iTEAMS
The San Rafael City Elementary School District was recently awarded a California Math and Science Partnership Cohort 10 grant to support integrated Technology Engineering and Math Science (iTEAMS). iTEAMS is a professional development research project designed to provide teachers with support to deepen their content knowledge and pedagogy to promote STEM education aligned to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Professional development for the grant activities will be provided by the Math Department of San Francisco State University and the Exploratorium. Ongoing coaching will be provided throughout the school year by Julie McNamara and other content area coaches.
KCSDC CaMSP April 2015 Newsletter Highlights SRCS Teachers
Dozens of pictures of cartoon characters cover the tables at the San Rafael City Schools' District office boardroom. Groups of teachers are arranging the pictures to form a storyline according to inferences made from the pictures' details. Larry Horvath, Associate Professor of Education at San Francisco State University (SFSU), explained, "Not all science has controlled experiments. Evolution and geology require claims from evidence and inferences from that evidence."
Next, groups share their story with another group and the group asks questions. Together, they agree on the strongest story. Larry produces a new picture. "Here is a new discovery! Do you now need to revise your story?"Larry explains to the teachers that science is constantly changing based on new evidence. At the end of the activity the teachers reflect on all of the Science and Engineering Practices they had used.
The teachers are part of the integrating Technology Engineering and Math/Science (iTEAMS) project. iTEAMS embraces the full potential of STEM integration by incorporating both engineering and technology into their math and science programs. The project is a partnership between San Rafael City Schools, San Francisco State University, the Exploratorium, and four local school districts. More information can be found on their profile page. The project has 58 teachers in grades 3rd through 8th...continued
