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Earth & Space - Back to School Night Presentation

Added Sep 23, 2020 •

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This video presentation contains my Back to School Night message and information for the 2020-2021 school year.

Show Transcript

hello and welcome to back to school night for the 20 2021 school year obviously this is in a different format than usual this presentation specifically is for my Earth and space level 2 courses this year my name is Nathan einsig and if you need to get in touch with me at any point please use the email address that you see on the screen here or posted on the school website mbgsd. Org a little bit about myself this is my 16th year teaching at Mechanicsburg and I teach the 9th grade Earth and space course as well as an upperclassman elective for advanced geosciences my background is that I work an industry for a few years before shifting into a teaching career at the recommendation of a professor of mine I thought I'd like it and I absolutely did so I have an undergraduate degree in engineering and computer science Anna post baccalaureate degree in secondary Science Education in geology and I did finish my Masters of Science in geosciences a few years ago I am married with two daughters they are almost 10 next week and 13 and we have a giant fluffy husky mix mutt that wheel of names Cassidy so just some information about the level 2 Earth and space course to help you understand where we're going this year some of the differences from may be a normal school year and just so you understand how I'm approaching this course and teaching your children so the 9th grade Earth and space course covers the following topics we hit geology the ever-changing planet earth and its systems update about Earth history some fog Kohl's things like that we move into Earth's atmosphere including the water components the hydrosphere specifically getting into weather systems and climate systems and then we will round out the course with a look at astronomy what's out there in space our solar system how we explored it so far on what the future holds for our endeavors as humans into space my Approach with this course is anchored in both the state standards for Pennsylvania but also the Next Generation science standards which really focus on a student driven approach where they're making me a phenomenon and things that happen in nature instead of maybe that traditional teachers giving a lot of information to students up front and then telling them to memorize all of it and then go do things we've kind of flipped the script on that and take the approach of presenting things that happened in reality and real life in nature and have students have some choice in we approached investigating those items within the topics we need to cover this year so really this is a Hands-On approach focused on students processing things critical scientifically really being their own investigator of of Science and and what they can gather and gain from from that experience so these are skills that transfer to just about anything outside of their High School career these will be skills that apply to whatever they go into really some things to look for while your student is this year they will be keeping a notebook and they should be putting in trees and not just for the two days that I see them in person but also their 3 remote days during the week they know this already we talked about for mad and what that pattern should look like but whatever they're doing at home on the remote days they should be noting something in their notebook each day whether it's I completed the task and here's a quick overview to me taking some notes on something that they're investigating and looking at all my resources will primarily sit on Google classroom for this course I do give a lot of interactive presentation send feedback self-checks some form feedback through something called nearpod which is kind of an online interactive version of maybe PowerPoint so those are the two main methods for things coming out to students and feel free to join the Google Classroom where you will see resources listed and assignments organized into categories for each week that we have this semester together speaking of the time we have to because of the situation we find herself in with the pandemic and the hybrid schedule for the school this year we've condensed full credit for your courses into a semester block approach some things have been trimmed out which means what we're covering this year is absolutely essential to understanding the core pieces of this course and the Earth and space science content so each day I have the students you know I'm only seeing them around 36 Days in person in the semester and we have a lot to do and a lot of that is the Hands-On Pista working through science the process sing of science that means that the three days for remote work is absolutely essential that they take seriously complete on time ask questions to me to you to whoever they need to so that they are processing that in formation and using it to be prepared for those in class days grading for this course I have three gray categories that get us to 100% of the grade the first is gathering and processing sign epic information that's just them working through information and starting down the path to understanding whatever topic were on these would be kind of the smaller discovery type assignments that come through on remote days in person and they add up to 20% of the grave reasoning and communicating scientific ideas this is where they're going to make models and show me that they have processed through the understand and can communicate ideas of science phenomenon and science content topics that's 40% of the grade and our last 40% would be that application of of understanding that transfer of the science understanding those ideas those skills to a different situation or maybe a larger situation this would be typically aligned to maybe a task category although we will not be major paper pencil test at the end of each unit there a large assessment score will be based in that application and practical use of the science skills Within topics of Earth and space science just one more reminder that remote days are class days they both count for attendance but also are considered the work that we would be doing if we were in the building it's not homework gets serious deliberate work the assignments are important to moving forward with the best understanding of what we need to do normally when I would have back to school night and I would meet you as parents I would hand you a note card when you walked into the room I'd ask you to put your child's name on one side and flip it over and on the other side right them I said something that I will give to them during their first large assessment they get anxious especially in 9th grade when that first big performance task comes through and I like giving them a message from you that helps them calm down and remember that everything's going to be okay that you're here for them that I'm here for them they're going to get through this so because I can't give you a note card this year if you could please email me a message by the end of next week so that would be Friday October 2nd I would really appreciate it and you know your child the best so you know if it's a humorous message something carrying loving something poetic artistic whatever is going to work for your kid to make them feel better during that assessment please send the message or drawing images whatever you want I will make some digit cards and give your child that message when we do the first assessment if you have any questions about that feel free to reach out as well this concludes my presentation for our back to school night 2020-2021 school year thank you so much please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you need anything. Have a great year please be in touch take care

Uploaded by Nathan Einsig.

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Earth & Space - Back to School Night Presentation

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