The NYS Master Teachers facilitated over 45 virtual workshops this summer in preparation for the return to school. More than 300 participants, representing K-12 school districts and university educator preparation programs, learned how to use medical cases to each human systems, how to use Google forms and Peardeck for assessment, daily routines for jump-starting math classes, and much more. The full list of summer 2020 workshops with materials is now available to all NYS educators. (Note: Although the tech tool workshops included STEM-specific examples, these sessions were attended by teachers of all subject areas.)
The lessons and activities presented were tied to NYS math and science standards and the Q&A time provided an opportunity for participants to ask questions to tailor the lessons to the strengths and the needs of their own students.
Presenter materials are now available at the website NYSMTP PD for All NYS Educators. The materials include the presenter’s contact information for follow-up questions. Recognizing that the attendees are also experienced, talented educators, we encourage attendees to share with the NYSMTP what they created for their own students. We’ll add your activities to this website.
The NYSMTP is dedicated to supporting the professional collaborations into this school year. Based on the very positive feedback received, the workshops were quite successful. The NYS Master Teachers are planning to offer more workshops once the school year is up and running. Bookmark the website to check for updates this fall.
This summer, educators across New York State prepared for the return to schools. The NYS Master Teachers led more than 85 workshops to share their best practices for engaging STEM teaching. Based on attendance and feedback, the Summer 2020 conference was a success because it welcomed 700+ participants into online workshops.
Caren Gough and Dr. Linda Padwa, instructors for the Science Teacher Preparation Program at Stony Brook University, encouraged current graduate and recent MAT alumni students to participate.
Graduate students Christina Prescott and Christopher Strohsnitter attended a dozen different workshops, including sessions that focused on how to foster student investigation in sustainability and Chemistry, ideas for “flipping” a classroom with teacher-recorded videos, and a variety of pedagogical strategies for engaging learners through remote instruction.
Even though they are in different programs (Christina in MAT Biology and Christopher in MAT Physics), they were in the same workshop on a few days. Both participated in a workshop led by two Master Teachers based in the Mohawk Valley at SUNY Oneonta, Brian Roecklein and Dave Morrell. Brian and Dave collaborated with Master Teacher colleagues to create a series of lessons that show students the integration of math and science.
Christopher, who will begin student teaching this fall, noted in his feedback survey:
It was great to actually do one of the lessons. It made the connections clear and I had fun doing it. I also liked that [the presenters] gave advice for how the lesson could be adapted to fit upper-level classes. It shows how spiral learning can take place. The resources that the presentation gives are very valuable and it is a great idea to get educators to share their expertise.
After attending the workshop focused on creating virtual field trips for students led by Central NY Master Teacher Ben Gnacik, Christina wrote that she "could have listened to him all day, very knowledgeable and not only gave lots of ideas but how to implement them."
Dr. Gough and Dr. Padwa also serve as co-Directors for the Long Island region of the NYSMTP based at Stony Brook University. They are very familiar with the high level professional conversations led by Master Teachers.
We encouraged our candidates to attend sessions that were offered through the NYSMTP Summer 2020 program for many reasons. The wide range of offerings provided candidates the opportunity to interact with Master Teachers from across the state, to learn about teaching in their content areas, to be introduced to a wide variety of classroom techniques, and above all, to gain a sense of appreciation for the professionalism of teachers who will be their colleagues in the near future.
- Dr Gough and Dr. Padwa
Throughout the academic year, the NYS Master Teacher Program supports pre-service teachers at the nine SUNY campuses in a variety of ways. Master Teachers collaborate with SUNY Education faculty, visit Methods classes, conduct role-play scenarios, host candidates for their clinical field experiences and student teaching, and much more.
We applaud the dedication of many teacher candidates across NYS who engaged in summer professional learning, and wish Christopher, Christina and their classmates well as they continue on their professional journey. Their future students will surely benefit from their dedication to professional growth and development.
Teachers across New York State are spending part of summer preparing for the first day of school. This is not new.
Anticipating that many schools will incorporate on-line instruction into the weekly schedule, teachers are adding time to learn about tech tools that support student learning. Even the most experienced teachers are overwhelmed by the options. Which is right for NYS standards? Which meets their NYS district guidelines?
The NYS Master Teachers wanted to help, and together with their SUNY counterparts, created Summer 2020: Leveraging our Statewide Network to Support STEM Teaching and Learning.
Master Teachers are sharing best practices with specific lesson examples. Many of the more than 100 Summer 2020 workshops focus on specific tech tools, while all demonstrate using a virtual meeting platform.
In the first two weeks of the five-week-series, teachers have learned about using Google apps to differentiate instruction & promote discussion, using Kami to edit PDFs and integrating Kami with Google Classroom, Near Pod for science and math lessons, online/ in-class learning stations, Desmos.com, and creating virtual field trips.
Feedback has been positive.
One participant noted that the Near Pod session “was very thorough and [the presenter] made the information very accessible. […]Totally making me rethink my presentation format and how I use quizzes currently. The asynchronous will be great for my students who struggle to work at the same pace as others and therefore often give up.
Following a Desmos session, a participant wrote: "I hope to incorporate some of these activities with my students and I will be sharing with my department as well!"
At the conclusion of the "creating virtual field trips" workshop, a participant raved:
"Thank you for sharing your own tours, showing us how to create one even without any 360 camera equipment. I always wanted to learn how to create tours but never had the time and thought I needed a camera. I feel extremely confident now that I can create many tours for my students. Thank you very much. This was an excellent workshop and I highly recommend it to all teachers!"
Another participant emphasized the value of learning from an experienced colleague:
"The presenter only spoke of things they were familiar with and had insights on instead of trying to cover items they had heard about and thought might be useful. This means the information provided was specific and more valuable. There were only a few select items highlighted as well, which makes the whole thing more manageable to understand and see how to use it in the future."
Educators across New York are invited to attend the sessions now through August 13, 2020. Descriptions and registration links at NYSMTP PD for All NYS Educators.
The first week of Summer 2020: Leveraging our Statewide Network to Support STEM Teaching and Learning, a five week series of online professional learning sessions led by Master Teachers and Higher Ed STEM and Equity specialists, has been a perfect example of K-12 teacher collaboration. More than 700 NYS educators attended two dozen sessions on a wide variety of topics, including:
Attendees included NYS Master Teachers and K-12 guests. Feedback has been positive so far. Many participants echoed these sentiments:
“In the fall, if we have to teach remotely, I will have more tools to use to make learning engaging.” and
“Great quality and abundance of knowledge.There are many ideas, techniques, and resources from this that I will take into my classroom.”
The value of teachers-teaching-teachers is clear as attendees noted in their appreciation for the presenters’
We are most sincerely grateful for all that NYS educators do each day to help their students thrive.
Educators across New York are invited to register for the dozens of open sessions that will take place between now and August 13, 2020 by visiting the NYSMTP PD for All NYS Educators.