In the fall of this year, we set ourselves three main goals. First, we wanted to create a curriculum guide for middle school science teachers that was aligned with state standards, and both appropriate and engaging for our students. Second, we wanted to provide regular professional development to all of the districtís middle school science teachers, to share this curriculum with them, and strengthen the community of science teachers. Lastly, we wanted to provide hands-on materials to teachers to allow them to do the hands-on activities with their students.

At this point we are all only too familiar with the needs in our district. Our real objectives run far deeper than a curriculum guide - this is just the surface form our work takes. Our deeper goal is to change what is normal in our schools. We want teachers to be well prepared, well supported and well supplied. Our creative teachers have a tremendous amount to learn from and to teach one another. We want an ongoing process that recognizes this collaborative process as central to our growth as teachers, and makes teacher leadership not only possible but expected.

We began the year planning to host after school sessions once a month where we would distribute our materials and share activities. In September we were offered a chance to do this during school hours, in conjunction with the Districtís Standards in Practice workshops. This delivered more teachers to us, and strengthened our connections across the District. We received invaluable support through the year from Kathleen Schuler and the District's NSF grant. We also continued to receive support from Chabot Space and Science Centerís Right From the Start grant, and Eileen Engel. Dale Koistinen, who will retire this year, has likewise been supportive. By years end each of our three teams had each hosted more than a dozen workshops, reaching an average of 20 to 30 teachers each time. Curriculum and hands on materials were distributed at many of these events, with a value in excess of $50,000. Little of this would have happened were it not for our project and the support of our partners. As the year drew to a close we received support for next year from the Districtís Peer Assistance Review team, and from the Middle School Demonstration Program grant.

We have received recognition from the professors that have served as our advisors. Both Dr. Lewis of Mills and Dr. Atkin of Stanford have expressed great respect for our work thus far. This Spring, we are receiving notice in the media, with the Montclarion commending our work as a model for our district. Most important of all, we have received recognition from our fellow teachers. One beginning teacher told me he did not think he would have survived his first year if he had not found support and materials at our sessions. This is what it is all about. If we can build stability and strength at our school sites, we can make a huge difference in the quality of education our children receive.

For next year, conditions will change, giving us new challenges and opportunities. The District will no longer be organizing centralized professional development such as SIP, so we will need to draw science teachers to our sessions based on their genuine desire to come. We hope to do this using four tools. First, we plan to offer outstanding mini-conferences every six weeks, featuring high-quality presentations by teacher leaders and partners such as UC Berkeley. Second, we are partnering with Stan Lakeís Middle School Math project, so that our conferences will include both science and math content. This will give us a critical mass of teachers, and greatly reduce the conflicts we have had in the past where teachers had to choose between two subjects they teach. Third, we intend to offer substantial material support, which will be distributed ONLY at these mini-conferences. Fourth, we intend to do extensive outreach to inform teachers about these opportunities and encourage them to attend. This will be done through on site presentations, and through a promotional video which we hope to show at the Back to school rally and on KDOL TV. We wish the awareness of our mini-conferences to permeate the community, so that parents, students and principals join us in encouraging teachers to implement hands on science.

We will be working this summer, first for three days in June -- the 18, 19 and 20th, then some of us as Chabot Scholars. We will review and revise the curriculum we distributed this year, make as much as possible available on the web, and prepare for our conferences. We will host an Open House on Aug. 28, where we will distribute curriculum and materials for the first six weeks. Our basic objectives are the same, but we are a few steps farther along our journey than we were a year ago. In the coming year, we hope to strengthen the curricular framework we have put forward, refining activities and filling in weak areas. We also hope to strengthen the community of science teachers and expand that community to include our colleagues that teach mathematics.

What we have done might be seen as extraordinary, for our District. Our hope is that this become not unusual at all, but perfectly normal. Those of us who have helped lead this work have felt tremendous satisfaction from seeing the difference we have made. We all entered teaching to make a difference -- we are trying to make sure all our teachers can feel they have done so, in their own classrooms, and for their colleagues down the hall and across town. Thanks to everyone who participated this year. It has been a blast!

Please share your opinions or thoughts as this process unfolds.