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  • Answers to Your Questions About NSTA's District Professional Learning Packages

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    Professional development at the district level is now available for science educators from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Based on new research about the ways students best learn science and how…

  • Ed News: How to Build Community Leaders Through Student Genius Hours

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    This week in education news, new state tests show more than 50 percent of Alaska students are not proficient in science; new science standards come to NY schools; President Trump nominates Jim Bridenstine to lead NASA…

  • Interacting with students

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    I’m looking for ideas to get to know my students better and interact with them. My head spins with six different groups of students each day.  –M., Maryland You may have heard the idea that students don’t care what…

  • Partnering With Scientists

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    A Vanderbilt University Scientist in the Classroom Partnership fellow helps middle school students in the Nashville, Tennessee, area test their car design for speed. While it’s common for many teachers to have a…

  • Ed News: Teacher Shortages Affecting Every State As 2017-18 School Year Begins

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    This week in education news, federal data shows that every state is dealing with shortages of teachers in key subject areas; the University of North Carolina in Charlotte has launched an on-campus high school for…

  • Early-in-the-school-year science experiences to support later explorations

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    When children and teachers are just getting used to being at school and with each other, open-ended experiences can help bring joy to what may be a stressful time. Simple science experiences involve open exploration and…

  • What Goes Into STEM Certification? STEM Orgs Weigh In

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    What if you are an experienced science teacher but you have limited knowledge of engineering? Or you are an administrator looking for the most qualified person to fill a vacancy in your STEM lab? What if you are a…

  • The Eclipse Brings Science to Students and Society

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    As the darkness of totality approached, the birds grew quiet, the crickets started to chirp, and the students started to cheer. At least where I was at Hallsville Middle School in Hallsville, MO during the Solar…

  • Eclipse report from preschool

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    A total solar eclipse is seen on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) While some elementary, middle, and high schools required all students to remain indoors with window blinds drawn so…

  • Middle school botanists

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    I see many good activities for middle school involving plants, but what if students already did something similar at the elementary level? I don’t want to spend time on duplicate activities or get the eye-roll “we…

  • Collaborating to Improve Performance Expectations

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    Jessica Tetreault and I were the only two middle school teachers at a recent conference, so we were paired to create a common performance assessment that we could both use with our students in the coming months. She…

  • Ed News: VR Is Great, But Here’s Why Hands-On Learning Can’t Disappear

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    This week in education news, hands-on learning can’t disappear; new data shows that the U.S. teaching force has grown by 13 percent in four years; STEM instruction offers workforce benefits beyond the traditional…

  • Gravitational Interactions and 3-D Learning in Middle School

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    I recently embarked on a journey with K–8 teachers in Vermont to learn how to be intentional about planning for three-dimensional (3-D) learning in the classroom. To begin our journey, we determined which NGSS…

  • It's Elementary: Investigating Student Work

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    Teachers wear many hats in the classroom. We are doctors, therapists, IT technicians, politicians, and entertainers, but the one hat we wear that is essential for student learning is the detective’s hat. As detectives,…

  • Seeing Students Learn Science

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    It is truly an exciting time in science education. Science educators across the country are adapting to a new vision of how students learn science guided by the Framework for K–12 Science Education (Framework). As a…

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