Category Archives: Instructional Practice

Informal Inference: Reframing Instructional Design for Data Literacy?

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Bill Zoellick

We collect and analyze data in order to make inferences. Sure, there are other reasons to collect data.  For example, every year I write down the date that the forsythias come into bloom in our backyard. No inferences there … … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Science in Schools, Data Literacy, Instructional Practice | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Making Students’ Thinking Visible While Apart

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Bill Zoellick

Schools in Maine shut down at the start of the third week of March. They will not reopen before the end of this school year. When the schools shut down, my teaching partner, Sarah Hooper, and I were working with … Continue reading →

Posted in Authentic Science in Schools, CSI-Maine, Data Literacy, Instructional Practice, Schools and Community | Tagged , | Leave a comment

NGSS as Maine’s Science Standards? It’s Not So Simple.

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Bill Zoellick

Many educators feel that the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) should become Maine’s science standards. There is no question that the NGSS have already had a positive impact on science instruction across Maine. But some of us who help schools and … Continue reading →

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Design of Middle and High School Citizen Science Programs

Posted on August 9, 2017 by Bill Zoellick

I have been invited by a National Academy of Science committee to share some of what we have learned at the Schoodic Institute in more than 10 years of designing and implementing citizen science programs in schools. The invitation was … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Literacy, Instructional Practice, Professional Development | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Standards and Informal Science

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Bill Zoellick

Last Friday I was participating in a panel discussion about connecting informal science learning and classroom science–and the question of connecting informal science to standards came up. It’s a perfectly reasonable question. After all, teachers are expected to pay a … Continue reading →

Posted in Informal science, Instructional Practice | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Self-paced, Student-Centered

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Bill Zoellick

Last week I joined a group of science and math teachers to talk about how the new school year was going. One of the teachers is working in a school where the administrative directive is to shift to “proficiency based” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Instructional Practice, School Change | Tagged , , | 2 Comments