Focus on the Next Step, not the Long Dark
Author: Anna Babarinde
Published: 10.30.14
October can be a daunting month in the school year. I’ve heard it called the “long dark” by teachers and students alike! Vacation is over, the excitement of the new year is gone, and it’s time to get down to serious business.
October is when it becomes obvious to all that there’s a lot of work to do before we “arrive” at Veterans Day or, to the very forward-thinking, summer vacation. In fact, there is so much work that it seems overwhelming and, at times, impossible.
As teachers, we assure our students that it will all happen and there will come a point when they have learned what they thought they couldn’t and can take a deep breath. All they have to do is what they can do today, putting one foot in front of the other. But this sage advice is harder to apply to our own circumstances.
New standards can feel like the “long dark” of October. There is an initial phase when you learn about the standards and the exciting possibilities they hold for education. Even if you’re overwhelmed and intimidated, at least it’s new and full of potential. But then the reality sets in. There’s a lot to learn and much to be done in order to implement this new framework, and discouragement creeps up (or slams down like an iron curtain).
NGSS is no exception to this pattern. We want students to engage in inquiry and become critical thinkers and communicators. It is encouraging to picture them well-versed in science practices and able to compete in STEM careers. But then we realize that this will involve new learning, changes in lesson plans and curriculum, and a myriad of other time-consuming shifts. We start to question, “What will I do about technology and the new demands for lab supplies and space?” We are faced with unsettling decisions about course and topic sequence. And as the “long dark” settles in around us, we forget our advice to students—that it doesn’t have to be learned all at once. Just take the next step.
Start Now & Do What You Can
I love Teddy Roosevelt’s advice (see quote above), because it’s a reminder that we don’t have to have everything figured out to implement change. Yes, there are unanswered questions and needs that have yet to be met, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do SOMETHING.
And what is that something? For NGSS, I think the most accessible entry point is the science and engineering practices that are outlined in this NGSS Overview (pdf). No matter what science content you’re teaching, you can emphasize one or more of the practices in this short document. And as an added bonus, several of them—especially “engaging in argument from evidence”—also feature prominently in the Common Core Standards.
If we focus on slowly adding in NGSS practices and move forward one step at a time, we’ll make progress toward the end goal rather than getting paralyzed at the start by how big the task appears.
Will it all go smoothly? Of course not! Here is a picture that makes me look like an impressive scientist, but actually shows me making a misstep that keeps me humble. The honors biology classes at Maria Carrillo did an inquiry project around bacteria and it fell to me to sterilize the petri dishes at the end. Now as a science major I had lab courses, but they were all in field-based ecology and marine biology. I had never sterilized petri dishes. So I read how to do it online and decided that I needed to go the extra mile with protection since I was dealing with bacteria.
Well, one of my coworkers found me in all my garb with the petri dishes in a bucket of pure bleach and she doubled over in laughter. This was my first inkling that I hadn’t gotten it quite right. I later found out that a splash of bleach and some gloves would have done the trick. I learned for next time and got a good reminder of what it’s like to be a novice at something.
We Are All Novices
As we try out NGSS, we’re all novices. There’s the possibility of failing and looking silly, but we learn from these experiences and get better. We take the next step, then the next, and before you know it we’ve made it through the “long dark” with some good stories to tell about the journey.
So, take the first step. Do what you can, with what you have and where you are, and see where it takes you.
Happy end of October to you all!
Blog: Exploring NGSS
