(Tu Aug 4, 2-3:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time) In this workshop we will practice a repeatable structure for introducing a topic that will be studied through scientific exploration using a remote teaching and learning platform. We will help our students conduct a preliminary investigation at home developing interest in a particular phenomenon by generating data and making observations and hypotheses. We will then assist our students in recognizing and naming potential variables that may be responsible for impacting this phenomenon.…

(W Aug 5, 12-1:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time) In this series, we will rework one unit of the biology curriculum each session with a goal of stripping down the content and skills to create a list of priorities in case students are working online when this unit is taught. As a group of peers, general level, Pre-AP, AP, and IB teachers will rank the syllabus items commonly taught in this unit and discuss the reasoning for their choices. We will…

(W Aug 5, 2-3:30pm Eastern Daylight Time) An exciting way to engage your students in their online class is to use a topic that sparks discussion, research, and the desire to sleuth out additional information. In this workshop, teachers will participate in a debate in an asynchronous platform (such as Google Classroom) and in a synchronous video meeting (such as Zoom). We will use a topic that allows teachers of any subject area to join in making claims supported with…

(Tu Aug 11, 2-3:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time) In this workshop we will pick up where Part 1 of this series left off. We begin with a list of variables our students have identified as potentially impacting a particular phenomenon they have explored. Using a think-pair-share process, we will give students the structure needed to write steps for a scientific investigation using the independent variable of their choice. Students will work in lab groups to share their ideas and coalesce…

(Tu Aug 11, 4-5:30pm Eastern Daylight Time) Systems models are diagrams or infographics that contain multiple lines of evidence and data within a single visual presentation. Increasingly used across all subject areas, these graphics can be challenging for students to interpret. In this workshop, teachers will act as the students as they shift through each layer of a complex systems model to harvest the information embedded in the diagram. In a second activity, teachers will work in teams to produce…

(W Aug 12, 12-1:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time) In this series, we will rework one unit of the biology curriculum each session with a goal of stripping down the content and skills to create a list of priorities in case students are working online when this unit is taught. As a group of peers, general level, Pre-AP, AP, and IB teachers will rank the syllabus items commonly taught in this unit and discuss the reasoning for their choices. We will…

(W Aug 12, 2-3:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time) This 1.5-hour workshop will address teaching techniques that can be used while conducting a class via live video streaming where all students would meet at the same time (aka synchronous teaching) using a platform such as Google Meets, Zoom, Teams, etc. During this 1.5-hour workshop, you will take part in several assignments that foster higher-order thinking in a synchronous learning environment. You will play the role of the student as we try…

(Th Aug 13, 2-3:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time) Combat attrition with engaging assignments that can be sculpted to the student’s abilities and interest. Stop-animation videos are a short movies made with a series of photos taken from the same position and a handful of items that can be moved about to create story. In this workshop you will create your own stop-animation video of processes or phenomena, to cover main ideas or convey detailed information. Through this experience, you will…