Tamara Lookabaugh, Moore High School Biology teacher, is the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA) for Oklahoma. The OBTA is given each year by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) to a life science teacher in each state who demonstrates exemplary practice in the teaching of life science. Tamara has been a teacher in Moore since 1986 having both high school and junior high teaching experience. She presently teaches Zoology, AP Biology, and pre-AP Chemistry and holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Oklahoma Baptist University. To quote Tamara’s application essay; “Teaching the biological sciences is my real passion because I believe it crucial for people to understand their own niche in the world and appreciate the amazing diversity of living things.”
Ms. Lookabaugh is a member of NSTA, OSTA, OKAEE, NEA OEA and NABT and serves on the OSTA Board of Directors as Secretary/Historian. She is extremely versatile and seeks out programs and institutes both as a participant and as a presenter to expand her science knowledge and share her expertise with others. Over the years she has received many awards and grants reflecting her deep commitment to teaching. As she stated in her application essay, “Many years have passed since I began teaching in 1986. I am still as excited, perhaps more so, about exploring the scientific discovers and new techniques which are rapidly emerging in out ever-changing world.”
Tamara Lookabaughs enthusiasm and dedication to teaching biology is further demonstrated in the following quote: “Because active hands-on science is essential to a student’s ability to retain information and apply it to a larger world-view, I actively strive to incorporate as many teaching techniques as possible and meet the variety of learning styles in my classroom.” She further states: “As a biology teacher, I have a chance to impact the lives of approximately one hundred and thirty students (each year) who are looking to me in anticipation of something significant that will give meaning to them being in my class. I try to meet those student expectations and do my best to provide a meaningful and thoughtful atmosphere for my students to discover themselves and the world around them.”
OBTA recipients are honored at a special event during the NABT Professional Development Conference sponsored by Pearson Prentice Hall; microscopes from Leica Microsystems, Inc.; and certificates and a complimentary one-year membership from NABT.
The OBTA is open to current biology/life science instructors (grades 7-12) with at least three years public, private, or parochial school teaching experience. A major portion of the nominee’s career must have been devoted to the teaching of biology/life science. NABT membership is not a requirement. Unsuccessful candidates may reapply. OBTA winners are ineligible to reapply for 10 years after selection.
Candidates will complete a form summarizing their professional experience, academic background, and education philosophy and provide four recommendations from colleagues familiar with their teaching effectiveness. Classroom observations and/or videotapes are also important steps in the evaluation process.
Candidates for the OBTA can be nominated for the award by colleagues, administrators, students, teacher/candidates themselves, or anyone competent to judge the candidate’s teaching effectiveness.
To participate or nominate someone for the OBTA, fill out the forms found at this website: http://obtaoklahoma.wikispaces.com/Forms or request a form from the NABT office, 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd, Suite 402, McLean, VA 22101. The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2011. You can also send the name and contact information of your nominee in an e-mail to Kay Gamble, the Oklahoma OBTA Director or call NABT at (703) 264-9696/ (800) 406-0775 for information.
You’re invited to get a Sneak Peek in Oklahoma City’s Adventure District. For one night only, visit four Adventure District locations to learn about educational programs, speak with representatives about educational resources, receive refreshments and free supplies for your classroom and students. Oklahoma City’s Adventure District, located at the crossroads of I-35 and I-44 has it all for you – all in one central location.
Tuesday September 28, 2010
Come and go from 4-7 p.m. (attractions will close at 7 p.m.)
Participating locations:
Remington Park – 1 Remington Pl. – START HERE for CHECK IN on Sept. 28 (both registered and non-registered participants)
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum – 1700 NE 63rd St.
Oklahoma City Zoo – 2101 NE 50th St.
ASA National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum – 2801 NE 50th St.
WIN:
Visit all four locations to be eligible for a drawing for GRAND PRIZES including FREE field trips, attraction memberships, suite packages and more! Also receive free refreshments and supplies for your students and classroom at the participating locations.
Slots are still available! Registration deadline extended to Sept. 3. The workshop has been highly rated by past participants. All costs are covered – the only cost to participants is the $25 registration fee and all will receive a check (for approx. $35) to cover travel or other expenses.
