Olympic ESD 114
The Olympic ESD 114 ClimeTime work is focused on increasing understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards while building a vision of science instruction consistent with the Framework for K-12 Science Education. Olympic ESD serves teachers in rural and remote areas on the Olympic Peninsula working to ensure equity and access to high quality professional learning opportunities in typically underserved communities. A focus of this project is on building relationships with teachers, assess needs, and connect services in a directed way to meet identified professional learning needs.
Teacher Professional Development
Elementary Storylines Project
The Storylines Project is comprised of 31 K-5 teachers from nine districts in the Olympic ESD Region. Teachers work in collaborative teams to modify an existing science unit to create a cohesive storyline with a compelling and puzzling phenomenon to teach in their classrooms. Project activities include both regional meetings and locally delivered “hub meetings” to reduce travel and out of classroom time. Survey data has shown that over 90% of Elementary Storyline teachers understand the role of relevant and compelling phenomena in science instruction. 86% of Elementary Storylines teachers report that understanding the unit storyline helps them better anticipate students’ questions and the learn about the science ideas in their units. All of the teachers surveyed in this project believe it is important to have a science unit that explains a phenomenon or solves a problem.
Collaboration for Ambitious Science Teacher Learners (CASTL) Project
Continuing the work of the Partnership for Ambitious Science Teacher Leaders (PASTL), the Collaboration for Ambitious Science Teaching and Learning (CASTL) recruited 56 teachers to take part in a three day introduction to explanatory modeling and advocated by the Ambitious Science Teaching group at University of Washington. During the school year, teachers were released to bring in examples of student work and to engage in highly scaffolded and focused conversations (called Reflective Planning Days or RPD’s) about the student ideas evident in that work.
Instructional Materials
OpenSciEd Project
OpenSciEd project for middle school science teachers where they have increased their pedagogical understanding of science teaching and implemented (piloted) two units in their classrooms.
Elementary Storylines and CASTL Project
Teacher professional learning through modification of existing units to better align with the Washington Science Learning Standards and vision in the Framework for K-12 Science Education.
Partners & Collaborators
Washington Green Schools
Islandwood
Pacific Education Institute
Northwest ESD 189
Puget Sound ESD
Projects
Elementary Storylines Project
Teachers build a cohesive unit “storyline” with existing instructional materials. This includes examining the standards to identify big science ideas; finding a puzzling phenomenon to anchor an investigation or a series of lesson; teachers teach the unit and gather evidence of student learning; project includes opportunity to learn more about NGSS and Science and the Schoolyard, and enlist direct support from project partners.
OpenSciEd Project
Middle school teachers from districts are trained in the new instructional materials which are being developed as open-source materials. Partners include several high education folks and Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Collaboration for Ambitious Science Teacher Learners (CASTL)
Teachers learn about the Ambitious Science Teaching practices; teachers plan for modifications in a unit and try out specific “practices” that embody the AST methodology.
Middle School Science Collaboratory
Middle school teachers focus on learning about instructional shifts in the NGSS. Teacher learn about productive classroom routines and task based discussions in the science classroom.
Success Stories from ESD 114
Olympic ESD 114 Elementary Storylines Project Hub #3
On March 12th and 13th, eighteen elementary school teachers learn about NGSS 3D assessment and utilizing FA tasks within the context of a research-based informal formative assessment cycle. The event was designed and delivered by ESD 114 and Pacific Education...
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Thermal Energy OpenSciEd
On February 25-26, 6th grade teachers from three school districts on the Olympic Peninsula participated in learning about a new OER sixth grade unit called Thermal Energy. Teachers will be piloting the unit in their classrooms this coming spring. The number of...
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Zombie Guacamole Training
In ESD 114, 21 5th grade teachers gathered to learn about Washington Green School's 5th grade unit called Zombie Guacamole. In this NGSS-driven and phenomenon-based curriculum, students explore the factors of decomposition to understand how a bowl of guacamole was...
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