Summer Workshop Plans

Academic Success for Students and Educators Together (ASSET) Summer Workshop Agenda

Franklin Jones: Principal Investigator
Janie West: Professional Development Coordinator
Preston Durrill: Co-Director
David Yates: Co-Director
Ronald Willoughby: Evaluator
Summer Faculty:
Mary K. Owens
Barbara Cook
Summer Support Staff:
Bernice Brown
Ruby Coffey
Pat Fletcher
Mary Jackson
Janie Mullins
Libby Watts

ASSET is a five-year science reform project for all of the K-8 faculty, administrators, and their students (12,706 K-8 students and 644 K-8 faculty) in Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell counties in southwest Virginia. In the four school divisions, teams are formed and commitments made to support the change from didactic, textbook-driven elementary curricula into inquiry-activity programs. The goals and objectives are to have all the elementary school faculty become competent in selected FOSS, STC, and Insights materials that encourage the development of problem-solving skills that are consistent with Virginia's and national science standards of learning; have all the elementary school faculty improve their science instruction; to develop a Materials Resource Center; and to establish a professional development program.

The professional development of elementary faculty will focus upon learning science content and processes through inquiry-based teaching, use of cooperative learning strategies, questioning strategies, and appropriate methods of assessment.

How long do your workshops last?

We will conduct one (two-day) workshop for 3 summer faculty and 6 support staff to plan and prepare for the weeklong workshops for elementary faculty. The workshop will begin at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 pm each day.

Two (one-week) workshops per grade level will be conducted for K-2 faculty. The workshops will begin at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 pm.

How many teachers do you involve in your workshops?

Approximately 150 K-2 faculty will participate in at least one of the six workshops offered during the first two weeks of August. The same instruction will be provided for the remaining 80 faculty in September. Each of the six workshops will accommodate approximately 25 participants.

What are your major goals for your workshop in terms of content and pedagogy?

Our goals are to have the elementary faculty:

• Become competent practitioners in the use of science modules by deepening their understanding of science content and developing the appropriate pedagogical skills and instructional strategies necessary for successfully implementing an inquiry-based science curriculum.
• Develop an awareness of the need to change present methods of teaching
• Correlate science module activities with national and Virginia's Standards of Learning
• Develop strategies for teaching inquiry-based science using learning cycles, cooperative learning techniques, effective questioning strategies and alternative methods of assessment.

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?

The August professional development workshops will focus on instruction in the use of Animals Two by Two (FOSS), Organisms (STC), and Changes (STC) modules. The four school divisions have purchased a sufficient number of each module (placed in the Materials Resource Center for rotation) to enable implementation in the classrooms this year. Selected Insights modules will be piloted in the future.

Date: July 26-27, 1999 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Location: Garden Middle School
Module: Animals Two by Two (FOSS)
Faculty: Barbara Cook
Support Staff: Janie Mullins, Ruby Coffey

Date: July 26-27, 1999 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Location: Garden Middle School
Module: Organisms (STC)
Faculty: Mary K. Owens
Support Staff: Pat Fletcher, Mary Jackson

Date: July 26-27, 1999 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Location: Garden Middle School
Module: Changes (STC)
Faculty: Janie West
Support Staff: Libby Watts, Bernice Brown