Educator Services Teaching & Learning Curriculum Resources
2008 Professional Development Institutes

Southeast Region

Science and Technology/Engineering

How to Effectively Engage Students in Standards-Based Biology Learning K-12

For Teachers in grades K-12
Prerequisite: Fundamental content knowledge

This institute will provide participants with an in-depth knowledge of how to effectively engage students in standards-based Biology learning. Teachers will learn how to develop a content-focused approach to instruction that relates multiple elements of effective standards-based instruction to further develop their skills and knowledge. Participants will examine their own classroom pedagogy as well as enhance their own instructional repertoires to provide successful learning experiences for students in a standards-based classroom learning environment.

The main goals of the institute are:

• To provide participants with an understanding of how Learning Style and Multiple Intelligence Theories can enhance their teaching pedagogies
• To provide participants with a deep conceptual understanding of the STE Frameworks K-12, including the four levels of inquiry
• To assist participants in developing a repertoire of strategies for actively engaging students in learning Biology K-12
• To assist participants in building a repertoire of varied assessment practices to complement varied student-centered pedagogies

Science and Technology/Engineering

On the Waterfront

For Teachers in grades 3-8
Prerequisites: None

Participants will learn about the physical environment of the waterfront, the living organisms and the human activity in and around the waterfront, and the relationship among the three. Faculty will present a rich array of curricula, practical skills and content knowledge for conducting standards-based investigations and analysis. Based primarily on the science Framework, the Institute integrates other content areas, especially language arts (linking science observation to literacy through journaling), and mathematics (measuring, graphing).

Mathematics

Understanding Rational Numbers: Fractions, Decimals, Percents and Proportionality

For Teachers in Grades 3-8
Prerequisites: None

This course is designed for regular education teachers and their colleagues with working content knowledge who teach either in a regular or an inclusion classroom.

The goals of the course are to enhance the foundational mathematics knowledge in the area of rational numbers, fractions, decimals and percents. The need to strengthen teacher and student understanding of this specific focus is a key finding of the National Math Panel. Elements and strategies of effective standards-based classroom instruction will be modeled and incorporated into the course.

Mathematics

Reasoning and Problem Solving: Number Sense, Algebra and Measurement

For Teachers in Grades 5-8
Prerequisites: None

This institute is designed to expand teachers' mathematics content knowledge in the areas of Number sense, algebra and measurement. Multiple instructional strategies will be addressed in the context of a standards-based classroom. Teacher teams will be given priority.

The course will focus on the essential notion that students should experience mathematics as a coherent whole, rather than as discrete and unrelated topics. Participants will examine, explore and develop practical classroom strategies to teaching and making connections among these strands of the Frameworks. Problem solving and reasoning will be an integral part of the institute, as participants will solve real-life problems set in meaningful contexts. Concepts such as proportionality, linear relationships, area and the Pythagorean Theorem will be uncovered using various methods including hands-on explorations, graphing calculators and interactive web-based tools.

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