Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Teaching Real Science to Real Students: On Being a Thoughtful Science Teacher and Doing a Good Job

PART I Student Ideas Are the Raw Material of Our Work

1 Aiming for Culturally Relevant Science Teaching: An Argument for Meeting Our Students Where They Are

2 Eliciting Students’ Ideas: Student Ideas as the Raw Material of Science Teachers’ Work

3 Every Misconception a Shiny Pebble: Glimpsing Beautiful and Productive Extensions of Prior Knowledge

4 Responding to Student Questions Without Giving Answers: “Maybe it Will Just Have to Remain a Mystery Forever”

PART II Real Science, Real Students

5 HeLa Cells, High-speed Chases, and Other Essential Questions: Because Science Class Should Not Be a Trivia Game

6 Reconsidering Labs and Demonstrations for Model-Based Inquiry: Don’t Throw Away Those Owl Pellets Just Yet

7 What if the Stork Carried 20-sided Dice? On the Use of Models and Simulations as Tools for Thinking

8 Eyes Like a Scientist: Framing Safety as Part of Scientific Practice for Students

9 In Praise of Field Trips and Guest Speakers: Bringing the Inside-Out and the Outside-In for Science Learning

10 “Before Today I was Afraid of Trees”: Rethinking Nature Deficit Disorder in Diverse Classrooms

PART III Science Teacher Learning

11 Observing Candles and Classrooms: Learning from Other Teachers by Withholding Judgment

12 Mentoring New Science Teachers: Novices Get Better When We Support Them with Good Feedback

13 The Black Belt Science Teacher: Differentiation and a Speculative Learning Progression for Science Teachers

14 Teaching at the Boundaries of Our Knowledge: Being Knowledgeable Enough About What We Teach to Not Feel Like a Fraud

15 Playing School vs. Doing Science: Providing All Students with Access to the Means of Knowledge Generation

Afterword: Good Reasons for Becoming a Science Teacher

About the Author

Douglas B. Larkin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Montclair State University. He has worked as a high school science teacher and educator in New Jersey, Wisconsin, Kenya, and Papua New Guinea. His research examines science teacher preparation and retention, as well as issues of equity and justice in teacher education.

Reviews

"This book speaks to all types of science teachers and their different contexts—Doug Larkin is writing to a diverse science teacher audience. The way he integrates and weaves together stories from his teaching and his work as a teacher educator with those of other teachers makes the whole book feel connected, an authentic learning experience. The book is written the same way he envisions science teaching—it is meant to be intriguing and real not just a series of facts forced onto the reader."Dr. Anna Monteiro, Program Officer, Knowles Teacher Initiative"I love the tempo and approach to this book. It is accessible and clearly connects the 'bigger issues' of science education to the actual practices of teaching."Dr. David Meshoulam, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Speak for the Trees and High-School and College Science Instructor."As a (former) science teacher I felt both validated and challenged by the book. It is a wonderfully realistic portrayal of teaching science in real classrooms and recognition of all that science teaching entails. I like that Larkin encourages teachers to forge stronger connections to science practices and deeper learning, and he communicates these important messages as a nudge towards more collaborative sense-making. It’s positive and encouraging and offers teachers ways to reorient what they already do towards more robust science teaching. " Jennifer Wilfrid, Senior Outreach Specialist, WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research

"This book speaks to all types of science teachers and their different contexts—Doug Larkin is writing to a diverse science teacher audience. The way he integrates and weaves together stories from his teaching and his work as a teacher educator with those of other teachers makes the whole book feel connected, an authentic learning experience. The book is written the same way he envisions science teaching—it is meant to be intriguing and real not just a series of facts forced onto the reader."Anna Monteiro, Ph.D., Program Officer, Knowles Teacher Initiative"I love the tempo and approach to this book. It is accessible and clearly connects the 'bigger issues' of science education to the actual practices of teaching."Dr. David Meshoulam, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Speak for the Trees and High-School and College Science Instructor."As a (former) science teacher I felt both validated and challenged by the book. It is a wonderfully realistic portrayal of teaching science in real classrooms and recognition of all that science teaching entails. I like that Larkin encourages teachers to forge stronger connections to science practices and deeper learning, and he communicates these important messages as a nudge towards more collaborative sense-making. It’s positive and encouraging and offers teachers ways to reorient what they already do towards more robust science teaching. " Jennifer Wilfrid, Senior Outreach Specialist, WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research