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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Welcome back to Term 3, I hope you are staying safe from the latest outbreak. This newsletter is a bumper edition with details on the latest online workshops (items 1-5), and some great school stories and news (items 6-13):
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1. Latest Online Workshop List
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Listed below are our latest primary and secondary teacher PD workshops plus HSC student revision workshops. All workshops are currently online due to COVID. Please click on the links below for further details and registration:
Primary
Secondary
Students
Face-to-face 'Experiments' workshops for HSC Physics and Chemistry have been pushed back to Term 4 due to COVID. These will be at reduced rates for teachers also attending the respective Theory workshops above; details to come later this term. For requesting new or in-house workshops for your school(s), please complete the new EOI form.
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2. HSC Science Teacher PD Workshops
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As listed above, we have a suite of workshops for HSC teachers, covering all of the sciences. These workshops are aimed at teachers new to teaching particular subjects, plus those who would like to refamiliarise themselves with the content, background theory and make connections across the different modules of respective syllabuses.
As repeat workshops with previous Category 2 endorsement by NESA, our Theory for HSC workshops in Chemistry, Physics, Investigating Science and Science Extension have successfully been awarded Interim Accreditation towards maintaining proficiency.
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3. New HSC Biology Teacher PD Workshops
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We are delighted to launch a pair of new Biology teacher PD workshops. Designed for teachers new to teaching HSC Biology, plus those who would like to refamiliarise themselves with material:
- On Friday 20 August (Week 6), we are running Theory for HSC Biology Teachers, where teachers will be unpacking Heredity, Genetic Change, Infectious Disease, Non-infectious Disease and Disorders, and opportunities for Depth Studies.
- On Friday 3 September (Week 8), we are running Practicals & Depth Studies for HSC Biology Teachers, where teachers will explore the first-hand practical components, modelling, data analysis and Depth Study possibilities in the HSC Biology syllabus.
These workshops can be undertaken individually, however, it is recommended that they are completed as a pair, saving participants $99 in total. Each workshop can contribute to 4 hours of ‘Elective PD’ towards maintaining Proficient Teacher Accreditation in NSW.
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4. Student HSC Revision Workshops
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Following on from the the successful Modules 6&7 revision workshops last term, this term we are running new online student exam preparation workshops for each of the HSC sciences. These workshops have been designed by experienced HSC markers to best prepare students for the 2021 HSC exams, with an emphasis on Module 8 and cross-module links in particular (Module 4 for Science Extension). Following feedback from schools, we are delivering these workshops 3.30-5.30pm, plus repeat options 9-11am for the larger subjects. Students will be:
- identifying overarching themes and interrelationships amongst the content
- addressing Working Scientifically
- unpacking difficult content
- addressing common mistakes and misconceptions
- developing strategies for extended response questions
- unpacking new practice questions
- evaluating sample responses
- learning what the markers are looking for
All students will walk away with a variety of resources.
*repeat workshops
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5. In-House HSC Revision Workshops
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As in previous years, we are offering 'in-house' HSC revision workshops for groups or systems of schools. These will most likely be online, but could be face-to-face later this term or early next term if the rules allow. If you are interested, please contact us ASAP for details so we can lock in dates.
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A mainstay of studying Forces and Energy in primary and secondary schools is making a Rube Goldberg (chain reaction) machine. I have been involved with and witnessed many Rube Goldberg machines in different schools, but arguably the best I have seen (certainly the best videoed) was recently made by Year 6 at St Andrew's, Malabar. There was amazing collaboration and problem solving demonstrated during its construction. Well done to Mrs Rooke and all of the Year 6 students! (NB - the video below opens in Facebook).
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7. Augmented Reality Safari in Kindergarten
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Also at St Andrew's Malabar recently, Kindergarten learnt about describing and labelling the external features of living things by conducting a virtual safari in their school grounds. Dressing up for the day as explorers and wild animals, Kindergarten used the Animal Safari augmented reality app to find, observe and record a whole variety of wild animals 'in' their school. Much fun was had by all. Fantastic work by Ms O’Connell, Ms Preece and all of the students! Check out the pics below plus more on the school Facebook page.
