Online PD Opportunities
Game On! Reimagine Learning Through Gameplay
Learning for Justice - Instruction self-guided resources
Learning for Justice - Speak Up at School
- GameOn is a course that teaches educators of any subject about the value of game-based learning in an online format. The goal of the course is to help educators increase engagement and the development of a fun and interactive class culture. The cost of the course is $49 for ISTE members and $65 for non-members. The online course is 5 hours in length.
- I want to be able to use games, especially Minecraft in the classroom. I want to meet my students where they are and leverage their talents and interests that they have developed in their gaming world.
Learning for Justice - Instruction self-guided resources
- Learning for Justice has self-guided reading articles on a variety of topics on Instruction that address anti-bias in education, reducing racial prejudice, culturally differentiated instruction practices, etc. The articles are short 10-minute average reads and are free. There is a learning plan builder to help bookmark articles of importance.
- I try to be culturally responsive in my classroom. I teach at a white-majority school and it is shocking once you become aware of how "left-out" students of color are in the curriculum planning. I am constantly searching for new techniques and ideas to complement and increase cultural awareness. I try to use examples of scientists who are women and BIPOC to illustrate advances in scientific theories.
Learning for Justice - Speak Up at School
- This is a 90-minute virtual workshop that costs $15. It is delivered on Zoom. It is designed to help educators interrupt and stop bias from going unchecked.
- I am a see-something, say-something type of person. I deliver a speech on the first day of class that my room is a safe space and there is no room for anything unkind to be said about anyone. I stop kids from talking about each other and even some things that could slide as "joking" but I recognize them as microaggressions. I would love to increase my awareness and get new ideas on how to do the interruption part.
Personal Development Reflections
In the next 2 years, I plan to become a Certified American Meterological Society Teacher (CAT). I was accepted into the spring cohort for the Astrostreme Atmosphere course which is an online course that is sponsored by the American Meterological Society (AMS) and PennWest Univeristy for pre-college teachers who teach weather and climate as part of their curriculum. It is an online 13-week course covering the atmosphere. In Summer 2023, I will take the AMS Project Atmosphere course which is a hybrid, online course with one-week spent at the National Weather Center in Missouri. I will then take the Project Ocean course in Summer 2024. These courses and resulting certification will expand upon my knowledge of weather and climate as an Earth Science teacher. In college and graduate school, I never took any courses related to the atmosphere or weather. All the knowledge I have gained has been peripheral through other studies in Earth Science and paleoclimate modeling.