Register now for Summer 2008 activities!

CMSE is offering a rich slate of activities in summer 2008, including many activities in NC-MSEN's SITE (Statewide Institutes in Teaching Excellence) program. You can apply now for these institutes!

Here are the offerings for next summer:

• Middle Mathematics Workshops. This will be the third year for these popular two-day workshops. Next summer we'll have all new activities, so the workshops will be of interest to returning as well as new teachers. Tentative dates are June 16-17 and June 19-20.
• SITE Geometry. This five-day institute for high school geometry teachers was a great success this summer. If you missed it, it will be available June 23-27 at East Chapel Hill High School.
• SITE K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 Science. The advent of NCLB science testing has focused attention on elementary and middle school science. In cooperation with the NC School of Science and Mathematics, these courses include weeklong institutes to be held at NCSSM June 23-27, plus four days of additional institute sessions during the 2008-09 academic year. (The link is to the NCSSM InfoNow web site.)
• SITE Content Area Reading in Science and Mathematics (CARSAM). This new institute program, piloted very successfully last summer, will be offered June 23-27.
• SITE 9-12 Biology (Chapel Hill). CMSE and NCSSM are working together to organize two institutes for biology teachers; this one will be held August 4-8 in Chapel Hill.
• SITE 9-12 Biology (at NCSSM). CMSE and NCSSM are working together to organize two institutes for biology teachers; this one will be held July 7-11 at NCSSM in Durham.
• SITE Advanced Functions and Modeling. This popular one-week institute will be offered once again at NCSSM; the dates will be July 14-18. (The link is to the NCSSM InfoNow web site.)

Pat Shane elected NSTA President!

Congratulations to CMSE's Associate Director Pat Shane, who has been elected President of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Pat has been active in NSTA activities throughout her career, and she has also served as president of the North Carolina Science Teachers Association and the North Carolina Science Leadership Association.

Pat's new duties will begin in July 2008 and last for three years. She will be the association's President-Elect during 2008-09, President during 2009-10, and Retiring President during 2010-11.

Online Discrete Mathematics course for Fall 2008

Center Director Russ Rowlett has developed a new online course in Discrete Mathematics intended for teachers seeking licensure in middle grades or secondary mathematics. The new course is one of many being developed by UNC General Administration as part of a major effort, led by President Erskine Bowles and supported by the legislature, to expand UNC's online offerings.

The new course is being offered in a pilot version in fall semester 2008. Registration for the course is open now through the Carolina Courses Online program.

Person County partnership project extended

Person County Schools has received extended funding for Making Geometric Thinking Happen, the county's mathematics and science partnership with CMSE. The additional $61,000 will fund extension of the program, originally scheduled to end in December 2008, through the summer of 2009.

In the project, CMSE staff and instructors are providing job-embedded professional development for Person County's middle and high school mathematics and mathematics lead teachers in grades 3-12. From UNC, Ann Crawford, clinical professor of mathematics education, is providing leadership for the project, along with center director Russ Rowlett, associate director Pat Shane, and clinical instructor Cindy Kahler. At Person County, the project is led by assistant superintendents Sandra Davis and Maggie Whitt.

Academic professional development sessions are being held regularly throughout the academic year, and a special summer workshop is scheduled for June 17-19.