ITTIP's July Megabite

ITTIP Monthly Newsletter

July 2012

Monthly Megabite INSPIRS Professional Development During the week of June 11, teachers from Halifax, Cumberland, Mecklenburg, and Danville joined us at the Institute for cohort 1 of Integrating Nature of Science and Physical Science in Instruction in Rural Schools (INSPIRS). INSPIRS is a collaborative partnership between Longwood College of Arts and Sciences, Longwood Institute for Teaching through Technology and Innovative Practices, Southside Virginia Regional Technology Consortium and partnering school divisions. The workshop facilitators were: Longwood’s Dr. Melissa Rhoten, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Suzanne Donnelly, Assistant Professor of Science Education, and Dr. Rodney Dunning, Associate Professor of Physics. Ms. Stephanie Playton, ITTIP Instructional Design Specialist, provided technical support to the teachers and assisted with the development of unit plan.

Funded through a Mathematics and Science Partnership grant from the Virginia Department of Education, this partnership is targeted towards science teachers and develops a comprehensive teacher professional development model to transform science teaching and learning in middle schools in rural Virginia by integrating the Nature of Science and physical science concepts.

Up-Coming Events July 16-20

Digispired ii Teacher Academy, Manchester Middle School, Richmond, VA

July 16-20 Digispired ii Student July 23-27 Academy, VSU, Longwood, SVHEC July 30- VA STEM CoNNECT, Aug 3 Dinwiddie Middle School, Dinwiddie, VA

What to find in this month’s Megabite: Page 1

INSPIRS Middle School Science Teachers

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Traveling Abroad

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ELEHSS

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ITSI-SU

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Enabling Today’s Teachers to Educate Tomorrow’s Leaders

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July 2012 Spring 2016

INSPIRS (continued) As active members of a science learning community, teachers attended this week-long training and will receive follow-up during the school year in the form of classroom visits, an online learning community, and webinars.

In enhancing their pedagogical and technological knowledge, teachers received training on the integration of understanding by design (UbD) framework, inquiry-based learning strategies (IBL), the 5E learning cycle (5e), and technology tools of inquiry to meet the needs of diverse learners. Teachers had the opportunity to learn more about how they could seamlessly integrate the Nature of Science (NoS) into their Physical Science curriculum using online simulations, such as PheT and probeware. Inquiry-based learning with the probeware included strategies for teachers to explore using temperature probes, motion detectors, dual-range force sensors, pH sensors, and voltage probes as examples. The last day of the training gave participants time to work on their unit plan using inquiry-based learning and the Understanding by Design framework.

A second cohort will participate in Dinwiddie during the week of August 6. The two cohorts will join to build an even larger online learning community (SVRTC’s Moodle). Through this medium, the two cohorts will participate in online discussions and collaborations in order to refine their two exemplar units. These units will then we shared as an entire group in the spring of 2013 and on the project web site for all teachers in Virginia.

Above: Two INSPIRS participants work together, using probeware, to create a magnet.

INSPIRS: Cohort 2 INSPIRS will be holding its second cohort during the week of August 6 – 10. The cohort will be held in Dinwiddie County, VA. We are now accepting applications. To register please visit the below link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s /INSPIRS There are some funds available for travel and lodging for those traveling over 60 miles in one direction.

ITTIP takes Technology Around the World Instructors, Dr. Mano Talaiver and Ms. Paula Klonowski Leach, had the opportunity to visit Fort Hare University in South Africa in May. Fort Hare University is a prestigious university whose alumnus includes Nelson Mandela and was a key institution in higher education for black Africans from 1916 to 1959. The trip was funded through an HP Global Innovations grant that ITTIP has been a part of over the last two years.

Technology Tools in Science Inquiry workshop in Alice, South Africa.

During their travels, they trained fifty-four teachers on technology and inquiry-based instructional strategies.

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Engaged Learning Experiences in History and Social Sciences The Engaged Learning Experiences in History and Social Sciences (ELEHSS) is a grant funded by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), with the goal of integrating technology into the history and social sciences classroom in order to create an engaging learning environment.

Sixteen history and social sciences teachers in grades 4-8 participated in a week-long staff development held at Longwood University in Farmville, VA during the week of June 25 – 29.

Above: Professor Locascio works with teachers during the ELEHSS workshop.

