Summer Workshop Plans

NSSTE Summer Workshop Agenda

How long do your workshops last?

3 weeks

How many teachers do you involve in your workshops?

60

What are your major goals for your workshops in terms of content and pedagogy? (Just one or two paragraphs)

To enhance the content background and teaching strategies of 60 lead teachers in the National School District. This summer the focus is on the physical sciences including Astronomy and developing plans for meeting the grade level California Science Content Standards Grades K-6.

Are you offering professional development on specific curricula that you are hoping will be used in the classroom? If so, which curricula are you using?

Professional development will center on utilizing the district's adopted FOSS program supplemented with instruction in Astronomy, ideas and inventions, and also technology and field work at 2 field study centers.

The following are short courses offered to all of the teachers in the National School District and to teachers county-wide. The intent is to give priority to the teachers in the South San Diego Bay, an area south of San Diego City Schools to the Mexican border. The National School District is one of five districts in this predominately hispanic area. Funds for these courses are provided by the UCSD Office of CREATE (Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assesment and Teaching Excellence).

IMPLEMENTING THE SCIENCE STANDARDS (July 12-15)

This is a four day program for school/district teams representing grade spans; K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12. Teacher teams will focus on strengthening content knowledge and aligning science curriculum to the new academic standards. The program will include presentations from university faculty and teacher leaders, demonstrations on instructional strategies that are effective for all students and high quality support materials from local resources. Articulation and alignment of district science matrices and course of study documents are an important product of this institute.

INSTITUTE FOR NEW SCIENCE TEACHERS (July 20-23)

This is a summer institute for new teachers (with fewer than 4 years of teaching experience). The institute will focus on introducing new teachers to the CSP professional community, understanding the new state standards, introducing effective teaching and learning strategies for Science instruction, the California Standards for the Teaching Profession and assessing the county's many resources including: ongoing support of the CSP-San Diego County Office of Education, San Diego Science Alliance and San Diego Science Educators Association.

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE STANDARDS IN A TECHNOLOGY-BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. (July 12-16)

Using the state standards and expressed needs of participating teachers as our guide, we will offer a one-week program for upper elementary and middle school teachers based on the theme "Electronic Resources for Science Instruction". The program will present effective strategies for utilizing technology in instructional practices and student work. Collaboration with the SCORE (Schools of California Online Resources for Educators) will enable participants to publish standards based lesson designs on the SCORE Web Site.

THE DYNAMICS OF TEACHING SCIENCE TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (Aug. 3-5)

Using the PREPA curriculum for grades 3-5 and 6-8 teachers will participate in activities aligned with the science standards to effectively engage all students in assessing science content. Instructional strategies, lesson design, and student work are featured throughout this 3-day institute. Participants will receive a curriculum binder for their grade span.

FOSS FOR NEW TEACHERS IN THE SOUTHBAY (April 26 - June 23)

This program involved offering 2 half days per grade level for a total of over 60 teachers in the Chula Vista School District to provide content background and teaching strategies in implementing the FOSS program in schools in the Southbay.