It’s finally summer, and for Science Take-Out summer time means teacher workshop time. Science Take-Out staff typically lead our workshops at national science teacher professional development conferences – such as the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conferences. However, most Science Take-Out workshops are led by teachers for their colleagues. In fact, Science Take-Out has supported over 450 teacher-led workshops since 2012.
Science Take-Out’s teacher workshop presenters receive free kits for their workshop participants. We also provide workshop presenters with scripted PowerPoint slides and helpful hints for leading their workshops. We have also used funding from our NIH grants to provide stipends for teacher workshop presenters.
Teachers throughout the US have led Science Take-Out’s workshops. Numerous workshops have been held at state science teacher professional development conferences – such as the Florida Association of Science Teachers (FAST), the Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS), and many others. Science Take-Out teacher-led workshops have also been sponsored by organizations such as Math for America, the California Department of Public Health, BioBuilder, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Thousands of AP Biology teachers have been introduced to Science Take-Out kits at AP Summer Institutes (APSIs). Science Take-Out has been proud to support hundreds of APSIs; 38 APSIs were held during the summer of 2019 alone!
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant decrease in Science Take-Out’s teacher workshops during 2020 and 2021. Despite the challenges of holding hands-on workshops, Science Take-Out supported many virtual (Zoom) workshops. Science Take-Out kits were mailed to the workshop presenters and to each of the workshop participants. The teachers completed the kit activities together, working in small groups in Zoom breakout rooms. Teachers appreciated the ability to engage in hands-on professional development at a virtual workshop.
We are happy to see that face-to-face workshops are back again this summer. We have already shipped kits to 17 workshops so far this summer. We look forward to hearing back from our teacher workshop presenters and their participants with feedback about their workshops.
Are you interested in leading a Science Take-Out workshop? If so, click here for more information.