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On 21 June, it was my absolute pleasure to be a Critical Friend, offering feedback to presenting teachers, at the STEM Academy Primary Program Sydney 2021 Showcase, hosted at The University of Sydney. It was fascinating to hear the individual stories of schools from across NSW and the incredible level of commitment towards completing the program and implementing unique STEM projects in their schools, in turn inspiring, encouraging and supporting their students' engagement with science, tech, engineering and maths through skills they had picked up through the STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy two-year program. Well done to all of the schools involved: Pagewood PS, Illawarra CS, Botany PS, Matraville PS, Clovelly PS, Lumen Christi CC, Daceyville PS, Jasper Road PS, Malek Fahd IS, Melrose Park PS and Claremont College.
The STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy is a professional development program initially designed for secondary school science, mathematics and technology teachers offered through the University of Sydney. First instituted in 2014, the STEM Academy endeavours to increase teachers’ pedagogical content expertise through guiding teams of teachers in their development and delivery of integrated STEM units of work within each of their schools. The main aim of the Academy is to improve student engagement with, and attitudes towards, the STEM subjects so that more students undertake studies in these areas in Years 11 and 12 and aspire towards a career pathway in STEM. For primary schools, the Academy program was trialed in 2017 in 13 schools in the Wagga Wagga region of NSW and after an initial brief evaluation, further developed and delivered to many other schools over the past four years.
The current Director of the STEM Academy is my former PhD supervisor, the amazing Professor Manjula Sharma.
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9. Teachers' Guild Remote Learning Finalist
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I am humbled to have been recently selected as a Finalist for the Teachers’ Guild of NSW Regional/Remote Teaching and Learning Excellence Award. Fingers crossed for the Awards night!
In addition to the Awards night, there are several events that The Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales would like to invite all educators to:
- Relationships Matter- How Do You Measure Yours? - Wed 18 Aug
- Mentoring Vs Coaching Options Conversations - Wed 25 August **new date**
- Fellows And Life Members Dinner, Principals Of Principle & The Future Of Australian Education - Fri 27 Aug **new date**
- Learning With Digital Technologies In The Classroom - Tue 31 Aug
- Annual Dinner And Presentations Of Awards - Fri 22 Oct
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10. New Thomson Experiment Simulation
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After the sad demise (due to its Flash coding) of my original Thomson Experiment simulation created back in 2007 for The University of Sydney AMPS project for multimedia resources in HSC Physics, I am extremely grateful to announce it has been recoded in HTML5 so that it will work on all devices. Many, many thanks to Tom Gordon, Senior Science Communicator at USyd Physics for organising the recoding by Tom Walsh from oPhysics. You can find the new simulation here, enjoy!
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11. Learning Pre-, During and Post-COVID
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In the September holidays, I will be giving an oral presentation on The changing face of school teaching and professional development: pre-, during and post-COVID at the Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (ACSME) 2021. This presentation will be based on the learnings, observations and feedback from my work and conversations with schools and teachers. I will share the abstract once it has been published after the event.
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12. Journal Reviewing Opportunity for Students
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If any of your students, aged 8-15, who would like to get involved in reviewing real science articles, written by actual scientists, to make sure that they are clear and easy to understand for young people, then I recommend you get involved with Frontiers for Young Minds run by the University of the Sunshine Coast. This would be a great science and literacy passion project, particularly for gifted students. All you need to do is find a Science Mentor (e.g. an academic), or contact FfYM to connect you with one, and apply through their website.
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13. Much Appreciated Feedback!
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And finally, like for many people, it has been tough battling through COVID. Combine this with challenging family health issues (thank you to everyone who sent their well wishes) and ill-timed, politico-bureaucratic decisions, it has been an anxious year. It was within this context that I received a delightful, unsolicited email from Kylie Robinson, Director of Professional Growth at St Brigid's College, Lake Munmorah:
"Thank you for providing these opportunities to both the teachers and students. As the Dept head and Director of Professional Growth I cannot express my gratitude for passionate educators, such as yourself, that are willing to share their practice to develop colleagues."
Many thanks Kylie, this couldn't have come at a better time!
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Please stay safe this term.
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Kind Regards,
Dr Simon Crook
Director, CrookED Science
Honorary Associate, School of Physics, The University of Sydney
crookedscience.com
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