NGSS Sample Performance Assessments

The sample Performance Assessments were released last month and I'm just now getting a chance to sit down and look at it. And it will take some time to digest it. Each is 17 pages and includes background information, description of the tasks, time lines and examples. The Solar Oven is the only one that seems primarily Physics. As you read it, you may come to realize its a fairly complex assignment as I did. Each time I thought I understood how to implement it in my classroom another page reveals another layer. I don't know how this can be achieved with hands on materials in my classroom.

Paper Management: Taming the Paper Beast

New Teacher Institute, Exploratorium - September 20, 2014
Presented with Shana Solinksy
The amount that teachers have to deal with on a daily basis is vast! Shana and I talked about strategies to manage it and minimize it all.

Workshop write-up (pdf or google doc)

Workshop powerpoint (pdf or ppt)

Link to photos from the workshop

NGSS Aligned Unit Outlines

Working with my colleagues we took our District's linear sequence for Physics and found the Performance Expectations that fit with each of our units. From there we added our own objectives for some, more for others; Waves & Sound for example have many more of our own objectives because there are not many in NGSS that are about sound and mechanical waves. We also found some Science & Engineering Practices that were included in these units. There are many more practices we could have kept, but we were trying to keep it to a page. :) These are a work in process and are our own curricular guides; please take them lightly as we along with the rest of the country align to NGSS.

NGSS Aligned Unit Outlines:

Kinematics	Forces	2D Forces	Energy
Circular Motion,Torque	Thermodynamics	Momentum	Waves & Sound
Electrostatics	Electromagnetism	Current Electricity

Paper Management: Taming the Paper Beast!

New Teacher Institute September 28th, 2013

Presented with Maria Kapadia

 

Teachers have to deal with so much paper it is often overwhelming! We shared strategies about how to mange paper, how to minimize it and more.

 

Workshop powerpoint

Workshop handout

Ideas for paper management by category  - created by the participants

3 Dimensional Learning analogy

A great article on NSTA's blog about how to employ the NGSS. I love the cooking analogy!

Common Core & NGSS at PUSD

PUSD Common Core Institute August 21st, 2013

Presenter Handout (doc or pdf) with Inside the NGSS Box from NSTA on the back

Common Core materials:

Anchor Standards for Reading (pdf) and Writing (pdf)

Reading in Science (pdf)

Text Complexity (pdf)

Writing Standards (pdf)

CER aka ClEvR materials:
CER Explanatory Handout (doc or pdf) and a word document of the chart on the second page is available here.
CER Activity with prompts (doc or pdf)
An example of an activity for Physics with the CER strategy called "Graphing Experimental Data Lab" (doc or pdf)

Presentation powerpoint (pdf)

Story Telling in Physics

NCNAAPT November 3rd, 2012, Sierra College



There are many times during the year that I use the art of storytelling to captivate my students. Setting up a problem or sharing the history of a discovery can be as interesting as the phenomenn itself.

Powerpoint accompanying talk is available here.
Most curriculum resources are available here.  

I have use the book "The Pluto Files" by Neil deGrasse Tyson for several years now as part of my Astronomy curriculum. deGrasse Tyson is a great story teller. All of the material is available here:  
The Pluto Files Curriculum

Review Strategies for Physics

NCNAAPT April 21st, 2012, Lake Tahoe Community College
 
I presented a workshop with more of a Physics focus on review strategies for NCNAAPT.

Workshop handout available here as a word document.
Accompanying workshop powerpoint available as a pdf or as a powerpoint
Blank Jeopardy template available here
Bree's YouTube Channel: www.YouTube.com/MsBarnett

Review Strategies

Exploratorium New Teacher Institute March 24th, 2012
Presented with Maria Kapadia





There are many different ways to review content with students. The ideas shared include quick end of class review games or larger review projects.

Workshop handout available here.
Accompanying workshop powerpoint available here as a pdf or as a powerpoint.
Bree's YouTube Channel: www.YouTube.com/MsBarnett
Maria Kapadia: maria.kapadia@yahoo.com
Feel free to email either one of us for more information on any. You can also ask for pictures or descriptions.

Calendar Pacing (Backwards Planning)

Exploratorium New Teacher Institute September 24, 2011
Presented with Steve Miller

Here is the power point following the General Guidelines sheet is available as a pdf.
Sample templates are available altogether as a pdf or doc. Downloading the templates to word may be easiest.
The website CalendarsThatWork.com has free printable calendars like this one for the current school year.
Bree's sample lesson plan including color coding, etc.
Generic Video questions for emergency substitute plans.
Sample Guided Reading assignment as a pdf or doc (students read the accompanying pages while filling in the worksheet) and the accompanying pages to give you an idea.

Conceptual Physics Strategies

NCNAAPT April 23rd, 2011 at the Exploratorium
Presented with Jon Brix

Jon and I discussed several strategies that we employ in our Conceptual Physics classrooms. There are several links to resources below:

The full powerpoint is available here as a pdf and a summary as a doc.
An example of a Guided Reading homework assignment is available here as well as several more on my calendar.
Project examples are available on my website.
GUESS and equation triangle instructions available here.

Probably the most important piece of advice Jon and I have is that you must have patience when teaching Conceptual Physics to freshmen. Both with them as they are younger students that still need to be taught basic study skills most of the time; and with yourself as you must use several different teaching strategies. Conceptual Physics can be very rewarding but also requires a fair amount of prep in order to continuously assess their understanding and adjust plans as needed. Please feel free to contact us with any questions and we plan to continue to bring workshops and discussions about Conceptual Physics to NCNAAPT meetings.