Practicum Post #1

Across my practicum we had multiple conversations about curriculum and teaching methods used in the classroom at Mid-Prairie. At Mid-Prairie they use the FOSS kits that were created by the University of California, Berkeley. These kits were made for kids in California, so they relate the science concepts to places and experiences kids that live in California would see. This makes it so it is not as relatable to students in Iowa. This is one of the multiple complaints about the FOSS kits that our team teacher had. The other big complaint, is that it is supposed to be inquiry, but it it too structured to be considered true inquiry, or at least in my opinion. The students are not given the opportunity to explore what they are interested in or guide the questions or the route of thinking. Everything is very scripted and as a result it makes it stuck and takes the autonomy away from the students. 

At Mid-Prairie the teachers do get to decide the curriculum, or at least they get some say in the curriculum. The school just transitioned to the banded grades at the middle school, so now they are following Iowa standards instead of just NGSS standards. The teachers do not get to decide the standards, but they do decide the curriculum. When the time came up to assess the curriculum (If I remember correctly it is roughly every 4-7 years), the district sends the teachers to science teachers conferences, where they get to look at and explore different curriculum. From there as a department they decide what they think would be the best. 

Due to the use of the FOSS kits it makes it so all lessons are already written out to the point where you don't have to have any understanding of science to really teach the material. I know our team teacher would love to move off book and set up her own labs and lessons, but the others in her department only know how to teach the FOSS kits. This makes me so happy that I am at Iowa and learning how to make my own lessons and taught to think critically and outside of the box.