K-12

In-Person Portion

Weds-Fri June 21-23, 2023 ( 8am-3:30 pm), October 7 , 2023 (8am- 3:30pm)

Asynchronous On-Line Portion

September 4 -Oct 15  Complete Four Classroom Implementation Assignments & A  Weekly Discussion Forum (approx 2 hrs per week of work for 6 weeks)

Learn why the sequence of your lessons and labs matters! Join renowned science educator and author Patrick Brown for a fun and interactive course about bringing conceptual coherence for learners to your lessons and labs.

The session is designed as a complete guided tour for novice teachers, classroom veterans, curriculum specialists, methods course instructors, and informal science educators

Topics include:

• What you need to do. An overview of an effective instructional model called “Explore Before Explain” with considerations about planning and designing effectively
• How to do it. Ready-to-teach lessons to cover a variety of science topics. Detailed examples show how specific aspects of all three dimensions of the NGSS can translate into your classroom.
• What to do next. Reflection questions will spark thinking throughout the sequencing process and help you to develop the knowledge necessary to adapt these concepts to your curriculum and students’ needs.

Interact with supportive peers as you develop your own practice of science instruction that promotes engagement as well as deep, long-lasting understanding for your students.

Dates and times:

IN-PERSON

June 14 (Wednesday)    8:00am - 4:00pm
June 15 (Thursday)       8:00am - 4:00pm
June 16 (Friday)           8:00am - 12:00pm

ONLINE (Asynchronuus)

September 25 - October 30

You don't need to be a scientist or an engineer to teach STEM. You just need a little curiosity!

In collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder’s TeachEngineering and EleSTEMary, Demystifying STEM is your entry point into engaging and ready to implement STEM teaching practices tailored specifically for the elementary school classroom. Come learn how teaching STEM can go hand-in-hand with teaching literacy, and how inquiry-based lessons can help give your students a head start towards developing 21^st century skills.

Date and Time:

Onsite Orientation: June 28^th 8:30-noon

In Mountains: July 7-9

A Natural History Immersion Experience in Indian Peaks Wilderness

For practicing K-12 teachers

• Family & Friends Welcome (must be 12 or older)
• 3 days and 2 nights in the field
• Wildflowers, Tundra, Wildlife, Stargazing
• Citizen Science Projects

Onsite In-Person

Saturday, September 23, 2023
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

With two major eclipses occurring during the 2023-24 school year, it is an exciting opportunity for teachers of all ages to help their students better understand the Sun-Earth-Moon System. In this interactive 3-hour workshop expect to: 

• Walk away with tools, resources and teaching ideas that you can use with your students before and during the October 14 (Annular) and April 8 (Total) eclipses. 
• Learn from expert astronomer and educator Jeff Bennet and take home a copy of his children's book "Totality! An Eclipse Guide in Rhyme and Science". 
• Practice activities that you can use with students that have them using the Science & Engineering Practice of "Modeling" to: take different viewpoints, make predictions, and make sense of the Sun-Earth-Moon System they live in.

Saturday, September 30

Join us at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for a day of " Mind & Brain Education" presented and attended by local K-12 educators and university researchers with a common interest in applying psychology and neuroscience to their practice as they learn about things like:  

• How do we learn? 
• How do we regulate emotion? 
• Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain 
• What motivates and demotivates learners? 
• The Science of Belonging & Agency 

We are bringing together local facilitators who will present some evidence-based strategies that you can walk away and use tomorrow.  Choose between several 90-minute concurrent mini-sessions held in 3 rounds.