September 4th, 2010 Bob
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.
Posted in News | No Comments »
August 25th, 2010 Bob
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.
Posted in Conference, Events, Opportunities | No Comments »
April 6th, 2010 Bob
Over on the left column of this page are RSS feeds from other science education websites that I find interesting. The NABT BioBlog is an effort on that list started and operated by a small group of members of the National Association of Biology Teachers with the intent of using the interactive nature of a blog to share their perspectives on science education. There is a wide range of perspective from the folks who contribute to the BioBlog. Some folks talk about their interactions out in nature ( I particularly liked a recent posting by Rich Benz, an Ohio biology teacher who recently went fly-fishing, but got far more from not catching his quarry). Others talk about their classroom experiences or what they learned at a conference. Several regular contributors are really adept at using technology to build new ways of teaching and learning. These posts are VERY interesting indeed.
One recent post featured Jenks teacher Sue Millican who is an acquaintance of regular BioBlogger Robin Hayden. Read Robin’s post here.
I really liked the article and what Sue and her students are doing. I also like the example being set by the BioBloggers. Like OSTA, NABT is a member driven and member dependent organization. Too small to have an extensive staff, NABT depends on active and involved members to do the heavy lifting in the organization. One of the great benefits of doing this work for the organization is the opportunity to meet people like Robin and Sue and share experiences, techniques, and perspectives. And this benefit ends up in making a difference in the lives of youngsters.
Go check out the article and the BioBlog. While you are at it, have you gone over to the OSTA NING? This is a social networking tool that hands you the opportunity to build relationships and interact with other OSTA members. Once again, it is member driven and member dependent . Give it a look today. It will only become useful when we get a member base large enough for folks to interact.
Posted in Opportunities | No Comments »
February 7th, 2010 Bob
The National Association of Biology Teachers invites nominations for Oklahoma’s Outstanding Biology Teacher Award for 2010.
All biology/life science instructors (grades 7-12) with at least three years teaching experience in public, private, or parochial schools are eligible and self-nominations are invited. NABT membership is not a requirement for consideration; however, a major portion of each nominee’s career must have been devoted to the teaching of biology and/or life science. Unsuccessful candidates may be re-nominated in subsequent years. Colleagues, administrators, students, the teacher candidates themselves, or anyone competent to judge the candidate’s teaching effectiveness can nominate a teacher to receive the award. Candidates will complete a form summarizing their professional experience, academic background, and educational philosophy and provide four recommendations from colleagues, students, etc. The criteria for the award include teaching ability and experience, cooperativeness in school and the community, inventiveness, initiative, and student-teacher relationship. Winners receive a special gift from Pearson, a microscope from Leica Microsystems, Inc., a one year complimentary membership in NABT plus certificates and a pin from NABT. In addition, recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony at the annual NABT National Professional Development Conference (to be held November 3-6, in Minneapolis ).
Please send the name and address of your nominee (including phone number and e-mail) to Kay Gamble, 1115 East 15th St., Ada, OK 74820 or by e-mail to kaygamble@gmail.com. Go to the Oklahoma OBTA wiki at http://obtaoklahoma.wikispaces.com/ E-mail nominations will be acknowledged by a reply. You may also nominate someone by using the nomination form available at www.nabt.org. The deadline for nominations is March 5, 2010.
Posted in News, Opportunities | No Comments »
November 1st, 2009 Bob
Are you interested in evolution, but unable to attend this year’s National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conference in Denver? Would you and your students like to learn more about how life evolves, adapts and flourishes in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, such as high altitude, in the deep-sea, or in caves? If so, you will be excited to learn that for the first time, the annual NABT Evolution Symposium will be accessible via liv webcast on Friday, Nov. 13th from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm, CST. Teachers and students are encouraged to tune in to all or part of the webcast for an opportunity to hear internationally renowned researchers discuss their fascinating, cutting-edge work in “extreme” evolutionary biology. Classrooms all over the world will even be able to submit their questions online and have the speakers respond in real time!
For more information, including speaker names, talk titles and times, and the link to view the live webcast, please see http://www.nescent.org/NABT09Webcast.php or contact eog@nescent.org.
