Warsaw Math, Science Teachers Get Ball State Instruction
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The two-week Math Science Partnership Summer Institute was made possible through the $450,000 grant WCS received from the Indiana Department of Education for the next three years, to collaborate with Ball State and Manchester University to train teachers in science, technology, engineering and math.
According to Edgewood Middle School Principal JoElla Smyth, WCS teachers that work with students in grades sixth through ninth in math or science, as well as special education and English Language Learners, are taking part in the institute on a volunteer basis. It started Monday.
This is year one of the possible three-year grant. Each summer, WCS will offer its teachers 80 hours of instruction each year the grant is made available. The instruction is college-level material provided by BSU.
Christine Bonifield, WCS instructional coach, said the goal of the institute is to improve classroom content and give students a real-world understanding of math and science.
“When the Cambridge study was conducted a few years ago, industry said what they wanted students to have was problem-solving skills,” said David Hoffert, WCS chief academics officer.
The grant and summer institute, he said, are all about problem-solving skills and using them in teaching math and science.
Teachers will develop a project-based learning experience to take back to their classrooms, Bonifield said. Smyth said when teachers have their projects developed, they will try them out on students. Orthopedic engineers also will come in and critique the projects.
Almost 50 teachers are involved in the summer institute.
Every WCS building is represented at the institute, Bonifield indicated.
Smyth said teachers’ willingness to come in during the summer for two weeks says a lot about WCS. Teachers are coming back to continue their learning so they can have a greater impact on their students. Some teachers are opting to go for graduate credit with it.
“One of the things that’s so powerful is we have so many grade levels represented,” Hoffert noted. “It’s hard during the school year to bring representatives from all grade levels together. Here, we have them together and we’ve created a small professional learning community for two weeks.”
Everyone involved can communicate with one another through Twitter and Blackboard, Smyth indicated. Ball State also can stay in contact with the teachers that way, too. The hashtag for the Twitter discussion is #wcsstemsuccess and their name is Engineering STEM Success. There’s also a logo.
The big goal of the summer institute, Bonifield said, is for teachers to learn to incorporate projects into the classroom. Classrooms are getting away from textbooks and becoming more discovery learning and hands-on. Standards are still being followed. During the institute, teachers are spending half the time on content learning, and half the time on project-based learning.
“Everything they’re doing is something you can take back to the classroom,” Hoffert said. They will be able to help students find real-world understanding of what they’re learning in the classroom, he said.
“It isn’t what they have to teach, but the way they teach it. It’s getting us to think that way,” Smyth indicated.
As part of the grant, WCS had to partner with a college. When WCS put its idea out there, BSU responded. The grant was co-written with BSU and WCS staff made two trips to BSU. Bonifield said it was a true collaboration.
“Chris Bonifield, Lorinda Kline, JoElla Smyth and Kyle Carter really spearheaded the planning of this grant and workshop,” said Hoffert. “Through collaboration of a lot of teachers and administrators, they spent a multitude of hours to make sure this is a highly effective institute of learning. It’s one of the best workshops WCS has initiated for teachers. This brings all the pieces together, working with Ball State.”
Each teacher participating in the institute had to take a pre-test, and will have to take a post-test at the end of the two weeks. Smyth said it’s to show what they’ve learned.
Hoffert said WCS is incredibly thankful for its teachers making an investment in their professional learning. They are engaged and excited to see everything come to fruition, not just during the institute but also when the teachers take what they’ve learned back to their students.
Eisenhower sixth-grade teacher Chris Parker will be teaching in his third year this fall. For him, as a younger teacher, he said, the institute will help him get master’s degree credit and grow professionally. He’s getting support from the others, and sharing ideas of how to do things and collaborating.
“It’s been beneficial because it’s reinforced a lot of some of the things I’ve been doing in the classroom and giving me new insights into project-based learning and its impact on students in a positive way,” Parker said.
Mark McCollom and Scott Carmichael are long-time teachers at Lakeview Middle School.
Carmichael said, “I’m definitely for project-based learning. That’s what technology is all about, the STEM program.”
What stood out so far to him, he said, was “the importance of asking the right questions and the way you ask the right questions to get students’ interest.”
In just three projects during the first day and a half, Carmichael said, the BSU professors have showed them three projects the teachers can use to stimulate students’ interest.
McCollom added that with project-based learning, teachers are trying to get students to be inquisitive. They want to get students to ask good questions and get the students to think. The challenge is in motivating students.
Jeremy Eltz, IDOE science curriculum specialist, College & Career Readiness, made a scheduled stop at the institute early Tuesday morning.
“I’m here to see how professional development is being ran, if the teachers are enjoying it and if it’s being done effectively. And if the (grant) money is being used wisely,” Eltz stated.
Though he was only visiting for a couple of hours, he said he will make multiple visits, some unannounced.
He will evaluate the institute. “Having visited so many of these, I know how it is run,” he indicated.
The IDOE did not make the decision on who would get the grant money, but relied on an external panel of experts for that decision, he said.
“Part of it is how well it was planned out. They had it planned out from beginning to end, so we figured they had a well thought-out plan. If an MSP is not being done well, then it won’t be refunded for next year,” he said. “If I see anything being done poorly, I would mention it. But typically, I’m pretty hands off. Most MSPs do a good job of providing PDs. I’ve been to very few that didn’t do a good job. Because locally, they know what they need.”[[In-content Ad]]
The two-week Math Science Partnership Summer Institute was made possible through the $450,000 grant WCS received from the Indiana Department of Education for the next three years, to collaborate with Ball State and Manchester University to train teachers in science, technology, engineering and math.
