MnSTA Fall 2019 Newsletter

Page 1

MnSTA

Newsletter

Volume 56 No. 1 A Quarterly Publication of the Minnesota Science Teachers Association Inc. Fall 2019

2019 MnCOSE Edition

Raising the Standard of Science Education in Minnesota Our premiere annual professional development event for 2019 will be in St. Could at the Rivers Edge Convention Center. The event is Thursday, Friday and Saturday November 7-9. We welcome you to join the Jeffer’s Foundation for a pre-event called “Team Teaching with Mother Nature” on Thursday at 4:30pm November 7th. This free workshop is open to all preservice teachers, university scieince methods instructors and all current MnSTA members. Starting at 7:00 PM on Thursday we welcome you to The Paramount Theater just down the street from Rivers Edge for a MnCOSE19 welcome reception followed by a free viewing of the documentary The Human Element. Following the viewing we will have a panel discussion on the documentary. Registration for MnCOSE19 begins at 7:30 AM on Friday morning at the Rivers Edge Center. There will be a full day of great sessions for educators. We welcome Peter McLaren, Executive Director of Next Gen Education as our keynote speaker. In addition, each conference strand will include a special strand speaker who will bring expertise in each strand topic. You will have the opportunnity to visit several vendors who will educate you on the latest in scientific innovations. By visiting these vendors, you will have the opportunity to win some amazing door prizes! We’ll end the afternoon Friday with a social event at the Courtyard Marriott followed by opportunities to dine locally at several restaurants with friends old

and new. On Saturday you will have the option to attend a full day of relicensure workshops designed for you. By attending this full day workshop you will receive all the required licensure CEU’s you will need for Minnesota relicensure in one day. The courses will include Positive Interventions, English Language Learners, Early Warning Signs of Mental Illness, Reading Strategies, and Suicide Prevention. Other options on Saturday include Discipline Area Table Talks, Instructional Strategies for the New Science Standards, Sphero & Ozobots (for elementary) and Lasers, Lights & Optics. Information on MNCOSE speakers, sessions, ventors, Thrusday’s Jeffer’s Foundation Workshop, Saturday’s Workshops and hotel accommodations can be found beginning on page 12. Our new science standards are coming soon! To help you understand the changes between the 2009 and 2019 Minnesota science standards, Mary Colson will give a workshop Instructional Strategies for the New Science Standards on Saturday morning at 9:00-12:00. Among the changes is the instructional shift from students learning about science content to students engaging in the practices of science to figure out something puzzling, either regarding the natural or the designed world. To understand the impacts of this and other changes, participants will first assume the role of scientist as they engage in a series of lessons to figure out where some missing water went in a small New England watershed. Participants will then analyze their experience to look for the presence of the science and engineering practices in the watershed lessons. The workshop will conclude with a look at some of the resources that are available to support Minnesota teachers as they tackle the shift to 3-dimensional teaching and learning.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.