Opportunities
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
Alabama Ag in the Classroom Summer Institute 2010 on June 2-4, 2010 at the Battle House Hotel, Mobile, AL
The workshop will include integrated agricultural activities for grades K-6 and field trips to active farms. Participants will receive innovative materials and teaching strategies that increase student knowledge of the nutritional and economic importance of the food and fiber systems in their daily lives. Activities incorporate language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics skills as well as those found in the Alabama courses of study and on the Stanford 9 Test.
Hurray for Herps Workshop
These workshops are sponsored by the Environmental Education Association of Alabama (EEAA) in partnership with Legacy, Inc., and ALAPARC- Alabama amphibian and reptile organization. Each teacher attending will receive a kit worth over $100, including a field guide, posters, CD of activities and PowerPoint of all reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. Lunch is provided. An optional field trip is planned at the end of the workshop, too. Registration and a deposit is required. The deposit is $30 and covers membership in EEAA and Legacy Partnership, if you are not already a member. If you are a member, the money will be refunded. This workshop is a bargain at $30! Please share with science teachers. To register go to http://www.legacyenved.org/workshop/workshops_summer.htm Registration deadlines are one week prior to the date of the workshop.
i. June 26, 2010 from 9-3:30, at the Army Corps of Engineers Visitor’s Center on Highway 80 near Whitehall (between Montgomery and Selma).
ii. October 2, 2010 from 9-3:30 at the Environmental Studies Center in Mobile, AL
3. CONTESTS FOR STUDENTS
a. Torrance Legacy Creative Writing Contest -NAGC, in conjunction with the Torrance Center at the University of Georgia, NAGC Creativity Network, Future Problem Solving Program International, Ignite Creative Learning Studio, Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. and the National-Louis University Center for Gifted, is pleased to announce that the2010 Torrance Legacy Creative Writing Contest is underway, for students in grades 4 through 12. Deadline for submissions is August 2. Check out the information here.
b. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Young Scholars Program is a tailored educational scholarship program for high-achieving 7th grade students with financial need. Fifty selected scholars enter the program at eighth grade, continue through high school, and are eligible for support throughout their undergraduate and graduate educations as well. Applications are being accepted now. For more information, visit the JKCF Young Scholars website. Deadline is April 26, 2010.
RESOURCES:
1. Free DVD – America, The Story of Us On April 25th the History Channel is premiering a twelve hour mini-series entitleAmerica, The Story of US. History Channel is offering schools the opportunity to get a free copy of the series on DVD. To get the DVD your school’s principal must submit a request through the History website. The DVD’s will be shipped in August, just in time for the new school year. Learn more about the series and watch a preview here
Dauphin Island Sea Lab has opportunities for K-12 educators — A variety of exciting courses is available to all teachers throughout the summer. Teachers will be able to bring the oceans back into the classrooms, as well as earn credit. Educators will collect specimens for their classes and receive an extensive teaching curriculum. Graduate semester hours are available for all courses. Check the DISL Web site at http://dhp.disl.org/teachertraining.htm for more information.
i. The Delta: June 6-10; $550, including meals and housing. Deadline for registration May 21.
ii. Beaches, Birds and Barrier Islands — June 14-18; $550, including meals and housing.
Deadline for registration May 28.
iii. Regional Issues in the Gulf of Mexico — July 6-9; free (funded by the Northern Gulf Institute).
Deadline for registration June 18.
iv. Fins, Fishes and Fisheries — July 11-15; free (funded by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium).
Deadline for registration June 25.
v. Rhizomes, Reefs and Restoration — July 26-30; free (funded by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium).
Deadline for registration July 19.
e. Hurray for Herps! Workshop sponsored by the Environmental Education Association of Alabama will host a series of reptile and amphibian workshops with Legacy, Inc., and ALAPARC. The first workshop is March 13, 2010 at the Solon Dixon Center in Andalusia, AL. Participants will attend a 5 hour workshop, lunch included, and walk away with a resource kit valued at over $100. For more information on additional workshops or to register go to http://www.legacyenved.org/workshop/workshops_summer.htm
Contests
a. Noetic Math Contest – http://www.noetic-learning.com/emails/contest_invite_gifted.htm- The title is intriguing. Bring the thrill of math contest to your school and give your gifted students an opportunity to shine and show off! This contest is for students in grades 2-5 and takes place on April 15, 2010 at your school. There is a registration fee. Registration information is found at http://www.noetic-learning.com/mathcontest/index.jsp Sponsored by the math website search engine Wolfram Alpha.
