School Partners Symposium March 20, 2021: Sessions
With over a dozen unique sessions spread across multiple time slots, there are nearly 150 different schedule combinations you can create to customize your day of professional learning! Browse the catalog of offerings below and make your selections by submitting the registration form linked below. Don't worry if there is something you miss - we'll make all the resources available on the STEM Network following the Symposium.
Schedule
9:00 a.m – Opening
Gather together online and kick-off the day with our keynote speaker Dr. Rabiah Mayas, Ph.D., the Ruth D. and Ken M. Davee Vice President of Education at Griffin MSI. We'll outline the exciting day ahead, set the focus, and provide some technical logistics of this virtual event before we get started.
9:30 a.m. – Session
Select session during registration.
| Session | Description |
|---|---|
| Five Principles | If you’re concerned about how much science learning has taken place during the pandemic, then Principles for Effective Remote Science Instruction: Focus, Clarity, Feedback, Discourse, and Coherency is for you. With discussion, application, and examples, you’ll learn how to improve science instruction for remote, in-person, or hybrid instructional settings. |
| Causation and Correlation | The difference between causation and correlation appears in the learning progression of the Cause and Effect crosscutting concept as early as elementary school (3-5). In this session we will discuss what that difference is and how to present it to students, and we will provide examples of misrepresentation in real-world situations. |
| Jr. Science Cafes | Learn about Jr. Science Cafes available to your students, why they are important, and how you can arrange similar experiences for your students. It is important for students to meet STEM professionals and talk with them about their career paths and their personal journeys into science. During conversations and hands-on activities, your students will get a unique experience that mirrors real-world experience in a STEM career. Each session is an exciting opportunity for your students to hear personal stories from a scientist or engineer and dive deeper into the possibility of pursuing a pathway to STEM. |
| Making Space for a Maker Space | Thinking about establishing a maker space at your school but aren’t sure where to start? The experts at the Museum’s Fab Lab are here to help. Whether it is a fully-equipped lab or a mobile cart, whether it is completely digitally or analogue only, the experts have ideas and solutions for you. Their education development program, Make_X, is a modular curriculum management system for educators to develop, distribute, and track self-guided project-based learning while leveraging makerspace environments. |
| Finding Funding | In a conversation with our experts at the museum, learn about raising funds and procuring resources to prioritize quality science and STEM education from business and community partners, grants, donations, and other outside funding sources. |
10:30 a.m. – Session
Select session during registration.
| Session | Description |
|---|---|
| NGSS 101: Intro to NGSS | The Next Generation Science Standards have brought fundamental shifts in science teaching and learning. Learn more about what this means for us as teachers as the NGSS is put into the context of a daily lesson. |
| Misconceptions | Students begin making sense of the natural world long before their first science class, and throughout school they accumulate ideas that can run contrary to accepted scientific ideas. Misconceptions are often hard to change because they make sense to the student. In this session we will explore how to identify students' science misconceptions through formative assessment and how to use the information to alter the instruction to achieve conceptual change. |
| Planning Professional Learning | The ability to participate in high-quality, research-based professional learning is a key to improving science instruction at your school, and many of you have included it in your action plans. Learn how to develop or adapt professional learning experiences for your team that focus on the unique nature of science and STEM teaching and learning. |
| Jr. Science Cafes | Learn about Jr. Science Cafes available to your students, why they are important, and how you can arrange similar experiences for your students. It is important for students to meet STEM professionals and talk with them about their career paths and their personal journeys into science. During conversations and hands-on activities, your students will get a unique experience that mirrors real-world experience in a STEM career. Each session is an exciting opportunity for your students to hear personal stories from a scientist or engineer and dive deeper into the possibility of pursuing a pathway to STEM. |
| Learning Lab: Weather Wise | Attend this session to see a high-quality science lesson in action! Use real data and observations to make your own weather forecast and better understand the difference between weather and climate using accurate terminology/vocabulary. |
| Science in Out-of-School Time: You Can Do It! | Join staff members from the Museum’s Science Clubs team in a conversation about infusing science into out-of-school-time (OST) programs. We will cover topics including how STEAM in OST programs can spark interest and excitement for participants to learn about phenomena in the natural and physical world; how science in OST programs is different from and similar to science in the classroom setting; and best practices for OST programs. |
11:30 a.m. – Lunch Hour
Independent lunch.
12:30 p.m. – Session
Select session during registration.
| Session | Description |
|---|---|
| NGSS 201: Coherence | Teachers are being asked to increase student agency related to their learning and to help students see themselves as scientific sense makers, not just content accumulators. Conceptual coherence is at the core of The Framework for K-12 Science Education and is an essential feature of any instruction that meets the goals of NGSS. See how planning for coherence provides strong links for achieving both learning agency and NGSS Performance Expectations. |
| Citizen Science | Engaging in citizen science projects, whether at home or at school, allows students to access science content, use science practices, and contribute to authentic science research following simple, achievable processes. Find a citizen science project that works for your students and learn how to integrate real-world science content and practices into your lessons to support an interesting and exciting learning experience for your students! |
| Cross- Curricular Connections | We all know that students benefit when what they are learning in one class directly connects and supports what they are learning in another. We also know that it’s tough to do. In this session we’ll articulate the connection between the NGSS (SEPs and CCCs) and the CCSS ELA standards and share ways to better plan and prepare for these connections. |
| Making Space for a Maker Space | Thinking about establishing a maker space at your school but aren’t sure where to start? The experts at the Museum’s Fab Lab are here to help. Whether it is a fully-equipped lab or a mobile cart, whether it is completely digitally or analogue only, the experts have ideas and solutions for you. Their education development program, Make_X, is a modular curriculum management system for educators to develop, distribute, and track self-guided project-based learning while leveraging makerspace environments. |
| Learning Lab: Mars 2040 | Attend this session to see a high-quality science lesson in action! Learn how NASA plans to get the first manned mission to Mars by the year 2040! Using at-home materials, pack your own suitcase to travel to Mars! |
1:30 p.m. – Collaborative School Team Time
Reconvene with your cross-disciplinary school team to debrief the day's learnings and develop a plan of action for how to implement this back at your school site.
2:30 p.m. – Closing
Wrap up the whole experience with a sharing of valuable learnings, commitments to next steps, and other moments from the day.