Teaching Evolution in the 21st Century
Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education (OESE), the National Science Foundation (NSF-0845314), and the University of Oklahoma Biological Station UOBS) present a professional development workshop on Teaching Evolution in the 21st Century for Oklahoma high school science teachers and undergraduate and graduate students in science education. The workshop will be held Friday Sept. 17 (6:00 PM) through Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 (3:00 PM) at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station on Lake Texoma, OK.
Topics covered will include: The nature of science and latest developments in evolutionary biology, resources on teaching evolution and services available for teachers, curriculum development and state standards, and dealing with classroom and community controversy. Teachers will have the opportunity to present their favorite lesson plans and discuss any problems they have encountered in teaching evolution.
Instructors include Julie Angle (Teaching and Curriculum Leadership, OSU), Dr Richard Broughton (Zoology, OU), Dr. Ola Fincke (Zoology, OU), Dr. Victor Hutchison (Zoology, OU), Dr. Cecil Lewis (Anthropology, OU), Bob Melton (Science Curriculum Specialist, Putnam City Schools), Dr. Stanley Rice (Biological Sciences, Southeastern OSU), and Dr. Frank Sonleitner (Zoology, OU).
Participants will earn a certificate of participation for professional development credit. Attendees will receive two books on teaching evolution: Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, and The Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Large and Small. Accomodations and meals at the UOBS and a stipend to cover travel are included.
The only cost for participants is a $25 registration fee. Deadline for registration and payment of fee will be Sept.3, 2010. Registrants will receive a confirmation letter with maps and additional information.
To sign up for the Oklahoma Evolution list serve and for many teaching resources, news, events, books, humor, petition on science only in science classes, and much, more see the OESE web site: http://www.oklascience.org
Do you want to try out new classroom materials before you introduce them to your students? Are you willing to get your hands dirty attempting a new teaching technique? The 2010 NABT Professional Development Conference is just the place to “test drive” new tools and techniques.
This year, the Conference will feature hand picked, hands-on workshops in a featured Practice What You Teach session strand. Highlighting activities in subjects like anatomy, biotechnology, and genetics, the Practice What You Teach sessions will let you experience the activity as your students would, going through the actual exercises from start to finish. Appropriate for all levels of educators, these fun and engaging workshops will help you get the most out of your time in Minneapolis. VisitProgram Updates for the latest information on special presentations and sessions.
Advance Registration ends on October 12th. Register today to take advantage of special savings and reserve your tickets for field trips, special workshops, and meal functions.
Kansas City is the destination and NSTA’s Conference on Science Education is the activity planned for Oct 28-30, 2010. Register by Sep 17 to save the most on topnotch professional development for science educators. Teachers at every stage in their careers should consider the benefits of a getaway to build skills and get inspired. Workshops, presentations, short courses and renowned speakers will offer wide-ranging options at this conference. Choose to be inspired.
Take a look at some of the scheduled sessions.
Evolution: Variation, Selection, and Time, Middle-High School
Modeling the Spectrum-Explore a complete unit from pre to post assessment that looks at different methods to examine the electromagnetic spectrum. Middle-High
Science and Math Lessons for the Biological Sciences-Integration and differentiation included. Middle School
Polymerically Perfect Sodas: Teaching the Science and Technology of Plastics, Middle-High, Informal
Amazing Thing Cells Can Do, Middle-High School
Climate Change: Classroom Tools to Explore the Past, Present, and Future-Middle-High, Informal
STEM in Action: The Bridge to the Real World, Elem-High School
Improving Assessments, Increasing Rigor, High School
Activities from Across the Earth System, hands-on, inquiry-based activities spanning the five “spheres” of Earth system science. Handouts provided. Elem-High School
Science + Writing + Learning-implement science notebooks in your classrooms. Notebook components, math integration, supporting data, and assessments will be addressed using student examples. Elem-Middle
Inquiry Matters: Incorporating Inquiry into Elementary and Middle School Physical Science, Elem-Middle School
Featured Presentation-Kenneth Wesson, Understanding the History of the Brain as the Foundation for Future Learning
Wind Energy Science for the Classroom, Short Course (ticketed), Middle-High School. Learn about the science and engineering behind wind energy. Activities and lesson plans.