i. This site also has gifted math activities but there is a fee.
b. Legacy Calendar Art Work Contest: Legacy, Partners in Environmental Education, is proud to sponsor its 2011 Environmental Calendar Contest. Students from grades K-6 in Alabama are encouraged to submit a drawing concerning an environmental issue such as recycling, ozone, water conservation, wildlife, forestry, and energy conservation. Teachers are encouraged to use this as a means of teaching about Alabama’s environment. To view several sample hands-on environmental education activities , click here. For more information and contest rules, go to http://www.legacyenved.org/student/student_calendar.htm
Grants & Resources
National Lab Day http://www.nationallabday.org/ Have science projects you want to do but do not have the resources? Have questions for a scientists but there is never one around when you need her/him? Well, now your problems are solved. This website matches scientists to projects and finds donations for your science projects. Similar to donorschoose.org.
Free Podcast from iTunes: A History of the World in 100 Objects, from the BBC, looks at history via the stuff we (people) have made. Hear how a gold coin minted in Turkey 2,500 years ago still has lessons to teach us today. What a great way to bring history alive! Then ask students what objects they would use to tell the history of themselves, their families, cities, states, nation, world, topics of study, etc. This is fabulous for visual-spatial learners. Not only do students have to choose an object but must include the “So What?” Factor beyond the facts. How does this object impact us today? How does this object reflect the history and why? Why did I (the student) choose this valuable objects? What objects should be chosen in the future to tell the history of today and why?
Honeywell Nobel Interactive Studio http://honeywellscience.com/ Cutting-edge science and personal stories from the world’s finest minds. Discover the fascinating stories that link the world’s finest minds. Listen to lectures from the Nobel laureates. You or students can ask a noble laureate questions, too.
Physics Front http://www.thephysicsfront.org/ The Physics Front provides high quality resources for the teaching of physics and physical sciences courses. You may search or browse the Physics Front in order to find materials appropriate for your physics classes. Additionally, registering will allow you to share your experiences using materials. The Physics Front is a free service provided by the American Association of Physics Teachers in partnership with the NSF/NSDL.
Baseball is just around the “Spring” corner! How about connecting baseball with writing this Spring? Also, this year 2010 the Birmingham Barons will be celebrating 100 years of baseball!!!
Chuck Stewart, an Auburn resident & Woodlawn High School graduate, has written a book, Angels at Rickwood. He wrote the book for his youngest daughter for her 13th birthday. The story is written through the eyes of a young baseball fan. He is a staunch supporter of Rickwood Baseball Field as a Friend of Rickwood member and has a baseball memorabilia collection.
Chuck is interesting in visiting schools across the state to talk to students about writing; he wants to “spark” that creative writing. Chuck will visit your school for NO CHARGE. He just wants to get students interested in writing with a baseball connection. He will also bring some of his baseball memorabilia to your school. He will also have his books available for sale at $12.00.
Chuck has already had a few book signings at bookstores across the state. If you are interested in Chuck visiting your school, please check out his website for further information. Chuck’s website: http://angelsatrickwood.com/index.html
Sky Calls is a NASA-supported astronomy alert service that puts kids in touch with the sky—night and day. Anyone with a telephone can participate. When there is an eclipse, an alignment of planets, a big solar flare, or a flyby of the International Space Station, the phone rings. A voice message from NASA alerts students to the event and tells them how they can see or experience it. Students with cell phones can choose to receive text messages instead of voice. Of course, teachers can participate, too.
The alerts support National Academy of Science standards in technology, physical science, and astronomy. They’re great at sparking classroom discussion. Indeed, sometimes it is hard to stop students from talking about what they saw in the sky the night before. Throughout the year, teachers will be supplied with optional lesson plans and activities they can use to harness this enthusiasm for science enrichment.
Most alerts arrive after school, around dinner time, when the sky is darkening. Events on the sun, however, may be announced just before school or during the day. Cell-phone carrying teachers can share the news with their students during science class as it happens. “A major solar flare has just exploded on the sun. NASA says radio blackouts are possible—and there could be auroras tomorrow night.” This is science as it happens.
Participating classrooms will receive a set of parent/guardian permission forms. Send these forms home with your students for signatures. When a student returns the signed form to the classroom, they can sign-up and begin receiving alerts right away.
Signing up is easy at our secure web site, and may be done in the classroom or school library. Participants enter their zip code, phone number, email address and—presto!—the sign up is complete. The address of the web site and a special “coupon code” will be provided to participating classrooms. Sky Calls is managed for NASA by Dr. Tony Phillips: tphillips@qnet.com