In July, about 80 teachers from Lincoln Unified’s Elementary schools joined forces at a summer institute to learn new science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) principles that they can apply in their classrooms through a three-year math grant called Lincoln MASTER.
The Lincoln MASTER grant, MASTER standing for math with added science, technology, and engineering for relevance, was written by Lori Green, principal of the new John McCandless STEM charter school for Lincoln Unified, and Teachers College of San Joaquin (TCSJ) Director of Graduate Studies and Research, Sylvia Turner.
“We want to improve the elementary teaching force for STEM,” Kelly Flanagan, director of Lincoln MASTER, said.
Content from science and practices from technology and engineering are infused with the math content. Math sessions for participating teachers occurs 50 percent of the time, Turner said.
Faces of the Lincoln Unified elementary school teachers showed excitement and curiosity as Turner explained myths about project-based learning in the classroom. Project-based learning, commonly referred to as PBL, is a standards-based teaching method that engages students in complex questions, problems or challenges.
The goal for the two-week institute was to provide teachers a foundation to write and implement a STEM PBL of their own in the classroom. Follow-up seminars throughout each year of the grant will allow teachers to collaborate with one another about successes and failures, reflecting and improving their PBLs for future students.
“Some of the teachers have already done PBL projects and will be able to run with their ideas during the first month of school,” said Turner, who is also an instructor for TCSJ. “Other teachers need a little more support, but we are here to help!
One of the activities of the institute asked teachers to analyze their own carbon footprint- how much carbon they put out in a single day. “The more eco-friendly you are, the less carbon energy you produce,” said Flanagan.
Daily activities such as eating beef and leaving the window open with the air conditioning unit on, contribute to increasing one’s own carbon footprint. Teachers wrote out their daily activities and then gave each other suggestions on how to make their carbon footprint smaller, such as opting for a chicken breast as opposed to a beef patty.
This classroom activity can help introduce elementary students to chemistry standards. “Beef is made from cows and cows produce methane,” said Flanagan. “Students can be introduced to chemistry elements with this activity.”
Flanagan said she is excited to bring a science focus back into the classroom. “The idea is to get up to speed with science and technology,” Flanagan said.Teachers who are participating in the grant also have the opportunity to earn their math authorization through the TCSJ with a little more work.
“The math authorization gives teachers the ability to teach all levels of math from kindergarten through algebra one,” Molly Johnson said. Johnson, TCSJ instructor, teaches one of the introductory courses for math authorization called Mathematical Discourse.
During the second week of the institute the Lincoln Unified School District (LUSD) teachers discussed the 3 R’s of PBLs-- Rigor, Relevance, and Reflection. Turner wrote down comments as teachers shared their thoughts on rigor: hardworking, complex, and challenging.
Other teachers responses included “critical thinking” and “being able to problem-solve.”
“It’s a deeper level of understanding,” commented Melanie Grupe, a kindergarten teacher from Lincoln Elementary.
The old state standards focused on English and math, however the rollout of the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) shows that science is now a focus as well. The new state standards and the new NGSS are not so much about learning facts, as they are about learning the skills, Flanagan said.
According to the California Department of Education, the NGSS are aligned to the Common Core state standards but are not part of them. The Common Core state standards include literary elements in science reading, but do not include science standards.The NGSS have been adopted by California as the science state standards.
Flanagan said the skills will come naturally as students read literature and write reports in their science classrooms.
“We want to give the students the tools to figure out what’s going on,” Flanagan said. “It’s critical thinking.”
The two-week summer institute was held at University of the Pacific which is one of the partners of the grant. The other partners include San Joaquin Delta College, TCSJ and LUSD.