Category: Teacher Education

Students take EPA readings
Area teens visit superfund site

Lake Linden-Hubbell High School and Dollar Bay High School students measured plant life at the Torch Lake Superfund site in a Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative project. The data collected by students is sent on to the Environmental Protection Agency for its monitoring of the post-remediation recovery of the Torch Lake area.

On Oct. 1, the students will board the Agassiz, Michigan Technological University’s research vessel, and take samples of sediments in Torch Lake.

“They can go and monitor the lake and see if the nice, healthy plant cover is stopping stamp sand from going into the lake,” said Joan Chadde, education program coordinator for the Western U.P. Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

The Portage Lake District Library hosted K-6 students and their parents for an evening of fun, science and technology led by Michigan Tech students on Tuesday, September 24, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Families learned about the basics of circuitry and electrical engineering with a night of creative and playful interactive lessons.

This event was conducted by the Western U.P. Center for Science, Math, and Environmental Education and Michigan Technological University.

Brad Baltensperger, Chair of Cognitive and Learning Sciences, attended the school board meeting for Houghton-Portage Township Schools. The meeting concerned district student counts, testing, classroom technology, extracurricular activities, and other items.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Studying and Improving Teacher Education Experiences
Researcher hopes to incorporate her findings into teacher education coursework, initially in mathematics instruction

When a student raises a question in the classroom or has a comment, it can provide a learning opportunity that goes beyond the lesson already underway. Yet, an inexperienced teacher often will miss the moment.

“Novice teachers don’t always notice the importance of student ideas,” says Shari Stockero, an assistant professor of mathematics education at Michigan Technological University. “A lot of time, I think novice teachers are focused on what they need to do during the lesson, or are focused on classroom management, and often bypass important student thinking.”

Read more at National Science Foundation Discoveries, by Marlene Cimons.

The Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) has named the Teacher Education Program at Michigan Tech as a 2013 finalist for the Frank B. Murray Award for Excellence and Innovation in Program Self-Study. TEAC is dedicated to helping educator preparation programs improve and be accountable for their quality. The award recognizes a program’s evidence of quality that makes it worthy of accreditation.

The teacher education program at Michigan Tech is nationally accredited by TEAC and has received a rating of “exemplary” from the Michigan Department of Education.

Our program’s graduates meet all state mandates for teacher licensure as defined by the Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers.

TheTeacher Ed program has been accredited by TEAC through 2019.

Teachers from schools throughout the Great Lakes watershed are spending this week in Green Bay, Wis., learning about ship building and shipping on the Great Lakes. The four-day teacher institute is sponsored by Michigan Tech, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, North Coast Marine Manufacturing Alliance and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, with funding from the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education.

Read more at Tech Today, by Jennifer Donovan.

Teachers Learn to Bring Global Change to Life in their Classrooms

Nine middle and high school teachers from Michigan and Illinois are back in class themselves at Michigan Tech this week, learning about global changes–including climate change–and ways to bring the issues to life in their classrooms.

The global change institute is one of three Summer Teacher Institutes that the University is offering this year. Participating teachers will receive two graduate credits from Michigan Tech.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Jennifer Donovan.

Teachers go to school at Tech
Midwestern educators learn about global change

“They’re basically looking for climate change experience to help them with curriculum development,” said Evan Kane, assistant professor at the School of Forest Resource and Environmental Science.

Wednesday afternoon, the group toured the PEATcosm Experiment at the U.S. Forest Service Laboratory in Houghton. Using peat samples harvested from Minnesota, researchers are testing 24 mesocosms – four bins each of three different plant compositions and two water table levels.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Free Rides on the Agassiz at Strawberry Fest Saturday

The public is invited to see first-hand how scientists assess the health of Lake Superior, during free half-hour rides on Michigan Tech’s research vessel Agassiz this Saturday afternoon during the Copper Country Strawberry Festival in Chassell.

“Copper Country residents and visitors are encouraged to learn how scientists study the Great Lakes and what factors contribute to a healthy lake,” said Joan Chadde, education program director of the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, a sponsor of the event along with the GLRC.

Read more at Tech Today.

65th Annual Copper Country Strawberry Festival Schedule of Events

Preparing for the Chassell Strawberry Festival

The 2013 Copper Country Strawberry Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13, in Chassell. The event is also known as the Chassell Strawberry Festival.

Read more and watch the video at Upper Michigans Source, by Sarah Blakely.

Chassell readies for 65th Copper Country Strawberry Festival

Many of today’s events, such as the quilt show, wagon rides, and arts and crafts, continue into Saturday. They’re joined by other events, including the parade at 11 a.m., the Friends of Fashion show, a chicken barbecue, a pancake breakfast, children’s games and 45-minute voyages aboard the Agassiz research vessel.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Strawberry Festival to feature free Agassiz rides

During each ride, a Great Lakes scientist will demonstrate the use of sampling equipment to collect plankton, sediment and other water quality information that provide data about the health of the lake, or in this case, Chassell Bay.

Microscopes aboard will enable participants to view the organisms collected.

Read more at the Mining Gazette.

John Irwin (SoT) has received $212,026 from the Michigan Department of Education for an 18-month long project “Improving Teacher Quality-Educators’ Professional Development Institute Series (EPDIS)-Biological Sciences.”

From Tech Today.