Professional Development Programs for K-12 Teachers

List of Educator Programs

• 3-D Printing and Design (In-person Session)New

  Target Audience: 6th-12th Grade Math and Science Teachers
  

  3D Design in Everyday Classrooms will focus on turning ordinary classroom learning into extraordinary learning experiences through design thinking and 3D modeling. The goal of the training is to provide teachers with extended learning and assessment opportunities they may add to existing lesson plans.

  

• From Four Walls to No Walls: Taking Teaching and Learning Outdoors (In-person Session)New

  Target Audience: 6th-12th Grade Teachers
  

  Join the staff of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont to get away from your seat and expand teaching and learning from four walls to no walls while encouraging observation, discussion, and reflection. From this experience, you’ll find yourself able to facilitate these strategies back in your schoolyard and connect with like-minded individuals along the way.

  

• American Nuclear Society Educator Workshop (Virtual Session)New

  Target Audience: 6th-12th Grade Teachers

  The American Nuclear Society (ANS) Educator Workshop provides educators with content knowledge of nuclear science and technology and methods for conveying that knowledge to students. Developed primarily for educators working with students from grades six through the first year of college, the workshop covers many basic concepts of nuclear science, including radiation, radioactive decay, isotopes, measurement of radioactivity, fission, fusion, the nuclear fuel cycle, applications of nuclear science and technology, and others.

  

• Unlocking STEM Potential: Learning Blade's Ready-to-Use Lessons for Grades 5-9 (In-person Session)

  Target Audience: 5th-9th Grade Teachers

  The Learning Blade and Career Blade workshop will acclimate you with resources that have proven to increase student interest in high-demand careers while reinforcing science and math standards for students in grades 5-9.

  

• Math & Movement (In-person Session)

  Target Audience: K-5th Grade Teachers
  

  Math & Movement is designed to keep kids feeling good about math. Math & Movement stations use kinesthetic strategies to enhance learning specifically connected to the Common Core math standards.

  

• Kira Learning - Computer Science Curriculum Free for TN Teachers (Virtual Session)New

  Target Audience: 6th-8th Grade Math and Science Teachers
  

  Kira Learning is a computer science curriculum free for Tennessee teachers to support students on their computer science journey. Kira Learning creates high quality, relevant content, tools, and support to allow teachers and learners to pursue mastery in Computer Science.

  

• Drawing Worlds (In-person Session)New

  Target Audience: 3rd - 8th Grade Teachers

  Art and geography have long been intertwined. In Babylonian times, people marked clay tablets that appeared to be both art and cartography. Join us in learning artistic techniques you can share with your student to create their own hand drawn maps.

  

• Minecraft Education – Introduction for Beginners (Virtual Session)

  Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers

  Minecraft Education – Introduction for Beginners will introduce the basics of Minecraft Education and how to navigate through the program, how to create worlds, suggested settings for the classroom, and how to utilize the library of premade lessons and classroom activities.

  

• More than a Field Trip (In-person Session)

  Target Audience: K-4th Grade Teachers
  

  Classroom educators know about museums and other places of informal learning as field trip destinations, but these organizations offer so much more for K-12 educators. In this workshop, teachers will learn about examples of services and resources provided by museums, zoos, aquariums, planetariums, and more.

  

• Minecraft Education – Advanced (Virtual Session)

  Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers

  The Minecraft Education (Advanced) workshop will focus on how students can use Minecraft Education as a STEM tool and how to create and host worlds where students can collaborate on projects or work independently.

  

• Authentic Math and Science Experiences: Using Arduino in the Classroom NEW (In-person Session)New

  Target Audience: 6th-12th Grade Math and Science Teachers
  

  This session will offer teachers ways to use Arduino computers to create real-world math and science experiences for their students. Each participant will create a working light-following solar panel and have an opportunity to attach various math and science standards to the device. Participants will be provided with resources to further their learning including Arduino-supported lessons and projects for future learning.

  

• Vectors: Concepts and Technologies to Improve Comprehension by Appealing to Vectors' Geometrical Nature (In-person Session and Hybrid Session)

  Target Audience: 6th-12th Grade Physics, Math, and Physical Science Teachers
  

  This workshop proposes a novel and unified teaching approach by relating a vector’s abstract nature of magnitude and direction to its geometric nature as length and unit vector.

  

• Minecraft Education – STEM and Project Based Learning (Virtual Session)

  Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers

  The Minecraft for STEM Education workshop will focus on how students can use Minecraft Education as a STEM tool and how it can easily be used for PBL opportunities. Teachers will learn the successes and roadblocks of piloting Minecraft Education.

  

• Middle School Computer Science: A Beginner's Workshop with Learning Blade

  Target Audience: 6-8th Grade Teachers

  Learning Blade and Career Blade highlight how STEM principles are used to solve real-world problems. In this workshop, you will learn how to navigate the online lessons and offline resources, set up classes, and make a unique plan for implementation in your classroom

  

• Wishes Granted: Finding Grants for Your Classroom (Virtual session)

  Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers

  Have you ever wondered how to write a grant? Whether private or public, there is money out there waiting for you! This workshop will share tips, tricks, and how to spend just one weekend a year on grant writing.

  

• Intro to Coding and STEM KitsNew

  Target Audience: K-8th Grade Teachers

  Learn about FREE resources to teach your students to code! Online resources from Scratch Programming, Khan Academy, and others will be explored.

  

• ARC Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge

  Target Audience: 9th-12th Grade Teachers

  The ARC Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge is a two-week, residential, hands-on institute sponsored by ARC and ORNL. Teachers participate in research projects with and under the supervision of ORNL scientists.

  

• Design Thinking Basics

  Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers

  In the Design Thinking Basics workshop, teachers will learn the basics of the Design Thinking Process and how to apply it in your classroom instruction. Design Thinking teaches innovative problem solving through questioning, feedback, and multiple iterations.

  

• Digital Breakouts New

  Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers

  Digital Breakouts are a fun way to gamify learning! In this session, teachers will learn how to create easy and engaging digital breakouts using Google Forms and Genially that you can use in your in-person or virtual classes for review, practice, and remediation.