From beginning to end, the National Association for the Education of Young Children 2010 annual conference in collaboration with National Black Child Development Institute offered meaty sessions on early childhood science curriculum. Of course, science curriculum goes nowhere without a good foundation in the early childhood classroom environment, social-emotional development, circle time, understanding and supporting diversity and equity, collaborating with families, and professional development, to name some of the many other session topics.

The first session I attended was a treat, “Big ideas for little brains: Teaching fundamentals of physical science to 4-year-olds” presented by a highly knowledgeable, energized, and friendly group of researchers and educators who obviously enjoyed their productive collaboration: Dr. Brian Anderson, Dr. Mary Hobbs, Dr. Robert Williams, Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood,  (the latter two are also co-authors of The Preschool Scientist: Using learning centers to discover and explore science, (2010, Gryphon House), Sandy Martinez and Montserrat Garibay, Bi-lingual Pre-kindergarten teachers from the  Lucy Read Pre-kindergarten Demonstration School in the Austin Texas Independent School District, and Gail Laubenthal, Pre-kindergarten teacher researcher and “Technoscientist” from the Sanchez Elementary School,  also in the Austin ISD. Gail told us that using technology in her classroom might include using the classroom desktop computers or the computers in the computer lab, iPod Touches, iPods, digital microscopes, digital cameras, flip video cameras, a Mimio Interactive System, or the Innovation Station! Ms. Laubenthal is also known as the Ladybugs blogger, where you can see what her students are investigating.
Their project, Building BLOCKS for Science, is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Texas Center for Science and Mathematics Education. I was worried that a 4-hour session would be too long for me but time flew by as we heard about the professional development they were providing as part of their project, and experienced some exploration ourselves. The challenging opening was to get in a small group and sort a small bag of objects, list the ways each group sorted the objects, and then sort again, and again, in yet other ways. How many criteria can you sort by?—size, material, color, texture, purpose of use, weight…I think there were five or six additional categories and we could have continued. Enthusiastic and deft teaching by Ms. Martinez and Ms. Garibay led us in examining the properties of matter with ramps and various objects, wind-up toys, and other objects in motion. We didn’t have enough time to find out what Ms. Laubenthal’s role is as “technoscientist” but her blog has some details.
“Early Education Issue Forum: A Framework that Works – Implementing Successful PreK-3rd Strategies”, was a thought-provoking presentation by Lisa Guernsey, Director of New America’s Early Education Initiative and author of Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children From Birth to Age 5, (Basic Books, 2007), and Dr. Iheoma Iruka, research Investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute who is working on their FirstSchool preK-3^rd initiative to move education systems toward a seamless approach for children ages 3 to 8.
What connections exist in your community between prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers? Depending on the program, the differences in pay scale and expectation of higher education can be huge but that shouldn’t stop us from meeting to better integrate our curriculums to make children’s transition to kindergarten easier and more informative for the next teacher. The presenters urged us to move our communities to establish preK-3 alignment of curriculum to sustain the gains we make in preschool.
Dr. Michaela Cole, Assistant Professor of Education, Our Lady of the Lake University held a discussion in the Learning Galleria about her evolving project, “Viewing nature through children’s eyes: Results from a photo elicitation project” in exploring children’s discovery of patterns and shadows in natural settings using photography. In one class she studied, the students’ transition to kindergarten was made easier by another photography project in which the mothers were given cameras to take pictures of their child to explain who their child is, to the upcoming kindergarten teacher. The pictures were even more important for children whose teachers and mothers did not share a language. Such a beautiful idea, one that supports the goals described by Guernsey and Iruka.
Marie Faust Evitt and Tim Dobbins, teachers from Mountain View, CA,  illustrated their session, “Thinking BIG, learning BIG: Connecting science, math, literacy, and language” with a slide show teaching us how to use inquiry-based science to bring math, literacy, and art into an early childhood day in many fun, BIG –because children like that–ways.

In her session, “STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) comes to preschool: Implementing an integrated science and mathematics curriculum in an inclusive inner-city program”, Dr. Sally Moomaw, assistant professor in Early Childhood Education and Special Education at the University of Cincinnati  showed us how STEM projects using pendulums, easy to manipulate ramps, and pattern-recognition using recorded bird calls in stuffed toy birds lead to increases in language development, reasoning, and cognitive development in the inclusive Cincinnati public school classroom of preschool special education teacher Jaumall Davis. (See their article in the September 2010 Young Children.)  Her obvious enjoyment in teaching (children and adults) and her sensitive attention to the nuances of communication by children with special needs reminds us that all children need STEM activities. (Download their session PowerPoint posted on the NAEYC Precis Abstract Management list at the bottom of the session description.)
Up to the last minute, the NAEYC annual conference sessions were communicating effective ways to bring science into early childhood classrooms. In “Creating a high-quality, low-cost mobile science museum for your program or community”, Karen Goldman-Karten and Amy Doerzbach of the The Lower Shore Child Care Resource Center in Salisbury, MD, told and showed video of how they went after funding to create a mobile science museum to take engaging activities to the day care programs, preschools, and child care in family homes. Flip-flop phone, making and comparing footprints, and bubbles of many sizes were among the materials that teachers and children freely explored, observed, wondered and collected data about. A professional development component supports providers and teachers as they implement science inquiry with their children in their programs. Karen and Amy urged us to start small but think big and don’t be afraid to approach our local banks for small grants. All children should have access to science inquiry.
Now it’s your turn to share about your session or one that was inspiring to you. The NAEYC Precis Abstract Management list will have links to session handouts up for a while—search for the session, click on the title, and scroll down to the bottom of the new session-details window that opens to see if any handouts have been posted.
My handouts will be up soon,
Peggy

