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PIMMS
Fourth Year of Summer Workshops Announced
"Our summer school is rocketing to success - kids are going home telling parents they need to change their light bulbs. One Dad reported that his son wanted him to go out and buy litmus paper so they could test the water in their house."
The
Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, the Connecticut Clean Energy
Fund, and Wesleyan's PIMMS announced the dates and locations for
their summer series of workshops.
The workshops are designed to improve the science teaching
skills of teachers of Pre-k through 9th grade students. The workshops are funded
by the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF) and
the
Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) and hosted by PIMMS. CEEF's eesmarts
program is administered by Connecticut Light
and Power and United Illuminating. CCEF's Learning for Clean Energy Initiative (LCEI)
program is administered by Connecticut Innovations. In addition to the benefits offered in
the past: free curriculum materials, CEU's, and stipends, teachers attending the
workshops this year received season passes to one of three Connecticut science
museums and classroom kits of science equipment to be used to
conduct the inquiries embedded in the program.
This year, workshop locations will be divided between Wesleyan and Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk so we can make the workshops as convenient as practical. All workshops will run from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. The dates and locations will be:
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June 27, 28 & 29 - Grades PreK-2 Workshop - Grades 3-5 Workshop Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Norwalk
July 5, 6 & 7 |
July 11 - Grades 6-9 Climate Change Workshop Wesleyan University, Middletown
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PIMMS Fellow Pens Tome
Mari Muri, PIMMS Fellow has co-authored a new book titled:
INFORMative Assessment [Formative Assessment to Improve Math Achievement]
Grades K-6
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The book is being published by Math Solutions and Scholastic and will be released at the NCSM and NCTM annual conferences in mid-April, 2011 in Indianapolis. The co-authors: Jeane M. Joyner and Mari Muri will do a 3 session webinar based on the book in May : May 3, May 10, May 17
A brief description which is targeted toward teachers of grades K - 6 follows:
What is formative assessment? Why do we do it and what do students gain? This invaluable resource gives a road map for thinking about the process of formative assessment in mathematics instruction. It's uniquely presented as a collaborative learning journey in which educators understand the INFORMative perspective, explore must-have practices, and discuss how to implement them. Each chapter includes a place for you to record notes about your use of INFORMative assessment - the changes in your thinking, your questions, your frustrations, and, most importantly, your successes!
PIMMS Staff Member and Consultant
distinguish themselves as "WIND SENATORS"
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KidWind completed its second week-long WindSenators training session in Malta, NY on August 7th. There are now have 32 very capable trainers from a variety of backgrounds in fifteen states! And two of them are from PIMMS. Bob Borello, Director of Science and Energy Programs for PIMMS and James Sulzen, a PIMMS Consultant who has specialized in alternative energy Sources each gave a week of their very busy Summers. Teachers explored and critiqued the new WindWise curriculum, played with piles of KidWind gear and were introduced to a variety of topics by taking tours of the GE Wind Training facility and listening to guest lectures by leaders of the anti-wind movement. And just what do all these newly trained WindSenators mean? Now we'll be able to offer more trainings, get to more local conferences and hold more KidWind Challenges! |
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Recent Study Supports PIMMS Approach to Professional Development
A recent study published by the Council of Chief State School Officers concludes that professional development programs with significant effects involved:
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50 or more hours of professional development, and
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Had a content focus PLUS training and follow-up pedagogical content knowledge.
The PIMMS Approach:
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Mathematics and Science Content Workshops
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Consultant Services
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Coaching & Mentoring
For more information contact:
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Mike Zebarth (Director)
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Bob Borello (Science)
What's Your Choice for Twelfth Grade Mathematics?
Commentary from Bob Rosenbaum, Chair of PIMMS
Contact PIMMS
if you wish to be included on
one of our e-mail lists.
MORE
INFORMATION
Newsletter
The latest edition of our newsletter including "Musings on Factoring
of Polynomials" by Bob Rosenbaum is available by clicking here:
Download Spring 08 Newsletter/a>
Science Choreography Workshop Announced
Science Choreography introduces new website
Spaces are available in our upcoming half-day workshop on Wednesday 6 July 2011 (9 am to 1 pm). The workshop is free and will provide 0.3 continuing education units and a $100 honorarium for attending teachers. The workshop is being held by the Wesleyan Hughes Program in the Life Science, in collaboration with PIMMS.
As part of a collaboration with choreographer Liz Lerman of the Dance Exchange (http://www.danceexchange.org), we are exploring the use of dance and embodied learning as a effective way to encourage interest in science by students from middle school through college. Over several years, Liz Lerman has worked with scientists to develop a piece called Ferocious Beauty: Genome that premiered at Wesleyan in 2006 (http://www.danceexchange.org/performance/ferociousbeautygenome.html).
Working with area teachers, we are developing classroom modules that include short film clips from the piece for use in middle and high school settings, and have found in pilot sessions that children show a lot of enthusiasm and interest, including those who rarely showed curiosity about science. Our experiences point to the usefulness of choreography as a mechanism for creative thinking, learning about complexity, problem solving, and promoting understanding about the kinds of questions scientists ask. Our approach is presented in our new Science Choreography web site http://sciencechoreography.wesleyan.edu/.
We are planning the workshop, in conjunction with our 2011 Wesleyan Hughes summer program, to explore using dance and Ferocious Beauty: Genome as a bridge for science outreach and public understanding of science. The workshop will bring divergent thinking groups together – university researchers, professional dancers/choreographers, school educators, advanced undergraduate students – as a means of developing new ideas and as a way of charging each other to return to our own classrooms and laboratories with fresh thinking.
We hope you will be able to join us.
Click here for a PDF version of the application http://sciencechoreographyPDF.wesleyan.edu/.
Click here for a Word version of the application http://sciencechoreographyDOC.wesleyan.edu/.
Michael Weir and Laura Grabel, The Wesleyan Hughes Program
Michael P. Weir
mweir@wesleyan.eduDepartment of Biology tel:860-685-2402
Wesleyan University fax:860-685-3279
Middletown, CT 06459
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Robert Rosenbaum, University Mathematics Professor at
Wesleyan University, established the Project to Increase Mastery of
Mathematics and Science (PIMMS) at Wesleyan in 1979. In 1984, the first of a
series of two-year, multi-week, Fellowship Institutes (PIMMS
professional development programs) began. Since then, approximately 700 teachers,
K-12, have become Fellows. Many now serve as school, district and state
leaders in mathematics and science education. Through outreach
activities with their colleagues and educators statewide,
they impact 12,000 -15,000 teachers each year. Annually,
1,500 teachers attend one or more of PIMMS 50 high-quality
professional development programs.
Learn more about PIMMS..