Sarah Lipphardt
A Lab Report of My Future Learning Goals
When conducting a scientific experiment, it is important that you begin by creating a hypothesis, followed by a materials list, then write a detailed procedure of the steps necessary to test your hypothesis. For the remainder of this essay, I will write a lab report regarding myself as a future learner. The hypothesis will introduce my ultimate goals as an educator. The materials will list the things that I will need in order to achieve this goal. And lastly, the procedure will detail the steps necessary to obtain the goal stated in the hypothesis.
Hypothesis
Next year, I will take on the responsibility of being the Mathematics and Science Instructional Leader at Indianapolis Lighthouse College Prep. My responsibilities will include understanding the state standards and tests and teaching them to the science and math departments, checking lesson plans of science and math teachers, and teaching theses same teachers about best practices in science and math. I hypothesize that in order to be an effective Mathematics and Science Instructional Leader, I need to continue to learn and grow as a math and science teacher in the areas of state standards and testing, lesson planning, and best practices in science and math.
Materials
1. Copies of the Indiana State Standards in Mathematics and Science
2. Copies of previous state tests
3. Copy of school wide lesson plan expectations
4. Lesson plans for various math and science subject
5. Best practices in science and math ideas
6. Teaching Secondary School Science: Strategies for Developing Scientific Literacy by Leslie W. Trowbridge
7. Teaching Secondary School Mathematics: Research and Practice for the 21st Century by Merrilyn Goos, Gloria Stillman, Colleen Vale
8. Professional development in state testing, lesson planning and best practices in science and math
Procedure
1. Obtain copies of the Indiana State Standards in Mathematics and Science. I will then dive into the standards for Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. In order to effectively coach teachers and ensure that they are teaching the correct standards in their classrooms, I need to know these standards inside and out. I will cross reference these standards with the common core standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. As I learned throughout my master’s program, the Next Generation Science Standards inform teachers not only of what to teach, but how to teach it. Understanding each of these standards is crucial in the success of these teachers.
2. Obtain copies of previous Indiana Sate Tests as well as research the tests currently administered in Indiana. This year, Indiana is shifting their testing. As a school, we want to focus on ACT prep instead of preparing students for lower level tests. In order to do this effectively, I will look at the college readiness standards given by the ACT and figure out how to teach these in different grade levels. One article that I will read in order to effectively do this is The Role of Common Core Standards in College and Career Readiness Education by Junior Achievement. I will also look at the following resources for help:
1. http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act.html
2. http://www.physicsclassroom.com/ACT-Test-Center
3. Obtain expectations for school wide lesson plans expectations. I will then research different lesson planning ideas such as the following:
1. http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/tag/lesson-plans
2. http://phet.colorado.edu/
3. https://www.khanacademy.org/
4. http://lessonplans.blogs.nytimes.com/
5. http://caffeineandlessonplans.blogspot.com/
These sites will help me to help the science and math teachers at my school in developing themselves in the lesson planning field.
4. Obtain and read copies of Teaching Secondary School Science: Strategies for Developing Scientific Literacy by Leslie W. Trowbridge and Teaching Secondary School Mathematics: Research and Practice for the 21st Century by Merrilyn Goos, Gloria Stillman, Colleen Vale. I will also continue to subscribe to The Science Teacher in order to obtain ideas that I can then relay to the other teachers at my school. The last aspect of bettering myself in lesson planning in science and math is to follow some blogs of science and math educators. The first blog that I will follow is: http://www.frogblog.ie/. The second blog that I will follow is: https://keepingmathsimple.wordpress.com/.
5. The final step is to continue to develop myself professionally as a teacher of mathematics and science. I need to continue to develop myself and grow as a math and science educator. I will do this by attending each of the following:
1. The Project Lead the Way (PLTW) National Summit- A professional development so that I can be a better Computer Science teacher and be a master teacher for PLTW in the summer of 2016.
2. Be a PLTW Master Teacher during the summer of 2016.
3. Attend professional development for my school during the summer of 2016.
4. Attend the National Science Teacher Conference during the 2016-2017 school year.
5. Attend Teach like a Rock Star during the 2016-2017 school year.