This week: (1) Greetings (2) #OKSci Leadership (3) Vision 2020 Conference (4) Professional Development Opportunities (5) Student Opportunities
“In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.” – Unknown
This is one of my favorite quotes as an educator and so true! Many of my former students are graduating, some from high school and some from college, and I am thrilled to see them wear their caps and gowns. I wonder what paths their lives will take in the coming years and how they will grow as individuals. As your school year comes to a close, I hope you have time to reflect on the many lives you have impacted this year. You may not be able to see the fruit yet, because some fruit takes many years to develop, but I hope you know that the long hours you’ve put in planning, grading, and mentoring will certainly produce an abundance of it!
I am so proud to be a part of this profession and even prouder to be a member of the science education community in Oklahoma! I’ve had numerous opportunities this year to meet so many of you and I have had the great honor of working with the outstanding members of the Oklahoma C3 Science Standards Writing Team this spring. We are so fortunate to have such expertise in our state!
With that in mind, we have an exciting opportunity for those who might be interested in a science leadership opportunity in our state.
#OKSci Leadership:
Recognizing the extreme need around recruiting and retaining highly effective mathematics and science teachers, the OSDE seeks to create a cadre of highly motivated and innovative educators who will actively contribute to the statewide effort to improve mathematics and science education. Recognizing lack of opportunities for leadership, innovation, and autonomy as key factors leading to the low retention rates of our best educators, the OSDE will bring together 30 math and 30 science educators to be empowered leaders within a highly competitive and prestigious professional learning network called #OKMath Leadership and #OKSci Leadership. Each class will last for one year, consist of quarterly meetings, and culminate with a Class Project.
At the 2013 Vision 2020 Conference, 60 educators will join together as Class 0, the pilot classes of the #OKMath and #OKSci Leadership effort. It is imperative that members of this first class are highly motivated, invested in mathematics education, desire to refine their educational leadership perspective and capacity, and committed to helping shape the future structure and vision for leadership classes to come.
Selection for Class 0
The pilot class, Class 0, will be hand selected from each of 30 REAC3H Coach Regions and must be currently teaching mathematics or science students at a PK through 12 level.
Selection for Subsequent Classes
Membership for subsequent classes will be the result of an application and blind review process. Further communication around the official selection procedures will be determined to a greater degree by members of Class 0.
Responsibilities
· Attend each quarterly meeting (all meetings are 2 days):
o Alpha Meeting – Vision 2020, July 9-10, 2013
o Beta Meeting – TBA (Sept-Oct)
o Gamma Meeting – TBA (Jan)
o Delta Meeting – TBA (May)
· Contribute a Class Project to Oklahoma Education based on Class expertise and experiences over the course of the four meetings.
· Class 0 Members will contribute to the vision and procedures to guide future #OKMath and #OKSci Leadership Classes.
Requirements
· Must teach math or science during application process and during membership.
Inquiries?
· #OKMath – Levi Patrick (levi.patrick@sde.ok.gov)
· #OKMath – Sara Snodgrass (sara.snodgrass@sde.ok.gov)
· #OKSci – Tiffany Neill (tiffany.neill@sde.ok.gov)
Applications will be going out later this week through the science and math listservs and on the #OKSci and #OKMath Facebook pages.
If you would like to have an applications mailed to your summer e-mail account please e-mail me with that information.
Vision 2020 Conference:
Registration is now open for the 2013 OSDE VISION 2020 Summer Conference!
The Oklahoma State Department of Education’s VISION 2020 conference will be held July 9-11, 2013 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. Online registration for attendees and exhibitors, and proposals to present are now available on our website along with other conference information such as hotel accommodations.
Science Sessions: Tuesday July 9th
The science sessions scheduled for July 9th at Vision 2020 will provide participants with a wide variety of opportunities to engage in interactive professional development in science! Topics of focus include: exploring scientific practices, literacy in science, lesson designing. Several members of the Oklahoma C3 Science Standards Writing Team will be presenting at the conference and I will also be giving an update on the Oklahoma C3 Science Standards. I hope to see all of you there!
For general conference information and to register, please visit: http://ok.gov/sde/vision2020
Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers:
NASA Eclipse Professional Development Institute:
The ECLIPSE project is a STEM Education grant awarded by NASA to Seminole Public Schools and Oklahoma State University. It promotes problem-based learning in science and mathematics education and provides an online learning environment that helps students develop individual and collaborative problem solving skills. ECLIPSE (Environment for Cyber Learning Integrating Problem Solving Experiences) provides instructional design and assessment tools for the teacher to create an authentic problem solving activity and implement it effectively in the classroom, together with providing scaffolding for students to engage in real-life problem solving.
When: June 26-28, 2013
Where: Seminole State College, Seminole OK
Contacts: Pasha Antonenko (p.antonenko@coe.ufl.edu) Ronda Townsend (rtownsend@sps.k12.ok.us)document
See attached document for more details.
Oklahoma State & Haliburton Geosciences Ambassador Program:
Enrich your geosciences classroom and link with OSU scientists. The OSHGA-GAP includes workshops, labs, field trips and accommodations.
When: June 9th-15th
Where: Oklahoma State University in Stillwater
See attached flyer for more details
Environmental Blast:
Please see the attached document for details on free programs, awards, and grant opportunities related to environmental education.
Oklahoma Environmental Education Guide:
Link to download: http://www.deq.state.ok.us/pubs/lpd/EnvResourceGuide_Web.pdf
First Robotics:
Interested in starting a FIRST Robotics team [First Lego League (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in your school? Sign up to attend a FIRST Robotics training.
See attached memo for details.
Opportunities for Students:
Cyber Patriot:
A high school level computer network skills competition. Teams may register now but won’t start the learning and competition until next fall’s semester. We have teamed with Rose State College to offer free classes to teams on Saturdays if they wish to learn more and successfully complete.
http://www.uscyberpatriot.org/Pages/default.aspx
Summer Academy for Chemistry:
The UCO Department of Chemistry is holding a summer academy for 8th-10th graders. Students will participate in lab activities that show the many ways chemistry impacts human health. If you would like more information please contact Dr. Dana Rundle at drundle@uco.edu.
See attached document for details.
Stay Connected:
Follow me on Twitter: @tiffanyneill
Facebook: #OKSci
Hashtags: #oksde #OKSci #OKSTEM
Sign Up for a Twitter account: https://twitter.com/
OKSci Recources:
Classroom Strategies: http://www.scoop.it/t/oksci-classroom-strategies
Website Resources Elementary: http://bit.ly/OSDE-SciElemLinks
Website Resources Secondary: http://bit.ly/OSDE-SecScienceLinks
Accessing Archived Science Messages:
You can access Archived Science Messages I’ve sent out since March via the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association (OSTA) website. Scroll down to see previous posts.
Science Listserv:
Please encourage others to register for the science listserv and pass along the following registration link:
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!
-Tiffany Tiffany Neill, M.Ed. Director of Science Education Office of Instruction Oklahoma State Department of Education P: 405.522.3524 Tiffany.Neill@sde.ok.gov @tiffanyneill Science Webpage PE & Health Webpage