Event: Science Teaching Conference
Posted on May 15th, 2012 by Jaimie Schock
The Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST) connects science educators and policymakers from across Texas and beyond. CAST 2012 is Nov. 8-10 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Included in the registration price is access to more than 650 free workshops tailored to specific grade levels and subject matters.
Filed under: For Teachers, K-12 Outreach Programs | Comments Off on Event: Science Teaching Conference
Tags: Conference, Conferences and Meetings, Events, Science Teachers, STEM teachers, Teacher Workshops, Workshops
Two online webinars and a workshop that will provide information about the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, including how to prepare Letters of Intent and proposals for the upcoming deadlines, will be held Feb. 15, 16, and 21, respectively. The deadline for registration is Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. The program seeks to encourage talented STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers.
What prompts today’s undergraduates to pursue STEM majors rather than business, law, the arts, or other fields of study? Job prospects? Passion? How about you, and what they’re learning in your classroom? According to a new study, college students decide to concentrate in science, technology, engineering, and math in high school or before – and more than half cite “a teacher or class” as their top reason. 
Who says science is for nerds? Not the Council of Chief State School Officers, which just named Michelle Shearer, an AP chemistry teacher from Frederick, Md., the 2011 National Teacher of the Year. President Obama will honor her and other state teachers of the year at the White House on May 3.
Teach for America is the latest player in the nation’s effort to improve STEM education. The alternative teacher-preparation program is getting a $500,000 financial boost from the ExxonMobil Foundation to recruit and train recent college graduates for math and science teaching positions in high-needs communities.
A bill pending in the Kentucky legislature would pay extra sums to math and science teachers, including bonuses of up to $7,500 a year to those whose students score well on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. But some teachers have mixed feelings about the proposal.
Making sure students “get their hands dirty,” and build things, instead of just working through hypothetical problems, helps them better understand how engineering design and processes work, says this former middle school teacher, now a doctoral candidate. 
Physics teacher Ed Linz learned the value of teamwork commanding a submarine, where crew members place their lives in each others’ hands. He now collaborates with a special education instructor in teaching a mixed class of high school students. 
A presidential advisory panel is calling for the federal government to recruit and train 100,000 “great STEM teachers” over the next decade, recognize a master corps of the best educators, and create 1,000 schools devoted to science, technology, engineering and math.
