New Opportunities: November 9, 2020

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PBL for Remote Learning

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FOCUS Group for Biology

Dear Teachers,
We are inviting you and other middle and high school teachers in North Carolina to participate in a focus group for a research study at North Carolina State University. Our study explores how people make sense of an emerging biotechnology known as a “gene drive.” Your participation is part of a global study to help us understand how to communicate about new technologies across cultures. We are working with colleagues who are also facilitating focus groups similar to ours with public school teachers in the United Kingdom and Uganda. We are specifically interested in your perspective as a high school biology teacher, and you will be grouped with teachers who teach in the same or similar subjects. One-third of the time during the focus group will concentrate on how the activities and information from our discussion could be useful as part of standards-based lesson plans in your classes. If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to attend one 90-minute focus group using the online meeting platform Zoom. Before the meeting, you will receive an explanation of the purpose of the study, some background materials to learn about gene drives, and the plan for the focus group. Prior to or at the start of  the focus group, you will be asked to sign a consent form, which indicates that your participation is voluntary and can be terminated at any time. We will also ask you to choose a pretend name (pseudonym) to use during the focus group – you will change your Zoom name to this pretend name so that your identity is not connected to the transcript of the meeting. 
Following the focus group, all participants who attended any part of the meeting will receive Amazon gift cards in the amount of $50 as a thank-you for participation.
We plan to host a focus group for science teachers on November, 17 at 7:00-8:30pm.
The subject area distinctions are important for our research questions. 
Please email Dr. Katie Barnhill-Dilling at [email protected] if you can be available and we will send you the additional materials described above. Please also feel welcome to suggest names of other teachers in your school who might be interested, provided that they teach biology, history, English, or social studies.
Thank you for considering, even in such chaotic times!
Dr. Katie Barnhill-DillingNorth Carolina State University

NCTM Virtual Conference

November 11 – 14, 2020

NCTM is committed to bringing the math community together for engaging content that will help transform the learning and teaching of mathematics. Join your colleagues for the NCTM 2020 Virtual Conference November 11-14 and share in the excitement and love of math!

CELEBRATING THE VIRTUAL POWER AND POTENTIAL OF TEACHING MATH

In a year unlike any other, we are re-imagining mathematics. Sharing our love of mathematics ignites a spark that helps develop engineers, scientists, medical professionals, and educators. Together, math teachers are re-configuring the world!

The conference delivers an easy way to share your experiences, challenges, and successes with colleagues from throughout the world.
 

More than 200 live or OnDemand sessions will explore all aspects of teaching and learning math. Many of the discussions are teacher led and classroom based, including these:

  • Eliminate the Fear of Fractions Using Visual Representations with Denise Harrison and Mangai Neelavannan
  • Using Abstract Art to Teach Geometric Concepts: Reimagined for a Distance-Learning Environment with Kristina Barnaby
  • Geometric Problem Solving: Integrating Critical Thinking through Challenging Puzzles and Games with Thomas Marlowe
  • What’s Next in Statistics? Vertical Alignment of Statistics to Understand How the Concept Evolves with Kathryn Early
  • Empowering a Classroom of #DreamChasers with Joanna Stevens

Register Now!

Click this link for more information.

Career and College Ready Graduate

Resources

Here are a few resources to improve your knowledge of CCRG. 

Webinar Recordings 

Canvas CCRG PD Resources Course 

  • Please visit https://ncdpi.instructure.com/enroll/WW3P6Pwhere you can self-enroll in the Canvas CCRG PD Resources Course.  This is the course that was reviewed near the end of the webinar. 
  • NROC continues to customize EdReady for use by LEAs and the materials provided are based on the most up to date information at the time of creation.  The screenshots and processes in the resources may look slightly different from the EdReady instance used by your LEA. The report or activity will be the same, only the details of how to access may change. As updates are made to EdReady, CCRG LEA EdReady Administrators will be notified. 

What’s next?

  • DPI and NROC are working to define how to most easily get your users access to EdReady and are planning a single sign-on (SSO) integration. These details are still being finalized and will be shared with the CCRG LEA Administrator as soon as they are available.   
    • NOTE: this is an updated approach and may be different than you heard if you attended the first week of sessions. LEA Admin accounts will no longer be shared this week, as the implementation of SSO will impact how those accounts need to be created and managed. 
    • If you aren’t sure who is the LEA Administrator for your LEA, please email Brigette Myers at [email protected] or Sneha Shah Coltrane at [email protected] or Angie Mullenix at [email protected] and we will be happy to assist you. 
  • Begin building your CCRG team for your LEA and start planning the training of other administrators, teachers, counselors, curriculum specialists, etc in your LEA.  You can use the resources in the Canvas CCRG PD Resources course above when conducting your training. 
  • Spend some time working through the Math and English Student Experience DEMO courses and ask the others on your team to do the same.   
  • Watch your email for scheduled “Office Hours” coming in November!  This will give you an opportunity to drop-in and ask questions of NROC experts, community college faculty who have taught these courses at the community college, and DPI. 

For more information please contact:

NROC/EdReady: Nicole McCabe ([email protected]) from NROC 

Course Content Guidance: Brigette Myers ([email protected]) from NCCCS 

CCRG Implementation Guidance: 

NCDPI K-12 Mathematics Virtual Webinar

On October 9, 2020, the NCDPI K-12 Mathematics consultants offered a virtual webinar for K-12 school and district math leadership. It served as a follow-up to the 2020 Virtual Summer Professional Development for K-12 mathematics. The agenda, presentation, and recording are now available on the K-12 Mathematics Google site.