According to Edgewood Middle School Principal JoElla Smyth, WCS teachers that work with students in grades sixth through ninth in math or science, as well as special education and English Language Learners, are taking part in the institute on a volunteer basis. It started Monday.
This is year one of the possible three-year grant. Each summer, WCS will offer its teachers 80 hours of instruction each year the grant is made available. The instruction is college-level material provided by BSU.
Christine Bonifield, WCS instructional coach, said the goal of the institute is to improve classroom content and give students a real-world understanding of math and science.
“When the Cambridge study was conducted a few years ago, industry said what they wanted students to have was problem-solving skills,” said David Hoffert, WCS chief academics officer.
The grant and summer institute, he said, are all about problem-solving skills and using them in teaching math and science.
Teachers will develop a project-based learning experience to take back to their classrooms, Bonifield said. Smyth said when teachers have their projects developed, they will try them out on students. Orthopedic engineers also will come in and critique the projects.
Almost 50 teachers are involved in the summer institute.
Every WCS building is represented at the institute, Bonifield indicated.
Smyth said teachers’ willingness to come in during the summer for two weeks says a lot about WCS. Teachers are coming back to continue their learning so they can have a greater impact on their students. Some teachers are opting to go for graduate credit with it.
“One of the things that’s so powerful is we have so many grade levels represented,” Hoffert noted. “It’s hard during the school year to bring representatives from all grade levels together. Here, we have them together and we’ve created a small professional learning community for two weeks.”
Everyone involved can communicate with one another through Twitter and Blackboard, Smyth indicated. Ball State also can stay in contact with the teachers that way, too. The hashtag for the Twitter discussion is #wcsstemsuccess and their name is Engineering STEM Success. There’s also a logo.
The big goal of the summer institute, Bonifield said, is for teachers to learn to incorporate projects into the classroom. Classrooms are getting away from textbooks and becoming more discovery learning and hands-on. Standards are still being followed. During the institute, teachers are spending half the time on content learning, and half the time on project-based learning.
“Everything they’re doing is something you can take back to the classroom,” Hoffert said. They will be able to help students find real-world understanding of what they’re learning in the classroom, he said.
“It isn’t what they have to teach, but the way they teach it. It’s getting us to think that way,” Smyth indicated.
As part of the grant, WCS had to partner with a college. When WCS put its idea out there, BSU responded. The grant was co-written with BSU and WCS staff made two trips to BSU. Bonifield said it was a true collaboration.
“Chris Bonifield, Lorinda Kline, JoElla Smyth and Kyle Carter really spearheaded the planning of this grant and workshop,” said Hoffert. “Through collaboration of a lot of teachers and administrators, they spent a multitude of hours to make sure this is a highly effective institute of learning. It’s one of the best workshops WCS has initiated for teachers. This brings all the pieces together, working with Ball State.”
Each teacher participating in the institute had to take a pre-test, and will have to take a post-test at the end of the two weeks. Smyth said it’s to show what they’ve learned.
Hoffert said WCS is incredibly thankful for its teachers making an investment in their professional learning. They are engaged and excited to see everything come to fruition, not just during the institute but also when the teachers take what they’ve learned back to their students.
Eisenhower sixth-grade teacher Chris Parker will be teaching in his third year this fall. For him, as a younger teacher, he said, the institute will help him get master’s degree credit and grow professionally. He’s getting support from the others, and sharing ideas of how to do things and collaborating.
“It’s been beneficial because it’s reinforced a lot of some of the things I’ve been doing in the classroom and giving me new insights into project-based learning and its impact on students in a positive way,” Parker said.
Mark McCollom and Scott Carmichael are long-time teachers at Lakeview Middle School.
Carmichael said, “I’m definitely for project-based learning. That’s what technology is all about, the STEM program.”
What stood out so far to him, he said, was “the importance of asking the right questions and the way you ask the right questions to get students’ interest.”
In just three projects during the first day and a half, Carmichael said, the BSU professors have showed them three projects the teachers can use to stimulate students’ interest.
McCollom added that with project-based learning, teachers are trying to get students to be inquisitive. They want to get students to ask good questions and get the students to think. The challenge is in motivating students.
Jeremy Eltz, IDOE science curriculum specialist, College & Career Readiness, made a scheduled stop at the institute early Tuesday morning.
“I’m here to see how professional development is being ran, if the teachers are enjoying it and if it’s being done effectively. And if the (grant) money is being used wisely,” Eltz stated.
Though he was only visiting for a couple of hours, he said he will make multiple visits, some unannounced.
He will evaluate the institute. “Having visited so many of these, I know how it is run,” he indicated.
The IDOE did not make the decision on who would get the grant money, but relied on an external panel of experts for that decision, he said.
“Part of it is how well it was planned out. They had it planned out from beginning to end, so we figured they had a well thought-out plan. If an MSP is not being done well, then it won’t be refunded for next year,” he said. “If I see anything being done poorly, I would mention it. But typically, I’m pretty hands off. Most MSPs do a good job of providing PDs. I’ve been to very few that didn’t do a good job. Because locally, they know what they need.”[[In-content Ad]]
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