It is not often that teachers might encourage their students to come to class with baseballs, soda cans or tennis rackets. In this professional development institute planned for Spring 2000, participants will learn how these familiar objects can well represent fundamental concepts of chemistry, physics, math and engineering. The institute welcomes elementary, middle and secondary school teachers to learn hands-on dynamic methods of teaching.
Students often retain information better when presented in a guise of familiar tools and strategies.
Teachers will be encouraged to foster a dialogue with not only the faculty, but with fellow colleagues. To this end, curriculum standards will be a focus of the institute s design. We hope that this institute will reinvigorate educators who are searching for innovative ideas to put to use in their classrooms and laboratories. The workshop is sponsored by The Institute for Elementary and Secondary Education at Brown University, an organization committed to fostering meaningful professional development opportunities for area educators. Local teachers and university faculty work together to develop programs that draw from current research and speak to the needs of our local schools.