Important area resources for science, technology & math teachers
NASA Educator Resource Center
Mission: NASA's comprehensive education program advances the nation's educational goals through expanding and enhancing the scientific and technological competence of students and educators. The NASA IV&V Facility ERC in Fairmont, WV is an integral part of NASA's educational outreach. The mission of the ERC is to increase the use of NASA resources, to enhance the teaching and learning of math, science and technology and to innovatively use NASA's accomplishments to help meet the educational needs in West Virginia.
Summer 2018 Computer Science Training
The WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education is now a Code.org Regional Partner. As the first phase of this partnership, Code.org will provide full professional development, curriculum, and implementation support for West Virginia high school or CTE teachers who are scheduled to teach Computer Science Principles (either AP® or non-AP which counts as Computer Science in the Modern World) OR middle school teachers who are scheduled to teach Discovering Computer Science (grades 6-9) during the 2018-2019 school year for free. The professional development starts with a 5-day professional learning workshop June 17 - 22, 2018 (all expenses paid), with continued support throughout the academic year, including online support for upcoming units, forum support, and 1-day quarterly workshops. For CS Principles, this will count as an APSI through CPD. For either, professional development hours will count toward an in-progress WV Advanced Credential.
For elementary teachers, Code.org and the WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education will offer several free one-day training opportunities, which can be hosted locally. "Computer Science Fundamentals" is designed to provide ~20 hours of computer science activities for each grade level, K-5, or can be taught as a single full-year course in grades 3-5.
All PD experiences use engaging techniques to prompt participants to reflect on the pedagogy of teaching computer science while also becoming more familiar with the subject. All include hands-on experiences, collaboration with colleagues, and are accessible to teachers with any or no prior knowledge of computer science.
Teacher Applications will open on January 16th, and run through April 6th. Each applicant’s school principal will have to verify that the applicant is expected to teach the course in the 2018-2019 school year as part of the process, so get these courses scheduled!
West Virginia will attend TeacherCon in Atlanta, June 17 - 22, 2018. Teachers are expected to arrive on Sunday, June 16 by mid-afternoon and stay through all TeacherCon activities (~3 p.m.) on Friday, June 22nd.
Code.org has partnered with 120 of the largest school districts to add CS to the curriculum. These districts teach almost 10% of all U.S. students and 15% of Hispanic and African American students. They have, through partnerships like this one, prepared over 60,000 new teachers to teach CS across grades K-12. The majority ofattendees ranked it the best professional development ever.
For additional information please contact:
Dr. Gay Stewart
Director
Amanda Jelsema
Program Coordinator
WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education
Co-Regional Partner Program Managers.