High School Chemistry and Physics Teacher

[pdel...@pekinhigh.net]

Alright I understand that idea of Next Generation Science Standards and how it evolved.  But understanding how they evolved and how they relate to the content that the Illinois State Standards and others have told us for years, in which, the content that we have been told to teach and now hearing that we don't have to teach as much content because NGSS is more about the process than all the content.  Well, how are students going to know the basic facts if we don't include them - specifically in science the content is the important part of science - students and their misconceptions on science have come from practice and they have coming to the idea that seeing is believing and the NGSS standards- I believe sometimes forgets that science is what lies within the substance that makes it work.  I understanding modeling will help - analyzing different scenarios and coming up with possible explanations of why it happened or why it didn't happened, etc.  But sometimes with science it is about the belief that there is something smaller than what we can see that explains it all.  I think that is where I challenge myself - I hope that leading kids into the NGSS helps me as a teacher and that students will become more interested in science via these new standards, but I still look at the students (some) and they are a give me this give that answer society - which I understand is not a good thing.  But it will take years and years to do and it takes teachers really knowing the science to be able to ask the right questions - which is really hard for K-8 teachers because they have to be expert in all the new standards (Common Core, etc.).