Professor David Locascio of Longwood University facilitated ELEHSS. Participants learned about how to create engaged learning experiences while integrating technology tools into the history and social sciences classroom. Inquiry-based planning and learning strategies were emphasized during the training in order to meet the educational needs for a diversity of learners.

In the fall semester, these sixteen teachers will join eight additional teachers in enhancing their technological and pedagogical knowledge in teaching history and social science. In spring semester, they will participate in two after-school webinars on reading and writing.

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Symbaloo: Interactive Learning Webmix At ITTIP, we have learned throughout the years that teachers are always looking for a new and exciting way for their students to easily and productively navigate several web-pages centered around one topic.

Symbalooedu.com will allow you to do just that! Symbaloo takes the concept of bookmarking websites and creates a visually pleasing and easy to navigate tile system of book marks. Teachers create tiles with links to applicable sites and group them together in what is called a Web-mix. Students can then access these Web-mixes from computers in the classroom or at home. Symbaloo has a free registration and great tutorials for getting started. Start the new year with some new tools in your belt and try it out today!

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ELEHSS (continued)

Around the World Continued from page 2

While technological and pedagogical best practices are a big emphasis, so is the cross-curricular approach to integrating reading and writing.

Teachers will receive online support and classroom visits throughout the school year. On June 1, 2013, participants will share two unit plans in a showcase event at Longwood University. During this face-to-face meeting, teachers will also showcase their digital portfolios that include student artifacts.

Vernier, a probeware vendor, donated $3,000 worth of hardware to Fort Hare University to help support the training.

While abroad, the Institute’s instructors were able to embrace some of South Africa’s nature and culture before parting ways with their learners.

ITSI-SU: National Project for InquiryBased Science During the week of June 25, thirty-three K-12 science teachers from across Virginia joined cohort 3 of the Innovative Technology in Science Inquiry Scale-Up project (ITSI-SU). ITTIP’s Dr. Manorama Talaiver, Ms. Paula Klonowski Leach and Ms. Stephanie Playton led the training. ITSI-SU prepares teachers in Virginia, Alaska, Kansas, and Iowa to integrate inquiry-based learning into classrooms investigations through the use of probeware and modeling software.

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5E Instructional Model     

Instruction included: using Web 2.0 tools, incorporating probeware in science classrooms and inquiry-based learning, as well as a variety of handson experiences for the participants.

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While Ms. Klonowski Leach headed back to the States, Dr. Talaiver went to India to interact with teachers in GIST’s partnering schools, faculty in Lady Dock College, and the staff of Agastya International Foundation, for potential expansion of STEM learning projects.

Earlier in the Spring, Dr. Talaiver showcased student STEM projects at the 2012 HP Catalyst Summit in Shanghai, China.

ITTIP Monthly Newsletter

July 2012

ITTIP Office Manager Earns Bachelor Degree Mrs. Susan Throckmorton reached a pivotal point in her educational career this year. After a tremendous amount of hard work, studying, and assignments, the Institute for Teaching through Technology and Innovative Practices is proud to announce the commencement of our office manager. Susan earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Western Governor University. Susan is a wonderful asset to our team and we are so proud of her accomplishment.

Congratulations, Susan!

ITSI-SU (continued) The ITSISU portal allows teachers to assign students to conduct online investigations that include making predictions, collecting data, analyzing results, running a computer-based model, annotate snapshots of that model, and save their work, all within one application.

Promethean Training: Level I training will be in the morning of July 25th at Longwood University.

Level II training will be in the afternoon. There is limited seating, so if you are interested, call 434-517-0717. First come, first serve!

The workshop started with teachers getting time to engage, explore and learn about the ITSI-SU interface and participate in activities.

Inquiry-based learning was reinforced by reviewing the 5e instructional model that the program utilizes. Later in the week, teachers learned how to customize their own activities to engage students in exciting science investigations that use probeware, models, and real-time data acquisition.

Teachers will be following up with two online classes (one fall, one spring), facilitated through Concord Consortium. This cohort of teachers will be joining the ITSI-SU learning community and adding their own activities to the portal for other educators and students to enjoy!

This project is funded through a National Science Foundation ITEST grant through the Concord Consortium.

Above: Teachers learn how to use the ITSISU site to create and share lessons to use with their students