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Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Science Opinion

How to Meet the Challenges of Teaching Science

By Larry Ferlazzo — August 10, 2022 5 min read
Illustration of woman using telescope.
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During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 11 years. You can see all those collections from the first 10 years here.

Today’s theme is on Science Instruction.

You can see the list following this excerpt from one of the posts:

learningtofaildill

1. Four Good Science Teaching Strategies & How to Use Them

Three science educators share their go-to teaching strategies, including encouraging student talk and implementing project-based learning. Read more.

2. The Three Most Effective Instructional Strategies for Science—According to Teachers

Three science educators share their favorite instructional strategies, including incorporating a sense of play in their classes. Read more.

3. Ten Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies for the Science Classroom

Four teachers share how they implement culturally responsive instruction in their science classrooms. Read more.

4. ‘Challenges, Curiosity, Creativity, & Community’ in the Online Science Classroom

Four science educators share online teaching tips, including having students conduct hands-on experiments at home and maintain scientific notebooks. Read more.

5. Science Instruction in the Age of the Coronavirus

Four science educators share their experiences adapting to online instruction, including through collaborative learning and the use of online labs. Read more.

6. Don’t ‘Steal the Aha’ From Science Instruction

Linda Tolladay, Patrick L. Brown, James P. Concannon, Ross Cooper, and John Almarode share their “nominations” for the biggest mistakes made by science teachers. Read more.

7. Ways to Use Tech in Science Class

Erin Bridges Bird, Peggy Harte, Patrick Brown, James Concannon, Nick Cusumano, and Donna Markey share ways to use ed-tech in science classes. Read more.

8. How to ‘Weave Writing Throughout Science Lessons’

Anne Vilen, Sheila Waggoner, ReLeah Cossett Lent, Jason Wirtz, Amy Benjamin, Jennifer L. Altieri, and Fred Ende contribute their suggestions on incorporating writing into science classes. Read more.

9. Ways to Integrate Writing Into Science Classes

Mary K. Tedrow, Amy Roediger, Maria Grant, Diane Lapp, Ed.D., Mandi White, Tara Dale, and Becky Bone share their suggestions for how to integrate writing into science classes. Read more.

10. ‘The Biggest Challenge to Science Teachers Is Time’

Alfonso Gonzalez, Mike Janatovich, Anne Jolly, and Camie Walker share what they think are the biggest challenges facing science teachers today. Read more.

11. ‘Give Me Longer Class Periods and More Space,’ Science Teacher Pleads

Anne Vilen, Marsha Ratzel, Charles R. Ault Jr., and AJ Sisneros contribute their ideas on the biggest challenges faced by science teachers. Read more.

12. Teaching ELLs That ‘Science Is a Verb’

Maria Grant, Diana Lapp, Judy Reinhartz, Lori Fulton, Brian Campbell, and Laura Cabrera contribute their ideas on using the Next Generation of Science Standards with English-language learners. Read more.

13. Teaching Science to English-Language Learners

Alicia Johal, Maria Montalvo-Balbed, Donna Barrett-Williams, Caleb Cheung, Laura Prival, Claudio Vargas, and Ariane Huddleston share their suggestions on using the NGSS with English-language learners. Read more.

14. Response: With 3D Printers, ‘You’re Only Limited by Your Imagination!’

Laura Blankenship, David Malpica, David Thornburg, and Terry Graff have contributed commentaries on the role of 3D printers in the Maker Movement. Read more.

15. The Maker Movement Can Give Students ‘a Story to Tell’

Tanya Baker from the National Writing Project discusses implications the Maker Movement has for different content areas, National Teacher of the Year Jeff Charbonneau elaborates further on its connection to STEM, and Leslie Texas and Tammy Jones make a connection to project-based learning. Read more.

16. The Maker Movement Believes in ‘Kid Power’

Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary S. Stager graciously adapted a portion of their book, Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Education in the Classroom, into a piece for this blog. Read more.

17. A Nobel Laureate Writes About Becoming a ‘Science Coach’

Carl Wieman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 and well-known for his advocacy of cooperative and engaging methods for teaching science, shares his thoughts. Read more.

18. Teaching Science by ‘Thinking Big’ and ‘Being Audacious’

Linda Shore, director of the Exploratorium Teacher Institute, and high school science teacher Amy Lindahl offer their responses in this post. Read more.

19. Teaching Science by “Becoming a Learner”

High school physics teacher Frank Noschese, middle school science teacher Paul Cancellieri, and Steve Spangler, well-known teacher-trainer and creator of science multimedia tools, respond to the question here. Read more.

20. Teaching Science by Asking Questions

Middle school science teachers Marsha Ratzel and Paul Bruno share their responses in this piece. Read more.


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The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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