Applications are still being accepted to become a “Fellow” in the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy for 2008-09. New science teachers throughout the country who are entering their second or third year of teaching with a schedule that includes at least 51% science teaching time to middle or high school students are encouraged to apply.

Cofounded by the Amgen Foundation, the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy is a fellowship program created to help promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge. NSTA Fellows chosen for the program which runs from August 2008 through June 2009, will receive a comprehensive NSTA membership package; participation in an e-mentoring program developed by NSTA, the New Teacher Center at UC-Santa Cruz, and Montana State University; and access to a variety of web-based professional development activities including web seminars. Each NSTA Fellow will receive financial support to attend and participate in NSTA’s 2009 National Conference on Science Education in New Orleans, scheduled for mid-March.

For more information on how to apply to the New Teacher Science Academy, please visit www.nsta.org/academy. Applications must be submitted no later than May 23, 2008, to be considered. Don’t delay, apply now.

Please promote these wonderful opportunities to your students.

This sounds like a good opportunity for anyone wanting to work at a national park this summer and get a stipend for it.  You may need to hurry though.

The Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy recently announced a new way for elementary school teachers to get a chance to attend the 2009 Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy and improve their math and science teaching skills.Students can nominate teachers from Grades 3, 4, and 5 or urge them to apply for an all-expense paid trip to the Academy’s math and science professional development program by logging on to www.sendmyteacher.com, an interactive website.Developed in conjunction with the National Science Teachers Association and Math Solutions, the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy enables teachers to hone their science and math teaching skills, enhance their curricula, and discover innovative new ways to inspire students. The teachers will spend five days next July at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ, deepening their understanding of mathematics and science content, building expertise in facilitating student learning through problem solving and inquiry, and using links between math and science that support student learning and understanding in the classroom.Teacher applications are due by October 31, 2008. The National Science Teachers Association and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics will convene a panel of math and science experts to evaluate the entries and announce the selections in February 2009.The 2008 Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy will host more than 600 teachers in Houston, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Jersey City, New Jersey. To date, nearly 1000 teachers have attended the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. To nominate a teacher or to learn more about the program, visit www.sendmyteacher.com 

It has been two years now since our district started looking inward and outward at how to improve science in our district.  I do believe we are headed in the right direction.  In that time we have brought together many teachers at all levels and now have adoptedthe FOSS curriculum for elementary school and what I believe is the best middle school program available, SEPUP.  When we discuss these skills our students want to have as they move into this “new” 21st century world I truly believe that inquiry-based science is the vehicle to drive us.  We must insure that we provide not only the structure and the materials for our classrooms but a way to breakdown the walls of our classroom.  I watch and play with Google Earth and I see the immense possibilities.  I want all of our students tapping into resources such as this.  Oh Bandwidth God, please make this possible for our district. 

I am excited to watch the transcending of our new science programs on our teachers, students and school communities.  High school, “it’s your turn.”  I am excited to send a small team of our high school teachers to a wonderful PD opp this summer through BSCS – called, Inquiry in the Secondary Classroom.  I look foward to having this team become the leaders to continue our pursuit into this new era.

I attended a wonderful presentaion today by John Kuglin on 21st Century Learning at our district’s leadership council.  Two of the main goals were to help understand vision of technology for our classrooms and also gain excitement towards advocating this technological movement within our schools and have our community respond favorably towards helping make it happen.

John gave a wonderful overview of the advancement of technology and how quickly it is changing.  We are at a crossroads in our educational system to help meet the needs of our digital native students who are part of a youth media culture.  From Marc Prensky’s paper he states, “Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”  We need to begin to think outside of the box.  Let’s rething the way the system has been operating for quite some time.  We may have learned a certain way, but we need to realize we now need to teach differently and utilize our resources more wisely.  It it essential that our district find a way to access the resources all around us and no longer think of a textbook as our only means to deliver material.  2 million minutes our students spend in high school.  That is a considerable amount of time to allow them to develop the skills to compete globally.

Yes, it will require money to bring the needed technology(i.e., bandwidth, interactive whiteboards, projectors, instructional laptops, one to one intitiatives, doc cameras, etc) into our classrooms so that is why we need to understand the need and be a strong voice to have all people see the need for our students.  Right now the money may not be there, so what can we doin the meantime?  How about beginning to take the time to get familiar with some of the Web 2.0 applications? 

To name a few from John’s list:

Wikis

Podcasts

Zamzar

Jing

Ning

Picasa

Blogs

St Vrain Virtual Campus

Google Earth  – download it and start playing  – WOW, the possibilities

Discovery streaming

eBoard

Learning.com

Webex

explorelearning.com

Let’s transform our classrooms and breakdown the walls so that our students and each one of us can access opportunites and experiences from all over the world.  As Thom Hartman says, “Tag, Your IT!”