Upcoming Middle School Sessions
Region 7 Education Service Center
Oct. 12 - New Science Teacher Cohort (5-12)
Often times, new teachers are overwhelmed their first year in the classroom. This cohort is designed to allow new science teachers time to study their standards, learn and improve teaching strategies, and plan with other teachers. Participants will meet face to face, either in Kilgore or on their own campuses, as well as online throughout the year.
Oct. 18 - Vocabulary Strategies in the Secondary Science Classroom (6-12)
Vocabulary is often an obstacle to success for many students in the science classroom and on high-stakes assessments such as STAAR. Participants will create a list of critical vocabulary and learn strategies that will effectively differentiate science language acquisition.
Nov. 1 - Mastering Scientific Investigations & Variables Grades 3-8
In this session, we will examine various techniques in how to train students in scientific investigations, specifically descriptive and experimental, and how to foster a student-led approach. We will practice various examples and activities of this in the classroom and create a personal plan for implementation.
Nov. 3 - G/T: Practical and Purposeful Differentiation in the Secondary Science Classroom
Just how do you differentiate at the secondary level? Ya gotta embrace the differentiation mindset! Differentiation is not just a collection of strategies. It is a purposeful and practical methodology by which the integration of classroom management, anchoring activities, instructional strategies, and assessment promote a dynamic learning environment. This workshop will provide teachers myriad resources and activities for immediate implementation in the science classroom.
Nov. 6 - Writing to Learn Across Content
Writing is not an option - but a necessity! Cross content writing makes information relevant and meaningful. This session will examine multiple strategies for what Harvey Daniels calls his Write to Learns for secondary ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies teachers. This is not about writing essays and research papers, but about providing a window into how smart people think (Daniels)! Join us for some WTLs that will make your instruction even more powerful.
Nov. 16 - STEM Teacher Cadre
This is a support group for those involved in a STEM program. During this session, we will collaborate to build a professional learning community in order to share resources throughout the school year. We will also discuss areas of concerns and issues in the science classroom while sharing strategies designed to increase students level of achievement.
Nov. 17 - Increasing the Rigor in Science
Current science content standards require students to have a greater depth of knowledge and think at higher levels of complexity than ever before. This workshop will demonstrate how to teach to enabling students to meet these rigor requirements and promote creative and critical thinking for all students in the science classroom.
Nov. 29 - Effective Formative Assessments in Science/SS(featuring awesome web tech tools)
We will examine what effective formative assessments are, will utilize several web based technologies and will learn how to incorporate these into Unit plans.
Dec. 6 - Fostering Observation and Inferencing Skills in Science & Social Studies
In this session, we will learn how to train students in observation and inferencing skills. We will practice various examples and activities of this in the classroom and create a personal plan for implementation.