Archives: February, 2010

On Thursday, March 4, K-12 students all over the world will go head to head in games of mental math for World Math Day. Each of the 500 games lasts 60 seconds and students answer as many questions as they can within that time. The competition lasts 48 hours and play is open to all students (ages 5 to 18) with internet access. Prizes will be awarded to the top players in each age group.

Registrations for the event close March 1, so you’ll need to be quick! To register a school, class, or individual go to the World Math Day website.

Whether you’re competing or sitting this one out, LEARN NC offers the following hand-picked math resources to celebrate World Math Day.

Best practice articles for teachers

• Number sense every day — Educator Lisa Carboni shares some great strategies to help students develop number sense, the intuitive feel for numbers and their relationships.
• Math for multiple intelligences — This article tells the story of how a middle-school math teacher realized she was boring and jump-started her career — and her students.
• Quick draw — A simple warm-up exercise helps students develop mental imagery of mathematics.

More math best practices articles

Math websites for students

• The Math Forum Student Center — Check out the K-12 Math Problems, Puzzles, Tips & Tricks as well as the grade level activities.
• Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles — Games and puzzles, arithmetic and algebra problems, geometry proofs, information about math as a language, and more.
• Math Central — A rich, comprehensive resource, supported by the University of Regina, Canada, for math students and teachers at mid-elementary through secondary levels.
• Interactivate — Online tools and interactive applets to make math make sense to secondary students.

More math websites from Best of the Web

Ross White and Jason Don Forsythe of LEARN NC will present “STEM Curriculum and Resources from LEARN NC” at the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs Synergy 2010 on Tuesday, March 2. The conference is held at the Koury Center in Greensboro, and the presentation will begin at 1 p.m. An abstract of the presentation is below:

STEM Curriculum and Resources from LEARN NC

Do you want your afterschool staff and volunteers to find everything they need to know to meet NC standards?  Introduce them to LEARN NC!  LEARN NC has a wealth of materials for educators and students that can be integrated into your afterschool program.  Discover the best STEM lesson plans and Web resources, all aligned to the NC Standard Course of Study.  Oh, and did we mention that it’s all free?

Last year, LEARN NC made $125,000 in matching-funds awards to North Carolina schools to use for online professional development. More than 750 teachers benefited from a total of ten awards to elementary schools, middle schools, rural and urban LEAs, and a four-county education partnership in North Carolina.

In 2010, LEARN NC will again aid educator development in North Carolina with the Invest in Teachers Award. The LEARN NC Invest in Teachers Award will make awards for online professional development ranging from $2,500 to $50,000, accompanied by a matching amount from the schools, so teachers will still receive the training and support they need to help their students succeed in the classroom and in life.

Applications are accepted through April 30, 2010. For full details and application instructions, please visit the main Invest in Teachers Award page.

LEARN NC has several online math and science professional development courses beginning in March. Whether you teach elementary, middle, or high school, this is a great chance to earn CEU credit and acquire skills that can make a difference in your classroom. Here’s a list of the upcoming courses:

Modern Math Teaching – begins March 3
In this course, we will examine specific failings of current mathematical instructional models and, over a fast, three-week course, develop useful solutions to those problems using, among other things, multimedia and a classroom culture of curiosity.

Biodiversity in Your Backyard – begins March 9
Designed especially for teachers of elementary-aged students, this course will expand your life science content knowledge with material aligned to the NC Standard Course of Study. You will have two classrooms during this course — this interactive, online classroom and your own backyard!

Elementary Science Learning – begins March 22
Science is fundamentally about the process of making sense of phenomena in the natural and social world. In this course you will think about the scientific process and how it applies to teaching science in the elementary classroom.

Middle Grades Science Learning – begins March 22
This course intends to engage teachers in investigations of Science, the Nature of Science, and Practices that scientists use to make sense of phenomena in the world. Each of these things are at the heart of the Nature of Science and Inquiry Strands of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study: Science 2004 (NCSCOS).

Getting Ready for Algebra by Using Virtual Manipulatives – begins March 24
Learn how to use virtual manipulatives and other technologies to help students become proficient, successful algebra students.

“Online professional development” used to sound fancy and futuristic. Since LEARN NC began offering online courses in 2002, online learning has come a long way, to the point where teachers don’t see it as a novel thing anymore. It’s not just that online professional development is a widely accepted learning model. Based on the enrollment numbers we’re seeing, it’s a necessity.

In 2009, Moodle Training registrations were more than double those for 2008. Right now, North Carolina public schools have 673 online courses hosted on the LEARN NC Moodle server, 72 of which are instances of schools teaching their own online professional development. The rate of professional development registrations is increasing monthly, and these numbers show no signs of slowing down.

North Carolina educators have spoken — online professional development has proven itself so valuable that it’s now an integral part of how schools operate. To meet the demand, we’ll be adding more courses this summer and fall, all aligned to the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards. Find your next professional development opportunity online.

