updated Lesson Materials have four documents (Student Exploration Sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary Sheet), each available as a .doc or .pdf. In addition, some of the Assessment Questions have also been updated to better match the new content.
New Look for Reflex website Our Reflex website got a brand new look last month. It’s easier than ever to find great testimonials (1), success stories (2), case studies (3) and research behind Reflex (4) —and to take a free trial (5).
Reflex Grant Program This fall we introduced something new just for great math teachers: the Reflex Educator Grant Program. Educators from all across the United States and Canada were invited to apply, and those selected were given access to Reflex for a year with a full class of students. The enthusiasm from both teachers and students has been tremendous, and the results outstanding. We heard from a Staten Island, NY grantee, Tara Azzarello, right away on Facebook when she introduced Reflex to her 3rd graders. “All I can say is wow! They were completely engaged!! When I asked them how they liked it, they answered with a very enthusiastic ‘it's awesome!’” Further into the program, Ms. Azzarello had more to say. She noted that although her students thought they could add and subtract before Reflex, “now they see what I mean about being fluent.” She was happy to report that she could “see huge gains in their fact fluency.” Ms. Azzarello’s 29 students who have been on Reflex 20+ days have gone from 20% to 85% fluency for Addition and Subtraction 0-10 in just 31 days of usage. To celebrate her students’ success, Ms. Azzarello says “I print out and hang up the class progress information to show the children where they started and how far they have come.” The program has been so successful in helping students develop math fact fluency that we are extending it into 2013. If you are interested in applying for a Reflex Educator Grant for your classroom, the spring deadline is February 28, 2013.
Job Opportunities! Mathematics Curriculum Writer/Editor (Contractor) If you are a skilled math teacher, have excellent writing skills and attention to detail, love Gizmos, and want to help other teachers get more out of Gizmos, then let’s talk! We are looking for a writer/editor for our math Gizmo curriculum upgrade project. We are writing new Lesson Materials – a Student Exploration Sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocab Sheet – for our existing math Gizmos. You’ll need to be available to work 40 hours/week from your home office, and have solid knowledge of math (and math education) up through Calculus I. Math/Science Curriculum Specialist for Marketing We are also looking for an experienced math or science educator with good writing and communications skills who would be interested in working in our marketing department. This position will be responsible for assisting in the development of written materials for marketing ExploreLearning products to educators and for working with our sales team on effective product messaging to clients during the sales process. This is a full time position based in our Charlottesville, VA office. Familiarity with both math and science is a plus, as well as experience in marketing or public relations. See the Employment page for more information on both of these opportunities.
Stay in Touch If you want to comment on any of the information in this newsletter, be sociable and post your insights on the Facebook pages for Gizmos and Reflex. And as always, if you have a question or comment about Gizmos or Reflex, don't hesitate to contact our Customer Support team using the support form for either Gizmos or Reflex. We would love to hear from you. For information on bringing Gizmos and Reflex to schools in your area, contact your ExploreLearning Account Representative:
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