New Teacher Connect Blog!

Dear Teacher Connect Readers,

We have created a new Staff Connections page on our website. Please visit the Staff Connections page and scroll to the bottom of the page to see the new "Staff Connection" postings or click here to be directly reconnected.  This new blog will be taking the place of Teacher Connect.

Elementary School Recycling Challenge

Repreve® and Marvel Universe LIVE! have partnered to bring you a national elementary school recycling challenge!

The challenge will take place February 11th to February 25th in the Portland area and would love to have your school district involved!

Students will participate in a two-week recycling challenges, collecting as many plastic bottles as possible. Online registration and bottle tracking allows for easy sign-up, school participation, and real-time display of competition standings. Automated delivery of campaign materials to each school makes program awareness and promotion seamless. 

The Repreve ®+ Marvel Universe LIVE! Recycling Challenge provides school systems in select U.S. markets the opportunity to:

Raise funds for participating schools within their district through the sale of branded T-Shirts
Learn how cool products are made out of recycled materials through Scholastic® published curriculum
Win tickets to Marvel Universe LIVE! performances or Repreve-based drawstring bags for students at the winning schools

Don’t let your school miss out on the fun, Register at http://rally.repreve.com/challenges/Portland.

Registration closes February 9th.

Solar4RSchools

PPS partnered with PGE to install large scale solar systems on 6 roofs last summer. That brings PPS’ total solar generation to nearly 2 megawatts! As part of our contract with PGE, they are providing free teacher training through Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Solar4RSchools program.

The hands-on training encompasses how to teach about solar energy, how to access the data on how much electricity is produced on your school and others’, how to use the classroom solar kit (including making solar powered cars), and more.  Access K-12th grade science kits and NGSS activity guides through the PPS Multimedia Library ($10,500 value)! 

SPACE IS LIMITED TO 20 TEACHERS.

Register Below: 

Workshop 1: http://tinyurl.com/j3j4rl8

Workshop 2: http://tinyurl.com/jr2uy7f

Workshop 3:http://tinyurl.com/jzn58sw

Visit Solar4RSchools to find out more.

Educate & Engage 2016: The Parent-Teacher Conference

*Posters are in the PONY to all schools today.*

EDUCATE & ENGAGE 2016: THE PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCESaturday, March 12, 2016, 9am-noon
Lewis Elementary School / 4401 SE Evergreen
Sponsors: PPS & Concordia University
Audience: Parents

Technology is changing how today’s students learn. The creativity and innovation of teachers is advancing educational opportunities – allowing students to connect with and learn from teachers, the world and each other more than ever before. On Saturday, March 12, 2016, local school districts are partnering to host Educate & Engage 2016: The Parent-Teacher Conference, offering parents an opportunity to hear from teachers about the roles and implications of technology both in and out of today's modern classroom. A device is not necessary, but you can bring your own (laptop, tablet, smartphone) if you want.

Space is limited to 150 participants. If you are pre-registering, supervision will be available for a limited number of children ages 5 and older.

Sessions Include:

• Social Media in Education
• Google Apps for Education (also in Spanish)
• Coding and Computer Science
• Parenting in the 21st Century (also in Spanish)
• How Technology is Changing Teaching and Learning
• What is STEM/STEAM?
• Cyberbullying

Registration is open Feb. 1-29. For more information and to register, visit http://bit.ly/educateengage2016. Questions? Contact Melissa Lim, mlim@pps.net.

Upcoming Decoding Dyslexia Event on February 1st

Special programming: Teacher to Teacher Program from 6-7 pm before the talk: for educators interested in the opportunity to collaborate with other educators on strategies to assist students with dyslexia.

Please RSVP at: https://parent-to-parent.eventbrite.com

Grants Offered to Support Student Field Trips

The Oregon Archaeological Society (OAS) is pleased to announce that it has established a new program to provide grants to help expose public school students (grades 3-12) to archaeologically or historically important locations, resources, or experiences in the Pacific Northwest or to special archaeology-themed exhibits in the region. In 2014 OAS informally helped send over 100 students from Portland schools on exciting trips to places like Columbia Hills State Park (Native American rock art), the Portland Art Museum (archaeological collection) and the Lelooska Foundation Living History Program. This is a tremendous way to stimulate an interest in archaeology and the cultures that surround us here in the Pacific Northwest. This announcement formalizes the grant program and process. Teachers will find a great webpage full of ideas for possible trips at http://www.oregonarchaeological.org/places-to-visit/. Teachers are also encouraged to submit their own ideas for field trips. Interested parties can learn more about the program and download the grant application form at the OAS website (http://www.oregonarchaeological.org/school-field-trips-grant-program/). OAS has also set up a special email address (schooltrips@oregonarchaeological.org) for questions.

Webinar: STEP into Preparedness

Join the FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Division on Thursday, February 11, 2016, as we present the newly updated Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP) materials and share tips and lessons learned from teaching the program.

STEP is a classroom-based emergency preparedness curriculum that teaches fourth and fifth-graders about emergencies and how to create a disaster supply kit and family emergency communications plan.

Title: STEP Into Preparedness
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2016
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST
Featured Speakers:
• Louise Gorham, Health Imperatives
• Tod Pritchard, Wisconsin Emergency Management
• Robert Scata, Connecticut Emergency Management and Homeland Security

How to Join the Webinar:
• Connect using Adobe Connect Registration Web Link
• Please register for the event. Be sure to test your Adobe Connect connection prior to the meeting
• This webinar will offer closed captioning

We hope that you will be able to join us on February 11!

FREE! Science Education Unconference

Join OSTA Board Members Jeremy Magee, Alfonso Garcia-Arriola, and Angie Ortiz-McNeese for this unconference centered on K-12 science education. OSTA members Steve Scannell, Craig Watts and David Scharfenberg have also contributed and will be in attendance as well. Register here.

An unconference is an informal conference where teachers brainstorm sessions around professional development ideas that they are wanting to learn more about. We know that you are all doing great things in your classroom and this is a great way to share, collaborate and to get the PD that you want and feel that will be most helpful.

To start brainstorming session ideas before we meet, please go to Tricider to add your ideas; we added a few to get us started. You can also vote for the sessions you are interested in attending at that link as well. This will hopefully help us make the most of our time together when we arrive if the sessions have been mostly decided on and scheduled.

Hope we will see you there!

Plant for the Planet

This coming January 25 from 9-5:30 pm, Sunnyside Environmental School is hosting Plant for the Planet, a free, one- day academy for students, ages 8 to 17 years.  Founded by a student in Germany, Plant for the Planet student ambassadors have planted billions of trees in over 100 countries.

What can you do?

• Encourage your friends aged 8+ to register for an Academy;
• Volunteer—help with publicity, obtain and/or serve food, listen to youth as they learn, show up when they speak with officials….
• Host an Academy and/or help us grow Academies in other places to deal with this crisis NOW!
• Donate to support youth in this work and get trees planted locally and internationally;

Visit ClimateChangeRecovery.org or email vergun@alumni.stanford.edu to learn more and sign up!

Plant

1st Annual New Home Economics Short Story Contest

As an alternative to the gloom and doom vision for the future, we want a wide variety of people to offer their visions of what the world may become. Introducing, the 1st Annual New Home Economics Short Story Contest. 

Inviting writers of all ages to submit a short story, 700-1,100 words, about a household living in a positive and possible future. Winners receive cash prizes and publication, and an invitation to speak at the closing celebration. 

For additional information, please contact Cheryl at cheryl@createplenty.org or visit Create Play's website: www.createplenty.org, Facebook: facebook.com/cre8plenty and Twitter: cre8plenty