Here are some proven steps to take that will get you and your students learning and doing relevant, inquiry-based science in your local community alongside scientists and peers statewide.
1. Attend a Teacher Institute
Learn it by doing it
I have not done a great deal of field work before, but now feel that the investment of time will be well worth it!
Teacher Institute 2009
While you can register with Vital Signs anytime as a teacher and learn the ropes on your own, we recommend that you attend a Teacher Institute. Institutes model best practices in inquiry instruction, demonstrate how to integrate Vital Signs into your existing standards-aligned curriculum, and connect you with the Vital Signs Team and our statewide community. Institutes offer time to explore, do, play, reflect, and create a personalized action plan that will guide your classroom implementation. Institutes are no-cost. They have perks.
2. Develop a unique, locally-relevant approach
Make it your own
The study of native and invasive species offers great flexibility in how and where to plunk Vital Signs in your curriculum. Service learning, creative & expository writing, genetics, biodiversity, ecosystem health, chemistry, literature…. They’ve all been done with impressive results. Take full advantage of the Open Resource Exchange of inquiry-based plans & resources authored by Vital Signs teachers.
3. Set up an investigation for your students
Investigate and add observations!
I wish you had seen my students' reactions while they were engaged in the field study. Then we watched as their observations came across the Vital Signs website, and the oohs and aahs started rolling in!
Mena Irving, Washburn District Elementary, Aroostook County
Once your students are primed with the knowledge & basic field skills & resources to investigate their research question , log in to enter trip information, access fieldwork resources, and to create usernames & passwords for each of your student teams. You’ll control their logins and will be notified of their online activity - when they publish observations & projects, and comment on others' published work - and related community activity including reviews & comments.
4. Use Science Notebooks to guide students’ inquiry process
Connect science and literacy
In an inquiry learning environment, students observe, ask questions, make predictions, record observations, analyze data, make and defend claims, and share their conclusions with the larger community. We offer an online, dynamic Science Notebook to registered users to help students organize, document, and reflect on their investigation. Based on tools and pedagogy originally developed by Michael Klentschy, the online Notebook prompts & guides students through each stage of the inquiry process.
5. Facilitate students’ community interactions
Connect your classroom with a community of practice
Through Expert & Community Reviews of the observations & projects they publish, online discussion forums, and VS Blog, students have ample opportunity to interact online with scientists, citizen scientists, teachers, and peers from across Maine. These powerful interactions motivate, build 21st Century skills, and extend learning beyond the classroom. Facilitate a successful learning experience for students using Vital Signs' social networks.
The first time
...is always the hardest. Fifty teachers from all over the place have made it through their first time and are now roaring ahead with confidence to their second, third, and fourth times. You can too! Don't hesitate to ask for some help the first time you implement new lessons, set up investigations & teams, use online Notebooks, and facilitate student-community interactions. The more we know about what's happening in your classroom, the better we get at creating effective professional development opportunities and offering in-class and online support.
Go ahead. Bother us.