Sincerely,
Melissa Thibault
Executive Director
LEARN NC

K-12 Chinese language instruction in North Carolina has grown at a rate that is more than double the national average. Not surprisingly, the fervor to study Chinese has created an incredible demand for Chinese language teachers. North Carolina has turned to distance education as a solution for addressing both needs. While the number of face-to-face Chinese language programs is increasing, online courses in Chinese language instruction make it possible to involve students across a greater geographic region, thereby extending the reach of Chinese language instruction.

This was the message shared with K-20 educators from around the U.S. and China recently at a meeting held in Washington, D.C. by the Asia Society. The focus of the meeting was “Creating a Supply of K-12 Chinese Language Teachers.” Bobby Hobgood presented the North Carolina model for developing online Chinese language courses now being offered through the North Carolina Virtual Public School. Particular emphasis was given to how LEARN NC prepared Chinese language teachers to develop and teach levels 1-4 and AP Mandarin language courses. Specifically, teachers took courses from the Carolina Online Teacher (COLT) program, collaborated with an instructional designer, attended LinguaFolio training, participated in Learning Management System (LMS) training, and collaborated with outside groups like the Mandarin Online Advisory Board and the Confucius Institute at N.C. State University.

The School of Education (SOE) at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill seeks to hire, for a three-year fixed-term (9-month/year), a public school educator for the newly created Distinguished P-12 Educator position. The Distinguished Educator’s primary responsibility will be to work with School of Education faculty and the Dean to deepen and extend our collaboration with P-12 schools and districts and their communities. The start date for the position is July 1, 2010.

Responsibilities may include: meeting regularly with partner school administrators and teachers to ensure timely communication and mutually beneficial collaborative activities; participating fully in the activities of the School and keeping the School community apprised of partner school needs, perspectives, and activities; helping plan, coordinate, and oversee outreach activities that address the needs of P-12 partners and their communities; helping plan and coordinate productive practicum placements for educators-in-training; teaching prospective educators about current policies, issues, and opportunities in the P-12 world; bringing the concerns and issues of under-represented communities to the attention of the School of Education community and ensuring that these are addressed; helping recruit, into teaching and leadership, students and educators from under-represented groups.

Qualifications: The successful candidate is expected to have: extensive classroom experience in high-need schools; experience in providing leadership in a school or district setting; the unqualified respect of educators and families in the schools and communities with whom the School partners; a commitment to improving learning opportunities for students and families in the most challenging settings; excellent communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills. Applicants must have an active teaching license and a bachelor’s degree. We encourage educators from under-represented groups to apply.

The Application Process: To apply for the position, attach a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, two writing samples that reflect your scholarly accomplishment, four reference names and contact information, and three letters of recommendation using the online application process at http://jobs.unc.edu/1002354/. Application reviews will begin as soon as possible and will continue until the position is filled.

For more information, email  Dr. Cheryl Mason Bolick at cbolick at unc dot edu or please consult: http://soe.unc.edu/resources/employment/faculty_pos/ or http://jobs.unc.edu/1002354.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Our latest teacher profile focuses on José Garcia, who teaches science at Greene County Middle School. The article “Challenge-based learning: José Garcia’s innovative approach to student inquiry” is our fifth in a series spotlighting teachers who use inventive instructional techniques.

The piece explains how Mr. Garcia covers all of the grades 6, 7, and 8 NC Standard Course of Study requirements two months ahead of end-of-grade exams, assigns no homework, and has plenty of time to help struggling children one-on-one while guiding his students to a 98% EOG pass rate.

Mr. Garcia — a 2009 Apple Distinguished Teacher — calls his approach “challenge-based instruction” and defines it as a combination of project-based instruction and inquiry-based instruction. “Students guide their own learning, work in teams, and share what they learn with each other,” he explains. “And my job is both easier and more rewarding than it was when I used traditional teaching methods.”

Our goal for the series is to allow outstanding teachers to present, in their own words, successful instructional practices for the benefit of not only other teachers but also policy-makers, school administrators, and education researchers. Previous entries in the series include:

• Staging history: Charter School Teacher of the Year John Hall brings lessons to life
• Using technology to teach foreign languages: Teacher of the Year Jessica Garner shares secrets
• Wall-to-wall project-based learning: A conversation with biology teacher Kelley Yonce
• Traveling the world, virtually: Project-based learning in elementary school

Check out this week’s special education blog post, which examines the phenomenon that males are more likely than females to be referred for special education services.

It’s not to late to apply for one-year grants of $7,500 from the A+ Fit Schools initiative. This initiative from the NC Health & Wellness Trust Fund can benefit schools by increasing physical activity and healthy eating and consequently improve academic performance and staff productivity.

Apply

There is no fee to apply for the A+ Fit School designation or grant.  Download the forms from www.aplusfitschoolsnc.org and submit by 5:00 p.m. on February 24th, 2010. For more information, please contact Kathy Crumpler at 910-270-2935.