NSTA Conference Presentations

March is conference month for educators.  And, it certainly is for MMSTLC.  The presentations continue at the National Science Teacher Association Annual Convention in Philadelphia, PA, from March 18-21. These sessions highlight two specific sets of resources and activities that came out of the MMSTLC Science Leadership development efforts.  The first, Investigate the State, is a combination professional development/inquiry-based curriculum program that utilizes online tools to encourage collaboration among educators and classrooms on large scale scientific investigations, such as water quality in a watershed, or regional air quality concerns.  You can learn more about this program at the presentation, or by wandering over to our “sister” site – investigatethestate.org.

The second session focuses on the writing strategies that were the focus of many discussions and activities focusing on assessment practices.  This session is one of the featured sessions at the conference.  We would love to have you attend, so please check out the NSTA site to register, and see the session times for our presentations below:

Say What You Mean! Strategies to Help Students Better Communicate Science
2:00 – 3:00 pm, Saturday, March 20
Philadelphia Marriott, Grand Salon G

Investigate the State: Collaborating to Study Science Issues in Michigan
9:30 – 10:30 am, Saturday, March 20
Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel, Room: Freedom H

MSTA Conference Presentations

MMSTLC Leaders will be presenting six sessions and a full day workshop at the upcoming Michigan Science Teacher Association conference. The MSTA Conference, which takes place March 4-6 in Lansing, is the premier annual science education conference for teachers in Michigan. These sessions or workshops, which utilize MMSTLC resources, include:

Science Specific Writing Skills to Enhance Student Understanding
Full day workshop (including lunch) from 9:00am to 2:30pm, Thursday, March 4
Registration fee is $45 and includes materials, lunch, and refreshments
Radisson Hotel, Room Capital 4

Say What You Mean! Strategies to Help Students Better Communicate Science
10:00 – 10:45am, Friday, March 5
Room 102, Lansing Center

The Problem with Models and How to Fix Them
11:00 – 11:45am, Friday, March 5
Room 201, Lansing Center

Creating a New Generation of Science Leaders
4:00 – 4:45pm, Friday, March 5
Room 203, Lansing Center

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Collaborative Learning Tools for Science
10:00 – 10:45am, Saturday, March 6
Room 104, Lansing Center

Investigate the State: Collaborating to Study Science Issues in Michigan
11:00 – 11:45am, Saturday, March 6
Room 104, Lansing Center

Science Book Studies as Professional Learning Communities
1:00 – 1:45pm, Saturday, March 6
Room 202, Lansing Center

MMSTLC Presentation at AMTE Conference

Judy Flowers, one of the MMSTLC partners, and a faculty member at University of Michigan Dearborn is presenting a session at the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators conference in Irvine, California.  The session, titled “A Practice-Based Approach to Develop Mathematics Teacher Leaders’ Understanding of Misconceptions Related to Proportionality” will present resources and efforts from the past two years of working with new teacher leaders in Michigan.

Following the presentation, Dr. Flowers’ presentation will be posted here.

The MMSTLC presents a workshop for educators:

Science Specific Writing Skills to Enhance Student Understanding.

Presented by Stephen Best and Nancy Williams, University of Michigan

This workshop focuses on one of the more challenging issues that educators deal with in science – getting our students to better communicate their understanding of science through writing.  The workshop is one of the pre-conference offerings for the MSTA Conference in Lansing in March.  The workshop is a full day (9:00 am – 2:30 pm) session, held on March 4 at the Radisson Hotel in Lansing.

Check here for more information.

This flyer provides information about the workshop.

Here is the presentation made at NSTA Phoenix 2009 by Steve Best and Walt Rathkamp. Below it are links to some of the additional resources mentioned in the session. We will also be posting other resources related to leadership development for teachers in the coming months.

NSTA recently announced the new Tapestry Grant program for science teachers. A partnership between Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. , Inc. and the National Science Teachers Association, the Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Science Teachers program offers grants to K–12 science teachers for innovative projects that enhance science education in the school and/or school district. 50 large grants and a minimum of 20 mini-grants, totaling $550,000 in all, will be awarded this year.

Grant applications are due January 18, 2010. Check here for more information.

The MMSTLC Partners received word recently that the project would not receive grant funding through the Mathematics and Science Partnership program from the Michigan Department of Education.  The MMSTLC Partners are sad to announce what we feel is a premature end to the ongoing professional development efforts of the project.  Our letter below to all of our participating educators expresses our feelings about this decision and the project in general:

Dear MMSTLC Participants,

We are writing to thank you for your ongoing participation and effort in the MMSTLC over the past couple years.  Through this program, you have invested considerable time and effort to enhance your own instruction and developed new skills, knowledge, and capacities to help support your colleagues in addressing mathematics and science instruction.  As a result of this and the new partnerships we have all formed through this effort, you and your colleagues in the project can better support teaching and learning at your schools and institutions.

We wanted to let you know that the MMSTLC will not receive additional grant funding to continue our formal networking and leadership development efforts or to financially support the ongoing implementation of program activities.  Despite this setback, you all have access to a considerable set of instructional and professional development resources provided by the project, as well as the networks and relationships you have developed with others in the project.  We anticipate that you will continue to use these resources and contacts to further support mathematics and science education in your school and region.  If there are any questions regarding the MMSTLC program or concerns regarding specific efforts for your project or team, please contact your mentor.

In the next several weeks, we will be posting and sending you some resources related to the project, including possible support considerations that we are exploring, and information about the project as well as a list of our accomplishments.  We’ll also update you on the resources we have been developing for the new project web site and upcoming webinars and other learning opportunities to find out about these new tools.   Beyond this, we want to suggest that you continue to maintain contact with your team partners and their organizations, that you use the resources from the project, and look for local sponsorship or grant funding opportunities.  We have attached a list of suggestions for next steps for everyone in the project.  As the professional educators you are, we hope you will continue to strive to support learning and teaching in mathematics and science through these and other approaches.

Obviously, we are disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to continue to work with all of you in these efforts.  This was a gratifying experience for each and every one of us, and we feel that we have all benefited through this collaborative work with you.  We want you to know that the project status does not reflect on the quality of the project or the work you all have been doing, but simply on the reality and situation of funding and priorities for the state.  In fact, our evaluator’s report suggests that we will continue to see the fruition of the project for years to come.  We are sure that you will be a part of that.

Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you all on improving mathematics and science education in our state.

Sincerely,

Walt, Judy, Karen, Mary Ann, and Steve

The MMSTLC Partners

Fall Science Conferences

There are a number of conferences taking place this fall that address a range of science topics and content for teachers. Sure, MSTA is great, but it isn’t the only conference in the state. Check these out:

MESTA Conference – The Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association annual conference will take place Oct. 2-3 “in the Detroit area” (translation – there are field studies!). More information here…

Urban Environmental Education Conference from MAEOE – The Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education is hosting this conference at the UM Dearborn’s Environmental Interpretation Center from Oct. 8-10. More information here…

Michigan AAPT Annual Meeting – The Michigan Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers is having their annual meeting at the Alden Dow Science Musuem in Midland on Oct. 10. This meeting will feature a workshop on quantum physics. More information here…

Fall Science Update – The Regional Math and Science Center of Grand Valley State University is hosting the 25th annual Fall Science Update for K-12 educators on November 18 at the GVSU Eberhard Center in Grand Rapids. This year’s theme is “Building Enduring Understands in Science”. More information here…