To continue the theme of “what’s been brewing lately?” I recently received a message from an NSTA chapter leader who asked for guidance on what to consider before hiring staff to support their chapter.
Here are a few items to think about:

• First, consider your budget, level of activity and membership size (including the potential number of members your organization could have). These factors, with a few others, will dictate what type of management your organization will need.  Association management can vary from an executive director (with other staff members) to a part-time administrative assistant – and with that, the cost of management can vary as well!
• Connect with other education associations in your state. Do some research by contacting other organizations to do some comparison shopping.  The firms that manage these organizations may be willing to provide you with a proposal for service in the event you decide to hire staff.  You may often find a management company that specializes in working with a particular industry like educators, medical professionals, etc.  In most instances, this can be a “win-win” for everyone especially if the person (or company) that ends up managing your organization is well connected to key stakeholders in that particular state.
• Back to “level of activity”. Try to be detailed about what’s included in your Request for Proposal (RFP). This may be a time for you to not only consider what your organization offers its members and other stakeholders, but also what you should STOP doing – activities that don’t offer much to your organization’s member value proposition.

In general, your operations will fall under one of the following categories:

• Membership Services (including marketing)
• Financial Management
• Conference Planning
• Publication Development
• Web Design and/or Management
• Board and Governance Support, and
• General Administrative Support (answering phones, replying to e-mail messages, etc.)

I have uploaded an outline of management activities to the NSTA Chapters and Associated Groups Community.  If you are a chapter or associated group leader and have not joined the NSTA Chapters and Associated Groups Community, please send me a message (including your preferred e-mail address) and I will send you an invitation to join the community.
As always if you have questions, please e-mail me at tbirts@nsta.org.
Talk to you soon!
Teshia

“Different Routes to Science Teaching Lead to Common Ground,” the cover story of the November 2010 issue of NSTA Reports, looks at alternative certification and how “alt-certs” and their traditionally certified counterparts can work together successfully.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Please use the Comments form to share them.

Thank you all for your great comments on my first blog post!
This is a first for me and I wasn’t sure what the responses would be. There are some great examples of what is going on right now in classrooms. I am going to respond to some of the major points included in your thoughts rather than comment on each one.
To begin, you are right—the PCAST report (PDF) is long. I would highly suggest you read the entire document if you are really interested in policy debates and the process around developing science education policy. But please, certainly read the executive summary and the major recommendations, it is truly interesting reading if you have the time.
The need for more “inspiration” in science education seems to be a foundational issue in many of the comments. Last week during the NSTA regional Conference in Kansas City I heard Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Director of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education. What a terrific motivational speaker! Dr. Goldstein maintains that we need to instill students with a love for science and make sure they have a conceptual understanding of science at an emotional level. I could not agree more. Inspired students want to learn more. Inspired students want to pursue science (and science education) as a career. Each and every student should have an “a-ha” moment and feel the joy of science. Aren’t these “aha” moments why a lot of us went into teaching?
The Oct. 9–15, 2010, issue of the New Scientist includes a series on “Fifty Ideas That Will Change Science Forever.” This issue is focused on the coming revolution in biology, life and Earth. One of the ideas that are truly revolutionary is artificial photosynthesis. Says New Scientist “Some of the pieces of the jigsaw are already in place. Tiny light-collecting particles can be embedded on a membrane to absorb energy and split carbon dioxide and water molecules. The products are not sugars but carbon-neutral transportation fuels.” Just imagine putting these on cars or planes. How revolutionary is that? This too gives me a sense of wonder about science.

Another issue that came up in your comments was whether the recommendations in PCAST report would actually go anywhere. This remains to be seen. Will there be professional support and training to learn new and enhanced techniques? Will there be the resources to adequately teach science? I agree with your concerns, as do others. Last week Education Week reporter Erik Robelen filed an article that explores how President Obama has brought huge visibility to STEM education over the past year, but he asks whether the Administration is “matching the rhetoric with sufficient commitments in federal policy and spending.” The jury is still out on this too, but I can tell you we are working hard with a lot of key folks in Washington on these issues.
Another reader brought up the equity issue in science education. One was saying the United States needed to be focused on the top students in the sciences, while another commented on how we must include all students. I believe we can’t afford to focus on one group over the other, and we must do both.
I want to close with some thoughts on teacher education and teacher learning. One commenter said that we have to take teacher education seriously. You are absolutely right. There are very good teacher education models, yet many are expensive. Are we as a society ready for that investment? Recently the Association of Public Land Grant Universities (APLU)—the big state universities—launched an Analytical Framework for STEM Teacher Education that describes an effective teacher preparation program for science and mathematics teachers, and provides some very specific examples of effective criteria and processes that should be used in teacher preparation programs.
Teacher learning is also a concern. The National Staff Development Council just released a report about professional development trends in education and found that teachers are reporting experiencing much less in-depth professional development and are spending less time for professional development than four years ago. If we believe that the future of this nation is dependent on the education of our youth, then we have to do a much better job in getting much needed, quality professional development to teachers.
Your thoughts and ideas are welcome.
—Francis