It’s Time for Science Podcast Episode 24: student-centered learning and successful implementation

It's Time for Science, and it's time to talk about student-centered learning and successful implementation! Tom talks to science specialists Lynn Gutzwiller and Rachael Coleman from Jordan School District in Utah about how they best support teachers and how they were able to use ELA and technology funds to help fund their science curriculum purchase. Tom then talks with international classroom teacher Kendra Villalpando about keeping students engaged and her love of science!

 

Lynn Gutzwiller has worked in education for over 20 years, with extensive experience in middle school classrooms, administration, and instructional coaching.  She holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and multiple endorsements including Secondary English, Elementary STEM, Instructional Coaching, and Educational Technology. For the past 5 years, Ms. Gutzwiller has worked as a Science Specialist in Jordan School District. Her consulting work includes museums, universities, and school districts throughout Utah. After parenting 4 boys to adulthood, she enjoys exploring new places in Southern Utah and hanging out with her granddaughter.

Rachael Coleman has taught  middle and high school science for twenty years. For 6 years she has worked as a Science Specialist in Jordan School District. She holds Masters Degrees in Instructional Design and in Curriculum and Instruction, in addition to multiple teaching endorsements. Outside of work, Ms. Coleman enjoys outdoor adventures of any kind and spending time with her 4 children. Her consulting resume includes Discovery Gateway, Utah State Board of Education, Murray School District, School Specialty, Utah State University, and Canyons School District.

 

Tom talks with science specialists Lynn Gutzwiller and Rachael Coleman about how they approach supporting teachers in science instruction, including building resources and professional development; their beginnings as classroom teachers; the importance of hands-on science (nothing better than doing something with your hands while your brain is engaged!); how doing things with your own hands and watching data change is so critical to analysis; how being able to touch and interact with supplies is critical to answering focus questions. They discuss their journey to implementing FOSS; beginning with looking for a curriculum based on SEP and CC (not just slid in at the end); how they knew going into exploring implementation that they didn’t have enough funds to purchase a curriculum just with science funds, so they included ELA in the conversation and decision, allowing them to use some ELA and tech funds to purchase FOSS. They discuss how ELA has their own curriculum in district and their work to balance science and ELA; how they've found that as kids are building vocabulary doing science, they’re able to access more difficult texts; the shift for teachers to introduce vocabulary in context during an investigation and how it helps students understand vocabulary better; the advantages to having a district-wide curriculum, better able to support that curriculum across 42 schools. They talk about how their visits to every school helps teachers who are less comfortable with science as well as those who have a wider understanding of science; the importance of professional development and what it offers to assist both new and established FOSS teachers; fostering collaboration between teachers; what it was like adopting during lockdown; their favorite FOSS modules; and how disappointed kids are when it’s recess!

 

Kendra Villalpando has taught all over the world. Ms. Villalpando is a newer teacher, currently teaching upper elementary, who holds a master's degree in curricular instruction. 

 

Tom and Ms. Villalpando discuss her love of science; how science is best learned through active investigation; how she draws on her own childhood experiences with the natural word, bringing the spirit of curiosity and exploration to the classroom; the advantages of using hands-on science--talking specifically about her experiences using FOSS and how it mirrors her own approach. They discuss how she's set up science as something that all the class looks forward to; integrating science across all content areas; adding science writing to a formal writing space, as a “lab report," and how excited students are about the writing! Ms. Villalpando gives some examples of connecting science to the real world and historically. She discusses her experiences teaching internationally; her experience with FOSS allowing for access and success for all students and engaging all learners; as well as bringing in ELA and allowing for additional observation time and recording in notebooks.

 

 

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