Marta R. Stoeckel, PhD, NBCT

When I was in elementary, we debated if 0 is pos or neg since that decided if recess was outside in pos temps and inside in neg. I don't think we did much math sensemaking, though!

There are places that get to negative Fahrenheit at least a few days per year! Lots of elementary schools around here have a rule in place that if temps are negative in Fahrenheit, recess is inside.

I've heard anecdotally from a math teacher who lived in MN then CA that kids in MN were more familiar with negative numbers. How much understanding that translated to is hard to say.

Day 53 prepped to go through state science test data with some high school teachers Monday. Scores were low across the state, so really thinking about how to keep this from being demoralizing and focused on high quality science learning, not test prep. #Teach180

Generative AI Critical Resources

If it's helpful, I've been keeping a list of articles, podcasts, etc that I find useful in this spreadsheet docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

@shanavwhite.blacksky.app
@charleswlogan.bsky.social
@audreywatters.bsky.social and @benjaminjriley.bsky.social both also have newsletters I like

AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge "Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."

The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort:

www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...

Day 52 first day back after a bout with COVID meant lots of catching up on emails and a few Schoology issues. Also did a little work with some data on what kids are taking for their 3rd year of science. #Teach180

Day 51 met with a middle school principal to talk about how some work that building is doing this year aligns to what we are prioritizing in science #Teach180

I have an unofficial professional goal to have a day where I make it to all 5 sites. Today I just missed the second middle school.

Day 50 I made it to 4 of my 5 sites! Started at a MS to observe the anchoring phenomenon lesson, went to a HS to drop in to classrooms, back to the MS to meet with 6th grade teachers, then to the district center to catch up on emails before going to the other HS for a PLC! #Teach180

Day 49 students in MN pick chemistry or physics for their 3rd year of science. I started getting some enrollment data on who's taking each option in our district so we can start digging into some questions about that choice. #Teach180

A photo of an empty road before dawn. There are dark trees on either side of the road. The sun is just starting to rise, so the cloudy sky is dark blue near the top of the photo, then going to purple and red toward the horizon.

A little over a year ago, I started commuting by bike when the weather and my schedule allow. Even though my morning ride is chilly and dark right now, it's worth it every time.

Day 48 caught up on emails after being out Fri and Mon, followed up on some Schoology trouble tickets, and met with my mentor for a sci ed leadership program to think through some assessment challenges #Teach180

Day 47 did some more prep to lead an upcoming PD and met with some 6th grade science teachers to look at the driving question board lesson in the next unit. Fun to see how excited they are for what's in that lesson! Now a couple of personal days to visit some friends. #Teach180

Day 46 lots of meetings, but also spent some time visiting science classes in one of the high schools. It's always fun to be back around kids doing science! #Teach180

Day 45 started gathering some info on where middle school science is at on assessment and did some planning a districtwide meeting that's coming up #Teach180

Day 44 I joined a 6th grade class to support a teacher using Gizmos for the first time and worked on some documents to help show how our standards have kids progress in the science practices #Teach180

Day 43 was the last day before a long weekend! I met with a teacher thinking about how standards-based grading could fit with our curriculum and put together some materials showing how our state standards call for kids to develop in the science practices 6-8. #Teach180

The Indian Ed folks had the idea to focus on music. Kids watched some videos with background on drums in Native culture and powwows, then listened to and discussed a couple examples of powwow music. Next, they did the same with some examples of Indigenous artists combining club and powwow music.

Day 42 met with my middle school math counterpart to start thinking about what more collaboration between our departments could look like, which is really exciting #Teach180

Becoming an Everyday Changemaker: Healing and Justice At School Educators with a vision for more equitable, caring schools often struggle with where to begin. I’m just one teacher, where can I start to make change? Is it even possible? How do I do this within curr...

If you are struggling with polarization and its impact on your school staff, might I recommend my book Becoming an Everyday Changemaker? I have a whole chapter on cultivating both/and thinking as a skill for school change!

www.routledge.com/Becoming-an-...

Day 41 is Indigenous Peoples Day, which means all 6-12 students did a lesson I worked on with folks from our Office of American Indian Ed. I wish I’d made plans to visit some classrooms doing the lesson, but will try next year if I’m involved again. #Teach180

AI in education amplifies existing biases against marginalized or vulnerable groups

AI in education is not evidence-based but based on speculation and proof of concept claims

Day 40 led some PD on supporting groupwork in our science curricula and had some good conversations that helped me deepen my understanding of what's happening in middle school science #Teach180

Day 39 spent a couple hours visiting middle school classrooms. One of the realities of going from supporting 2 buildings to 4 is I’m in each one less often than in the past and I’m feeling less connected. I need to give some thought to how I can be more present in each school. #Teach180

Day 38 I worked on making sense of the reports that break down our state test scores by disciplinary core idea and did some digging into gaps between what's in our state standards and what's in our middle school science curriculum #Teach180

Day 37 did a peer observation in a bio class and checked in with some 6th grade science teachers to help make sense of the teacher materials for our curriculum #Teach180

I love this! So well put!

I think we have to start teaching information from AI as a type of adaptation. The information you get isn’t first hand: it’s all filtered through an algorithm’s lens, and it’s important to interrogate the algorithm and the lens if you want to learn something.