NEWS
2015 Teacher Professional Development Institute
Educators from seven different New Mexico Informal Science Education Network (NM ISE Net) institutions supported the 2015 Energize New Mexico Teacher Professional Development Institute in Farmington at the beginning of June.
Twenty-two elementary and middle school teachers representing three school districts gathered at the Farmington Museum for a five-day workshop to learn about energy and connections to literacy and assessment. The course was based on WestEd’s Making Sense of Science Energy course with some additional material about New Mexico’s energy resources.
The Farmington Museum is located on the banks of the Animas River which gave participants front row seats to amazing flows during the week. The river was at 4,400 cfs at the beginning of the week and it crested at 8,810 cfs on June 11!
Participants gave the institute rave reviews:
It is a class EVERY teacher should take!
The best professional development I have ever attended. Thank you!
This professional development provided a great understanding of energy and gave new motivating ideas to incorporate in [my] instruction.
It was so helpful in my ideas of instruction, not just in science, but in all realms.
The goals of the teacher professional development component of NM ISE Net are two-fold: 1) to provide excellent teacher professional development; and 2) to increase the capacity of New Mexico’s science museums to provide teacher PD. Four of the institute’s instructors facilitated additional weeks of Making Sense of Science in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe in collaboration with the NM Public Education Department. Look how a small investment by NM EPSCoR is paying dividends!
The 2016 Summer Institute is tentatively scheduled in Alamogordo in collaboration with the New Mexico Space History Museum.
Deb Novak, NM Museum of Natural History and Science
Tish Morris, NM Museum of Natural History and Science
Eric Meyer, Explora
Rachael Cutrufello, National Museum of Nuclear Science and History
Liz Martineau, Bradbury Science Museum
Cherie Powell, E3 Children’s Museum, Farmington
Marcia Barton, NM Public Education Department
Selena Connealy, NM EPSCoR
