Spryte

At my school we use choice boards and/or allow students to choose how they want to demonstrate what they have learned. Some make videos, posters, or art projects, while others prefer to write reports and essays. To save my own time on making different rubrics I often like to present three-four different types of projects that students can choose from. I also like to assign group projects as my students often struggle with social skills. Each student from each group chooses their "job" for the project and they have to check in with each other throughout the process. They also have to edit each other's work before turning in a final project.

I try to encourage my students to ask as many questions as possible, and remind them that there are no stupid questions and that we should all support each other in the learning process. I also like to ask open-ended questions, and will try to answer a question with a question. I encourage my students to ask questions of each other as much as possible or to look their questions up before coming to me so it helps them get in the habit of doing their own research.

Just taking the time to sit without technology and listen was so impactful. I think this will be an awesome activity at the beginning of the year in my science class to help students understand that their instincts are what will help make them great scientists.

I, like other contributors to this thread, love the idea of helping students think like or see themselves as scientists. I was never good at math, so I always thought growing up that I couldn't be a scientist, even though I really love science. If I was able to see myself as a scientist based on activities that didn't involve math, I think I would have been more motivated to pursue the field of science as more than a hobby. I now teach science at a school for students with learning differences. So, many of them struggle with either reading/writing and/or math. Helping my students understand that they too can be a scientist through different citizen science activities will definitely help build their confidence in a variety of ways and academic subjects.

Before the pandemic my science class explored how much food our students, faculty and staff wasted each day after lunch. They wanted to know how they could help our school be more "green". I asked them to come up with a process and present it to me for helping our school be more "green". They worked in groups to come up with a presentation for our head of school to ask for compost bins for our school. They took turns at lunch collecting food that was to be thrown away and weighing the food (in garbage bags). They collected data and estimated how much food is wasted every day, week, month, and school year on average. They then took pictures and created a video presentation for our head of school presenting the information and how compost bins will benefit our school waste problem. The head of school said yes! And the school paid for compost bins around the school. I believe this is inquiry level 4 - Open Inquiry as students asked the questions, and came up with the procedures. I think my students practiced data analyzing and observation.