Biology Day, Physics Day, and Chemistry Day: Focus on your discipline
Symposia: Exemplary Science Program-Best practices for producing superior student learning.
Field trip (ticketed): Conservation Connections-Hands-on nature in the heart of Kansas City. Think about “Tree Trackers” and “Backyard Birds.”
For more information on the conference, visit www.nsta.org and use the personal browser to view sessions in which you’re interested.
Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education (OESE), the National Science Foundation (NSF-0845314), and the University of Oklahoma Biological Station (UOBS) present a professional development workshop on Teaching Evolution in the 21st Century for Oklahoma high school science teachers and undergraduate and graduate students in science education. The workshop will be held Friday Sept. 17 (6:00 PM) through Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 (3:00 PM) at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station on Lake Texoma, OK.
Topics covered will include: The nature of science and latest developments in evolutionary biology, resources on teaching evolution and services available for teachers, curriculum development and state standards, and dealing with classroom and community controversy. Teachers will have the opportunity to present their favorite lesson plans and discuss any problems they have encountered in teaching evolution.
Instructors include Julie Angle (Teaching and Curriculum Leadership, OSU), Dr Richard Broughton (Zoology, OU), Dr. Ola Fincke (Zoology, OU), Dr. Victor Hutchison (Zoology, OU), Dr. Cecil Lewis (Anthropology, OU), Bob Melton (Science Curriculum Specialist, Putnam City Schools), Dr. Stanley Rice (Biological Sciences, Southeastern OSU), and Dr. Frank Sonleitner (Zoology, OU).
Participants will earn a certificate of participation for professional development credit.
Attendees will receive two books on teaching evolution: Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, and The Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Large and Small. Accommodations and meals at the UOBS and a stipend to cover travel are included.
The only cost for participants is a $25 registration fee. Deadline for registration and payment of fee will be Sept. 1, 2010. Early registration is advised since places are limited to 30 registrants. Registrants will receive a confirmation letter with maps and additional information.
Further information, registration forms and payment information are on-line at: www.oklascience.org/teachers.pdf and at www.ou.edu /uobs/teachers.htm . To sign up for the Oklahoma Evolution list serve and for many teaching resources, news, events, books, humor, petition on science only in science classes, and much, more see the OESE web site: http://www.oklascience.org
A New U.S. National STEM Initiative for Grades 5-12 to inspire the next generation of spaceflight engineers and space scientists
June 7, 2010—The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) provides middle and high school classes across the U.S. the ability to propose experiments to fly in low Earth orbit, and to celebrate that accomplishment with their local community and with national and global audiences. Entire school districts can participate, with student teams proposing experiments like professional scientists and engineers.
Phase 1 of the program is a unique and historic opportunity to propose an experiment to fly aboard STS-134, the final scheduled flight of the Space Shuttle. Selected student experiments would fly for 10 days aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. Launch is tentatively scheduled for November 2010, but a launch slip to mid-January is expected, enabling this student spaceflight experiments opportunity.
We want the final voyage of the Space Shuttle to also mark a new beginning for private sector sponsored student experiments in space, which organizations on the SSEP Team have pioneered. The flight of Endeavour will be used as a gateway to Phase 2 of the SSEP—sustainable, ongoing access to space for grade 5-12 students inspired to propose experiments for low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station (with transport via the Russian Progress and Soyuz vehicles), and on suborbital space flights.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) will immerse students across a local community in an exciting, high profile scientific investigation that is designed and owned by the students—the Flight Experiment Opportunity—and leverage the excitement by wrapping powerful, community-wide science education programming around the experience—the Community Program. It is about engaging students, their teachers, and their families in science education, with a focus on the process of inquiry, and in a manner that is customized to a school district’s strategic needs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.
Visit the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Website for full details about this time-critical program opportunity, and a call to action in your community.CLICK HERE
From the 4/26/2010 – NSTA Reports—Henry Kepner, Jr.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative adds a new twist in American education: the creation of common core state standards in mathematics and English/language arts, which each state may choose to adopt. The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) launched the initiative in March 2009 after the nation’s governors agreed in concept to adopt a uniform set of standards. To date, 48 states have signed on to the effort. Subsequently, the Department of Education applied increased leverage for implementing these standards by linking some funding to the adoption of the standards. In contrast to previous federal attempts, state leaders are driving this movement toward “national standards” with accountability consequences.