Posted in Conference, Events | No Comments »
September 16th, 2009 Bob
“Evolution in Extreme Environments” Symposium to be Webcast Live
> from NABT Conference in Denver
>
> Are you interested in evolution, but unable to attend this year’s
> National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conference in
> Denver? Would you and your students like to learn more about how
> life evolves, adapts and flourishes in some of the most extreme
> environments on Earth, such as high altitude, in the deep-sea, or in
> caves? If so, you will be excited to learn that for the first time,
> the annual NABT Evolution Symposium will be accessible via live
> webcast on Friday, Nov. 13th from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, MST.
> Teachers and students are encouraged to tune in to all or part of
> the webcast for an opportunity to hear internationally renowned
> researchers discuss their fascinating, cutting-edge work in
> “extreme” evolutionary biology. Classrooms all over the world will
> even be able to submit their questions online and have the speakers
> respond in real time!
>
> For more information, including speaker names, talk titles and
> times, and the link to view the live webcast, please see http://www.nescent.org/NABT09Webcast.php
> or contact eog@nescent.org.
>
Are you interested in evolution, but unable to attend this year’s National Association of Biology Teachers(NABT) conference in Denver? Would you and your students like to learn more about how life evolves, adapts and flourishes in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, such as high altitude, in the deep-sea, or in caves? If so, you will be excited to learn that for the first time, the annual NABT Evolution Symposium will be accessible via live webcast on Friday, Nov. 13th from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, MST.
Teachers and students are encouraged to tune in to all or part of the webcast for an opportunity to hear internationally renowned researchers discuss their fascinating, cutting-edge work in ”extreme” evolutionary biology. Classrooms all over the world will even be able to submit their questions online and have the speakers respond in real time!
For more information, including speaker names, talk titles and times, and the link to view the live webcast, please see http://www.nescent.org/NABT09Webcast.php or contact the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) at eog@nescent.org.
Posted in Conference, Events, Opportunities | No Comments »
March 10th, 2009 Bob
Applications are now being accepted for the new NABT Biology Educator Leadership Scholarship (BELS). The BELS program was established to encourage and support teachers who want to further their education in the life sciences or life science education.
Any NABT member who has less than five years classroom experience and is currently enrolled (or plans on enrolling) in graduate studies at a Masters or Doctoral level is eligible. Full details are available at http://www.nabt.org/websites/institution/index.php?p=492.
An award of $5000 will be administered directly to the recipient’s graduate school in two installments of $2500 (one payment for two consecutive years). Completed applications must be submitted by April 1, 2009 for consideration, and the scholarship winner will be notified by mail in mid-May.
All applications and questions should be directed to Bob Melton at bmelton@sbcglobal.net or 405/495-5200, ext. 1284.
This program is made possible with generous support from
NABT members and
Posted in Opportunities | No Comments »
February 10th, 2009 Bob
Each year, the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), through its Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA), attempts to identify an excellent biology instructor in each of the 50 U.S. states; Canada; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico, and overseas territories. Nominations of worthy candidates by NABT members and friends help us to recognize those individuals whose outstanding work in the classroom qualifies them for this award.
Pearson, the OBTA program sponsor, gives each awardee a pair of precision binoculars. The recipients also receive a microscope through the generosity of Leica Microsystems, Inc. Award winners and their schools also receive certificates, as well as public and professional recognition. Recipients receive a year’s complimentary membership in NABT and NABT honors Outstanding Biology Teacher Award recipients at a special ceremony in conjunction with its national conference.
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 be renominated. Previous OBTA winners are ineligible 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 videotapes are also important steps in the evaluation process.
Candidates for the OBTA can be nominated for the award by colleagues, administrators, students, the teacher/candidates themselves, or anyone competent to judge the candidate’s teaching effectiveness.
The deadline for nominations has been extended to March 1, 2009
To participate or nominate someone for the OBTA, you can send the name and contact information of your nominee in an e-mail to Bob Melton, the Oklahoma OBTA Director or call Bob at 405-495-5200.
Posted in News, Opportunities | No Comments »
