The good folks at the University of Washington have put together some free online resources titled STEM Teaching Tools. This site provides tools specifically designed to supports schools and districts as they begin implementing the Next Generation Science Standards.

Currently you will find 4 Practice Briefs to support NGSS implementation work:

• Practice Brief 1: Is it important to distinguish between the explanation and argumentation practices in the classroom?
• Practice Brief 3: Practices should not stand alone: How to sequence practices in a cascade to support student investigations
• Practice Brief 4: Are there multiple instructional models that fit with the science and engineering practices in NGSS? (Short answer: Yes.)
• Practice Brief 5: Using curriculum adaptation as a strategy to help teachers learn about NGSS and developing aligned instructional materials

I’m looking forward to lots of excellent tools and supports on STEM Teaching Tools in the coming months.