Uplifting Science Story
An absolutely fantastic story from teacher Craig Parsley at Crosscuts about teaching science with the help of a cranky boiler and a hard-working custodian. Basically: "... how Dave the custodian became an integral part of the science program at Schmitz Park Elementary School in West Seattle." From the article: Though the standards seem to be a moving target these days, with new educational goals this year and possible federal standards coming soon, there are three basic themes teachers can hang their lab coats on: physical science, earth and space science, and life science. While there are multiple and overlapping domains within these themes, we can distill them down into just a few words: energy, rocks, and photosynthesis. He explains the problem in SPS: The are two key themes in Seattle’s science mission statement that limit the methods teachers may use to inspire budding young science minds: “construct” and “investigate.” Essentially, constructivism promulga...