Click HERE to Subscribe to our Google Calendar to get updates on PD opportunities and events.


Try Out New Trivia Platform–Virtual Engagement!

This announcement is being sent on behalf of Jonathan M. Frederick.  If you have any questions please contact Jonathan Frederick at email: [email protected] or the email below.  

Greetings Teachers and Friends,

We hope you’re all doing as well as possible this semester. In a normal year, we’d be busy sending scientists to your classrooms across the state as part of our SciMatch Program. While that’s on hold, we are excited about a brand-new initiative we want to pilot with you! Our partners at SAS, a global leader in data analytics, have developed a fun new trivia platform that we think would be a great way to interact with your students. We’re inviting you to be the first group of teachers to check out this exciting, science-themed trivia series.

Join us on Tuesday, November 17 at 4pm, for a fun round of trivia, and a chance to win one of our NCSciFest prize packs. RSVP here to reserve your spot – (https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Zl-TUcChSlmJQ7FZIsz-yA) there’s no cost to join, but we would like you to share your feedback afterwards to help guide us as we get ready to roll the series out to middle school students across the state.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to this email: [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you there—and bring a colleague. Space is limited to sign up now!

GSK Science in the Summer

GSK Science in the Summer™ is a free, informal science summer program for children entering grades 2-6. The program is designed to inspire students to become the next generation of scientists, through hands-on explorations based in real science careers, which may be implemented through in-person or virtual program models. The program seeks to serve children from traditionally underrepresented populations in STEM, including people of color, low socioeconomic status populations, rural communities, and girls. Sponsored by GSK, offered in partnership with The Franklin Institute, and supported by the National Girls Collaborative Project, the goal of this program is to increase children’s value of and confidence in doing science and pursuing STEM careers.
Applications are being accepted for two years of participation in the GSK Science in the Summer™ program in 2021-2022 from informal science education organizations such as science museums, science centers, children’s museums, and universities. Applications are due January 12, 2021.
To register for the upcoming application webinar on November 18, 2020 at 11:00 AM Pacific / 2:00 PM Eastern, visit the GSK Science in the Summer™ application webpage.

This message is being sent on behalf of Monte Kalisch, Director of Technology and co-inventor of Pactful.  For more information contact Monte at [email protected] or (571) 212-5234.
What if you could build a better world? The Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education at the University of San Diego is calling for middle- and high-school educators to join us in our effort to make a local and global impact.
Through the Jacobs Teen Innovation Challenge in fall 2020 and spring 2021, educators and teenagers will develop an innovator’s mindset and the skills to create solutions to local or global problems.
There is no cost to participate, and we will provide ongoing professional development support for teachers before and during the event.
Hosted by The Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education at the University of San Diego, this global competition helps students develop an innovator’s mindset and skills that cut across STEAM-sector jobs by using design thinking to engage in social good innovation. Using Pactful, students learn essential skills such as empathy, critical thinking, community engagement, design, prototyping, and storytelling that benefit them in future-focused careers. Pactful and this challenge are sponsored through the generosity of Dr. Irwin and Mrs. Joan Jacobs.

We are asking interested teachers to sign up by November 20Details and Registration

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Modeling with Context: Authentic Problems to Foster a Modeling Mindset

Wednesday, Nov 18, 2020 4:00 PM

Register Now!
Introduce students to the modeling process through problems that have relevance and meaning in their own lives. Students will engage more deeply with a real-world problem if they have a voice in how it is resolved, and the modeling process empowers students who are also stakeholders.

In this session, we will look at a selection of modeling problems that arose from local issues or needs, and we will discuss strategies for identifying local problems that lend themselves to a modeling approach. We will step into the modeling process with a scaffolded approach to incorporating modeling into the classroom, and specific examples will include, among others, the following real problems: As our school population increases, how can we optimize the lunch lines? How can our parking lot be redesigned to accommodate more vehicles?

Join us to explore the modeling process through the lens of local problems, and learn how to identify problems that are meaningful to the students who solve them.

Webinar Speakers:

Maria Hernandez (Retired Math Teacher @The NC School of Science and Mathematics)

With over 30 year of teaching experience, Maria has developed curricula for high school students in various mathematics courses. The bulk of her teaching career was at The NC School of Science and Mathematics. She has led teacher collaborations via distance learning and has taught workshops for courses from Algebra I to AP Calculus and Complex Systems. Her focus is using mathematical modeling, discovery-based activities, technology and real-world problems to engage students as active learners in the mathematics classroom. Maria received The 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching and The UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2013. Maria serves on The NCTM/SIAM/COMAP Joint Committee on Modeling Across the Curriculum and the US National Commission on Mathematics Instruction.

Greta Mills (Mathematics Department Chair @Oxbridge Academy)

Greta Mills taught for 18+ years in New Hampshire before relocating to Florida in 2013. She is currently the Mathematics Department Chair at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, FL, where she teaches courses in Digital Logic, Artificial Intelligence and Computational Modeling, and Calculus. Ms. Mills is a judge for the M3 Challenge, a member of the Math Modeling Hub, and a frequent presenter at NCTM conferences.