Establishing common standards across the country is an important, but minor piece of the action for U.S. educators and students. Greater challenges lie ahead before the standards will have impact. Until accountability measures are completely revised, it is foolish to expect educational focus to change at the school or classroom level. Similarly, substantive reworking of curriculum materials and instructional practices—along with the placement of topics—is needed before implementation by teachers. Finally, comprehensive professional development will be necessary to support teachers in preparing their students.
In the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989), NCTM made a clear statement: This is the mathematics we value for all K–12 students. The NGA-CCSSO standards take on a heightened position: This is the basis for educational accountability through state and federal assessment initiatives. Initially, the NGA-CCSSO effort omitted connections with and input from the professional education organizations, as well as classroom teacher representation. The current mathematics document has core mathematics standards for understanding and skills at each grade, K–8, and standards for mathematical categories at the high school level (Algebra, Functions, Geometry, Statistics and Probability, and Modeling). The draft standards are consistent with NCTM’s recommendations over the decades. Many reviewing populations have expressed strong concerns about specific topics, uneven levels of detail, and the use of what is known about student learning progressions in making grade placements.
Standards for Mathematical Practice (pages 4–5), which I view as an extremely important and potentially powerful component, support much of the NCTM Process Standards history. These standards require students to
- make sense of problems and persevere in solving them;
- reason abstractly and quantitatively;
- construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others;
- model with mathematics;
- use appropriate tools strategically;
- attend to precision;
- look for and make use of structure; and
- look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
From the NCTM perspective, these Standards for Mathematical Practice form a basis of student learning and must be applied consistently to the implementation and classroom instruction of the remaining two sets of standards focused on what students should understand and be able to do. I see the greatest challenge and responsibility of NCTM and our sister professional organizations as providing guidance in professional development, materials creation, and assessment that support building these mathematical practices in our students.
For the mathematics-science connections, there is recognition of the importance of experiencing mathematical connections—both within mathematics, such as algebraic-geometric and numerical-algebraic-data representations, and beyond. The Mathematical Practice of modeling with mathematics recognizes an opportunity to build and use mathematical models that fit experimental data and provide ways to describe natural phenomena. Our collaborative role is to ensure curricular and instructional opportunities—along with assessments—are tied to specific understanding and skills standards.
Students’ strategic use of appropriate technology in solving problems is a standard for mathematical practice. This standard is not well connected to grade-level or content-area standards for understanding and skills in the remainder of the document. We are concerned this omission will limit use of technology in instruction and assessment. Collaboration with science teachers is necessary to ensure all students are prepared to use technology strategically in settings where real data, messy numbers, and complex relationships are involved. We seek your help in identifying assessments and instructional settings where students demonstrate competence in doing mathematics in real-world scenarios.
The Common State Standards Initiative builds on a current public acceptance of a lockstep standards/curriculum at each grade level. While compelling politically, the result will minimize curricular innovations and sequencing that have been a positive influence in building varied curricula in this country. If this set of standards is widely adopted, it is likely each grade, K–8, will have the same content focus and outcomes. This national approach does not address the responsibilities of dealing with student diversity.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative has generated provocative discussion within the mathematics education community and beyond. However, the development process for these standards unfortunately has produced something that falls short of the best this country could have produced for its students. There must be a well-developed process for rapid and repeated standards revision based on findings and critical review of professional development efforts and student assessments in each state.
The anticipated adoption process is yet to unfold in each state, and the subsequent consequences—especially the unanticipated ones—will provide us with many challenges!
Drafts of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science are available online at www.corestandards.org/Standards/K12.
INSPIRE, NASA’s Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience, encourages students to become the next generation of explorers, by pursuing an education leading to a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). What does this provide students?
1 Online Learning Community (OLC)
· A place for student to interact with peers, NASA experts and STEM education specialists.
· Chats and discussions boards for students and parents to explore professions and opportunities at NASA.
· Grade appropriate activities and resources for parents to champion their students’ education and career goals.
· Opportunity to apply for Summer STEM Experiences
2 Summer 2011 STEM Experiences
· grade-appropriate, expense paid, summer STEM experience. Must first be a member of the OLC
