ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
September 2013
Monthly Megabite CISTEM Workshop ITTIP offered a professional development workshop to create a culture of creativity and innovation in STEM classrooms (CISTEM). This workshop was held at Colonial Heights Tech Center and was attended by 22 teachers from Prince George, Brunswick, Henrico, Colonial Heights, Mecklenburg, Hopewell & Dinwiddie during the week of July 22nd. Teachers will also participate in a threecredit course “Mentoring Students and
Up-Coming Events Sept 19th SVRTC Meeting, Longwood University Sept 19th - STEMx Global Open 21st Online Conference Oct 3rd
Women in Technology Conference, Richmond
Oct 8th
VA STEM CoNNECT Conference, Williamsburg
Oct 15th
OPEN VA Conference, UMW
What to find in this month’s Megabite: Above: The group shared ways they use creative thinking in the classroom.
Page 1 CISTEM Workshop Page 2 MODSIM at NASA
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Teachers as 21 Century Leaders” in the Fall 2013 and will receive followup during the school year in the form of classroom visits, an online learning Above: Teachers explored tools for STEM community, and webinars on integrat- learning. ing reading and writing in STEM learning and on tools of inquiry in math. This professional development was made possible through a grant from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
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Page 3 VA STEM CoNNECT, ITSI-SU: Cohort 4 Page 4 SCIEnCE Workshops Page 5 ITTIP Summer Statistics
ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
September 2013
MODSIM With NASA ITTIP partnered with NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA to sponsor a one week simulation-based engineering and science modeling and simulation (MODSIM) workshop for sixteen (16) middle and high school teachers from across Southside Virginia during the week of July 8th. The MODSIM workshop provided an opportunity for teachers to participate in hands-on training aimed at motivating students to become engaged in math and science.
Above: Teachers visit the Landing and Impact Research Facility at NASA in Langley.
As part of the workshop, teachers visited selected NASA programs which included the Virginia Air and Space Center, The Mars Science Laboratory and Fabrication Lab. Luanne Walker, MODSIM participant, enjoyed meeting with NASA scientists and engineers and found their enthusiasm and commitment inspiring. She stated “I want to challenge my students to develop their passion for learning and achievement.”
Above: Participants learn by exploring a flight simulator.
ITTIP takes Technology Tynker: Inspired Around the World
by Scratch
Tynker is a new browser based programming tool designed for students, grades 3-8, inspired by MIT’s Scratch. Educators can sign up for a free account with their school email to gain access to the user-friendly platform that includes everything you need to get your class up and running in minutes. With their guided learning system, students learn at their own pace. The tool includes a visual programming language, lesson plans, and even workshops free for the whole classroom! Tynker is packed with creativity tools, including visual code blocks, a Media Library with over 5,000 animations, images and sounds, and a Character Studio where students can create and animate their own characters. Learn more about this tool and see students’ examples at:
www.tynker.com
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ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
September 2013
VA STEM CoNNECT: Cohort 2 ITTIP held a five day professional development institute at Longwood University for (19) K-8 Math and Science teachers from Southside Virginia as part of a state-funded Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grant, VA STEM CoNNECT. The institute focused on the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into the science and mathematics classrooms. Throughout the week teachers worked on design challenges that incorporated engineering design, mathematics and science concepts while simultaneously learning about new technologies to incorporate into the classroom. Teachers will incorporate what they learned throughout the week into STEM learning experiences for their students during the school year and then follow-up Above: In partners, participants with a Saturday session in the spring to were challenged in designing a share their accomplishments with each flashlight. other. Participating school divisions included Brunswick, Buckingham, Nottoway, Dinwiddie, Charlotte, Hargrave Military Academy, and Halifax. ITTIP at Longwood University is the lead partner in this statewide MSP grant and this is the second year of implementation. Above: Participants explore using Makey, Makey kits to create a game controller.
Southwest Virginia: ITSI-SU- Cohort 4 Innovative Technology for Science Inquiry Scale-Up (ITSI-SU) is a scale-up of the highly acclaimed Information Technology in Science Instruction (ITSI) project at the Concord Consortium. Virginia teachers became part of this nationwide research project in June 2010. Eight new teachers from Bristol City, Russell County, Smyth County, Washington County, and Wythe County Public Schools joined the ITSI-SU Cohort 4 in June 2013. They met at the Higher Education Center in Abingdon, VA for a five-day workshop. In addition, they will participate in a five-week online workshop this fall and spring, and a two-day face-to-face workshop in the summer 2014.
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ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
September 2013
SCIEnCE: MSP Funded Workshops During the week of June 24 - 28, 17 elementary science teachers and 17 middle school science teachers spent a week interacting with Longwood and ITTIP faculty as they learned about SOL Science concepts and how they could incorporate inquiry and problem-based learning (PBL) strategies into their science classrooms. During the week, the elementary teachers were engaged in investigations related to physical science concepts that are part of the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL). Both groups also learned about the Nature of Science and how that relates to the science classroom. Technology tools, such as probeware, were used to collect and analyze real data during investigations. Each participant was provided a year subscription to NSTA Learning Center to increase their science content knowledge during the school year and be part of a professional learning community. Teachers are responsible for incorporating the strategies they learned during the week into unit plans during the school year and will meet again in the spring for a follow-up session. They will also be keeping up with each other as part of the NSTA Learning Center community. Elementary Science teachers met at Longwood University and were from various school divisions including Buckingham, Nottoway, Amelia, Cumberland, and Colonial Heights. Middle School Science teachers met at Cosby High School in Chesterfield and included teachers from Amelia, Buckingham, Chesterfield and Nottoway. Both of these opportunities were made possible through state-funded Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grants.
SVRTC Meeting Dates For 2013-14 School Year Below are the locations and dates for the 2013-2014 school year meetings for the Southern Virginia Regional Technology Consortium. ITTIP looks forward to seeing and collaborating with participating divisions this year! The first meeting will have a special guest from Microsoft. Date
Location
Thursday, September 19th
Longwood University
Wednesday, October 16th
Nottoway Mini Auditorium
Wednesday, November 20th
Nottoway Mini Auditorium
Wednesday, January 15th
Nottoway Mini Auditorium
Wednesday, February 19th
Nottoway Mini Auditorium
Wednesday, April 16th
Nottoway Mini Auditorium
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ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
September 2013
ITTIP Summer Workshops The Institute was very busy this summer with facilitating workshops around the State. Who were even busier? The 134 participants learning, sharing, and collaborating! While the face to face workshops have come to an end and the 20132014 school year has started for many of us, ITTIP looks forward with continuing to work with teachers. Those that participated in summer workshops will be sharing learning in webinars, online learning communities, and/or classroom observations. Below is a breakdown of the summer workshops participation by division:
Division
Participated
Division
Participated
Division
Participated
Amelia County
6
Franklin City
1
Prince George
5
Bristol City
1
Halifax County
2
Richmond
1
Brunswick County
11
Hargrave Military Academy/Danville 1
Russell County
1
Buckingham County 9
Henrico County
5
Spotsylvania
1
Charles City
1
Henry County
3
Smyth County
3
Charlotte County
2
Hopewell City
21
Virginia Beach
4
Chesterfield County
13
Independent School
2
Stafford County
2
Colonial Heights
4
Mecklenburg County
4
Washington County 2
Cumberland County 2
Norfolk City
2
Wythe County
1
Danville City
3
Nottoway County
13
York
1
Dinwiddie County
3
Pittsylvania County
1
Fairfax
1
Powhatan County
3
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