Secondary Science Newsletter
October 21, 2014
Oklahoma's best science PD is coming to Edmond!
The Oklahoma Science Teachers Association Fall Conference
Coming October 31-November 1, 2014
OSTA “Flips” for Science
Registration for the OSTA Fall Conference is Now OPEN
The University of Central Oklahoma is once again the host for the OSTA Fall Staff Development Conference “OSTA Flips for Science”
UCO’s Howell Hall Science building on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
8 am until 4:00 pm
$30 per person full Member registration, includes refreshments before and during the conference as well as lunch.
When you register for the conference, be sure to check your attendance at the OSTA Awards Reception on Friday, October 31st. Join as we celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of outstanding science educators from across the state. The reception will be held on downtown OKC on Film Row at the Dunlap-Codding Law Firm. The address is 609 W. Sheridan.
Registration Discounts are available to Full time College/ University Students. Student volunteers can also receive a waiver on the cost of registration in exchange for service to the association during the conference. Contact Dr. Beth Allan to schedule volunteer time and obtain a registration discount code. Volunteer opportunities are limited.
On-line payment is preferred.
This is a Members-Only Conference.
Join OSTA HERE
Register for the Conference by logging in to your OSTA Memberclicks account (Login required).
Girls in STEM Award
If you know of any Oklahoma female high school students who are interested in pursuing a degree/career in STEM, please have them fill out an NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award application.
http://www.aspirations.org/participate/high-school
OK STEM Centers is looking for a few good teachers
OK STEM CENTERS…
is a statewide network of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Master Teachers (MT’s), The network is dedicated to providing regional, high quality professional development for PreK-12 teachers with the goal of improving student achievement in STEM.
OK STEM CENTERS activities will be held in collaboration with Career Tech Centers/regional universities where resident content experts can be a resource for each Master Teacher.
Master Teachers will be required to attend monthly training at the University of Central Oklahoma, do online content modules provided by the National Science Teachers Association, develop lesson plans for a statewide STEM Teacher Website to support the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science, and work at least 2 afternoons a week with their regional partners and/or teachers. Master Teachers are also encouraged to conduct at least one weekend training a month and will be required to conduct a summer professional development institute.
Minimum Requirements:
- Current K-6 teacher and/or 6-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics Teacher
- Masters Degree and/or National Board Certification Preferred
- Demonstrated experience and/or interest in being a teacher leader
Participants will receive an $800.00/month stipend during the school year and a $1500/month stipend in June and July.
To apply go to: OK STEM CENTERS Application
For MORE INFORMATION please contact:
Dr. Beth AllanBiology DepartmentUniversity of Central Oklahomaeallan@uco.edu(405) 974-5775Science Standards Framework Project- Applications being accepted
Announcing Science Standards Framework Project
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is seeking K-12 classroom educators to participate in the development of the Oklahoma Science Standards Framework. The Oklahoma Science Standards Framework will provide educators with information and resources to develop curriculum aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science. The framework will not serve as curriculum itself. The Oklahoma Science Standards Framework will be modeled from a similar resource developed in Minnesota (the Minnesota Mathematics and Science Standards Framework see link http://www.scimathmn.org/stemtc/).
To find out more about this opportunity and how you can apply go to https://www.ok.gov/dcs/solicit/app/solicitationSearch.php?status=open-pending and download a copy of RFP 2650000297. Please follow all instructions and if you have any questions, please contact the Contracting Officer listed on the first page of RFP Kathy Hallum, email: Kathy.hallum@omes.ok.gov or phone: 405-521-3851
Deep sea PD!
Programs and Applications can be found at :
http://www.oceanexplorationtrust.org/#!opportunities/cee5
If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Sam Garson
Education Programs Coordinator
Ocean Exploration Trust
samuel@oceanexplorationtrust.org
(401)874-6810
Cool Tech Tool of the Week: Teachability.com
Teachability.com is an environment for passionate teachers to connect, discuss, learn and improve. An environment where questions are welcome and breakthroughs are celebrated.
Members of the various topic-based Teachability communities also enjoy access to our subject matter experts and libraries of resources.
Questions: Can’t figure out how to handle a particularly tricky issue? Post it as a question and share the pain with fellow teachers who may be experiencing something similar in their own classroom, and get potential solutions from others who may have already grappled with this issue.
Breakthroughs: Just implemented a new change, and it worked really well? Post it as a breakthrough. Share what you did and why it worked to get feedback from teachers from around the world.
When posting your questions and breakthroughs you can just open your webcam and talk through your ideas or you can write a post describing what’s going on, what you need help with, what worked.
Don’t have anything to say right now? Another member could probably benefit from your experiences. Take a look at the current issues and breakthroughs to find something that strikes you, and weigh in on the discussion.
Teachability also offers the unique ability to connect related posts to each other. By connecting interrelated ideas to each other we can engage in true collaboration--increasing the value of originally isolated contributions.
Also noteworthy, we have gathered some of the world’s most respected authors and experts to weigh in on questions and breakthroughs from all of our teacher communities. So look forward to gaining direct access to some of the industry's best and brightest thought-leaders.
Instructional Strategy of the Week:
Erasable white boards are a great way to quickly, formatively assess students on-the-spot. A number of websites sell whiteboards, or you can purchase tile board at Home Depot or Lowe's. Tile board comes in 8'x4' sheets, and employees will cut the boards into 32- 1' squares for free. The result is a class set of 32 boards for less than $1 a piece. Alternatively, disposable plastic plates work well as dry erase boards, and are easy to store.
Also, you could attach poof balls to the ends of dry erase markers to make an eraser and marker in one!
Click here for more instructional strategies.
Need Resources?
And please send me awesome lessons or ideas so that I can share those across the district.
Safety Reminder
Please review the following documents before beginning any activity that may pose a risk to students (directions for locating these resources are in parentheses).
- Science Class Safety Information Sheet (R:\Safety Information\Internal Policies)
- Secondary Science Safety Notebook (R:\03 High School Resources\Science\Secondary Science Safety)
- Review all documents in R:\03 High School Resources\Science\Secondary Science Safety
If you have any questions at all regarding safety in the science classroom, please contact me.
Important Dates
- Pets in the Classroom Grants (PK-8th)- now open
- Fund for Teachers Travel Grants- opens October 1
- Classroom Makeover Contest submissions due October 24
- Oklahoma Science Teachers Association conference- November 1
- Sam Rhine Genetics Conference- Norman- November 13th
- Native American STEM Competition and Conference- November 24
- PASCO STEM Educator Award nominations (provides funding to travel to NSTA conferences)- November 30
- AP Grants- due December 15
- National Middle Level Science Teacher Association award application- due December 31
- Ag in the Classroom grants- due January 30
- High school benchmark dates: October 9, December 5, March 11, May 6 (except biology)
- Middle school benchmark dates: October 9, December 19, March 11, May 13 (except 8th grade)