PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES (non-Science Center)
Click on any of the following items for further information:
ONGOING:
Exploring the Arnold Arboretum for Educators: first Saturday of each month
New England Aquarium : Professional development workshops
MIT - Edgerton Center: Maker Workshops (for K-12 Educators)
FALL:
Tufts University Teacher Engineering Education Program
The Teacher Engineering Education Program (TEEP) is an online certificate program that issues 4 credits a course over 4 courses. Courses cover both content and pedagogy in the classroom and are affordable at only $1,000 a course (+$100 lab fee for content courses). This program is online and flexible for a busy teacher's schedule. Registration is now open.
FEBRUARY:
Museum of Science: Supporting Student Understanding of Natural Selection and Adaptation (Feb. 29 8:30am-2pm)
MARCH:
Arnold Arboretum: Is It Spring Yet?(March 7, 9-11:30am)
This month we will search the grounds for signs of spring! What are all the little clues provided by nature that lets us know that spring is near? What are all the questions that come up during such a search with children? Teachers will learn to take these wonders and help children turn them into testable questions that can be used to conduct science experiments.
Museum of Science: Five Senses Science Early Childhood Education Workshop (March 14, for Pre-2 educators and directors)
Museum of Science: Modeling as Meaning Making Teacher Workshop (March 21, 8:30-2)
Join Museum and fellow classroom educators in creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional models, both individually and collaboratively, to engage in modeling about everyday science phenomena.
Framingham State: Growing Your School Garden (online course - March 23-April 17).
Participants will explore various types of gardens and learn best practices for a successful garden.
The reduced cost (typically $215 per course) is covered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Office for Food and Nutrition Programs to support your school wellness professional development needs. This course provides 22.5 PDPs for Teachers or 15 hrs. For more information on the course, please contact Karen McGrail at kmcgrail@framingham.edu.
APRIL:
National Science Teaching Association: National Conference on Science Education (April 2-5 in Boston)
Volunteer by February 15, 2020 and receive reduced registration!
Arnold Arboretum: Exploring Ecopond Systems (April 11, 9-11am)
This month we will look closely at the life cycles of organisms that make their home in and around pond ecosystems. We will look for evidence of birds, insects, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, and consider their diverse interactions with plants. We will also collect pond water for further investigations with different levels of magnification, and use field guides to help identify macroinvertebrates present in the water.
Project WILD: Growing up Wild PD Workshop, Exploring Nature with Young Children (April 11, 9am-3:45pm). For educators of children ages 3-7. Nashoba Brooks School, 200 Strawberry Hill, Concord.
JUNE:
Wade Institute for Science Education: Bringing together science and literacy learning in the primary classroom: Integrating literacy, science, and inquiry in Grades K-2 (June 24-26)
A minds-on, hands-on professional development experience that will provide you with scientific knowledge, classroom investigations, and a network of resources.
JULY:
Morpho Institute: Rainforest PD Workshop (July 1-11, 2020)
$1250 Scholarships for Amazon Rainforest PD Workshop
Educator Academy in the Amazon RainforestThe Educator Academy in the Amazon Rainforest provides powerful professional development designed to transform student learning. Immersed in the Peruvian Amazon, teachers learn about this key global ecosystem while building their ability to engage students in scientific research, engineering design, cross-cultural connections, and stewardship projects. Field workshops support NGSS 3D learning, STEM, 5E and more.
National Energy Education Development (NEED) Projects's 2020 National Energy Conference for Educators (July 19-23 in Albuquerque, New Mexico)
NEED leaders at the conference help participants develop specialized units with NEED lessons that integrate energy curriculum into classrooms at any grade level and with students of all learning styles, while focusing on the successful achievement of state and national education goals by using correlations of NEED materials to the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core standards and state science standards.
ORGANIZATIONS:
Wade Institute (formerly MITS: Museum Institute for Teaching Science)
Wade's Science by Connections website: searchable PD opportunities
Museum of Science Workshops
NSTA: Science Matters in Massachusetts
Project Learning Tree Workshops
WPI STEM Education Center