Contra Costa County Office of Education

November 2014

Featured Sections

Teacher Opportunities and Professional Development

Classroom Grants and Teacher Awards

Classroom Resources and Websites

Student Opportunities

STEAM News and Events

Greetings!

5th annual SF Bay Area STEAM Colloquium, Full STEAM Ahead: Designing for Learning

Join us on January 30, 2015, at the San Ramon Marriott. This year's colloquium will address how to move STEAM from concept to action. Colloquium strands include "Designing for the Future", "Designing for Early Learners", "Designing for Integration", and "Designing for Leading."

Registration is now open. The $75 fee includes access to keynote and breakout sessions, breakfast, lunch, and parking.

For information about sponsorship opportunities, contact Hilary Dito at (925) 942-3396. Be sure to follow the STEAM Colloquium updates on its web page and Twitter #steamcolloq.

Teacher Opportunities and Professional Development

Responsive Design for Educators

Responsive Design is a design-centric theory for studying and innovating teaching practices that casts learners as empathic and visionary prototypers, who emerge as leaders. Join Ralph Córdova, Ph.D., founder of OurCoLab.org and his team to learn how to transform classrooms and schools into learning communities of courageously confident problem-solvers and problem-seekers

The workshop will be held at the Contra Costa County Office of Education on January 29, 2015. Registration is $100 per person, suggested that teams of 3-4 attend together. Register via Eventbrite.

Making Science Accessible to English Learners

Join WestEd's Ursula Sexton for a three-day Professional Development Series on engaging students in scientific discourse, exploring teaching strategies aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, and designing appropriate assessments for English learners.

Cost for the series is $150 per person. It is suggested that learning teams attend together. The workshop takes place on February 3, March 3 and, April 30, at the CCCOE. All participants will receive the book: Making Science Accessible to English Leaners: A Guidebook for Teachers. Register via Eventbrite.

Engaging Students in Difficult Mathematics through Real World Examples, Relevance, and Examples of Math in the World of Jobs

This workshop will engage participants in developing questions, creating intellectual need and teaching in three acts. Mathematics educator, Dan Meyer will lead teachers through research based strategies to develop meaningful math for all students.

The workshop will be held at the CCCOE on February 5. Registration is $100, and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Amplifying STEM with Technology

Learn how to engage students with opportunities that integrate STEM and PBL through technology. Practicing educator, Michael Gorman will lead participants through a Project Based Learning educational experience.

The workshop will be held at the CCCOE on March 10, 2015. Registration is $100.

Build Your Own Telescope! Using the Galileoscope to Teach Light and Optics in the Classroom

Learn about how telescopes work and how to use the Galileoscope in your classroom. Through hands-on activities in light and optics, workshop participants will learn about the behavior of light and build their own Galileoscope, modeled on the telescope Galileo used to observe mountains on the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and more! Each teacher participant will receive a set of Galileoscopes for use in their classroom. Space is limited so register early!

This workshop is for 3rd-9th grade teachers. The program will take place on January 10, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., location TBD. Registration is $30.

California Academy of Sciences' Workshop: Books as a Bridge to SEPs

Discover how your K-2 classroom library can link the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, bringing science into reading time and reading into science time.

Cost to attend this two day workshop is $35. The workshop will take place on December 10 & December 17 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Attendees can register here.

University of California Curriculum Integration (UCCI)

The UCCI Conference on Integrated Curriculum is now accepting applications for presenters. The conference focuses on curriculum that integrates academic subjects with Career Technical Education pathways and meets the UC entrance requirements.

The conference will be held on May 15, location will be in Northern California, exact location TBA. Applications are now available.

Classroom Grants and Teacher Awards

Making Education Relevant and Interactive through Technology (MERIT)

MERIT applications are now available. Hosted at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College, participants will engage in opportunities to integrate innovative technology tools to enhance student learning. Teachers can earn a stipend after completing the summer institute. For more information and to apply, visit their website.

Classroom Resources and Websites

Hour of Code

Join Code.org's challenge to promote computer science education for all students by participating in an Hour of Code. The initiative asks schools, teachers, and parents across the country to help introduce students of all ages to computer programing during Computer Science Education Week, December 8-14, 2014. For resources, tutorials, and information visit their website.

The Hour of Code is a self-guided activity that every student, in every classroom, can do. A variety of hour-long tutorials will be available for students to try out the basics of computer science. Code.org is organizing a massive campaign to get 10 million students of all ages to participate in the Hour of Code this December. For more information and to register click here.

Stanford University's Understand Language (UL)

Stanford University's UL initiative has launched a set of open-source mathematics materials designed for teachers of English Language Learners. Materials cover different grade spans and include resources to support mathematics learning and language development. View their website for more information.

Student Opportunities

It Takes a Community! Education Summit

Students in 7-12th grades are invited to It Takes a Community! Education Summit. This FREE event for first-generation, African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander students, and their families, will include workshops on STEM careers, preparing for college, financial aid, and more. The Summit will be held on Saturday, January 31, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. at California State University, East Bay, Hayward.

Attendees can register on their website. Applications for bus-transportation scholarships are due by December 5.

The 2015 Brain Bee

The Brain Bees are local qualifying rounds of the International Brain Bee (IBB), a neuroscience competition exclusively for high school students ages 14-18. The Brain Bee involves both a written component and a live oral Q&A session. No previous neuroscience knowledge required! Contestants should study the 2012 edition of Brain Facts, a 96-page primer available for free at this website. Answers to ALL test questions can be found in this booklet, with the exception of questions that are reserved for tiebreakers. Registration closes on December 27.

Stanford Brain Bee: Saturday, January 10, click here for more info.

East Bay Brain Bee: Saturday, January 17, at Cal State East Bay, Hayward. For more info, click here.

The CCCOE STEAM enews is published regularly, highlighting news, events, and resources that enhance STEAM education for all students. If you received the STEAM enews from a colleague, please join our mailing list to continue receiving updates. This publication does not signify that the Contra Costa County Office of Education endorses the event or program mentioned.

For more information regarding CCCOE STEAM, please visit our website.

Sincerely,

Hilary Haugen Dito
CCCOE STEAM Coordinator

Associate Superintendent, Pamela Comfort, Ed.D.

925-942-3358

STEAM Coordinator, Hilary Haugen Dito

925-942-3396

Published by the Communications Office of the Contra Costa County Office of Education

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