Office of Curriculum, Technology, & Assessment

Overview: There is a special rite of spring that will soon be happening all around the Southeast United States. Join us to learn all about this little known rite and more about the secret lives of amphibians.

Goals for the program include:

• Learn why vernal pools are important;

• Learn how to create amphibian habitats;

• Learn to identify some common vernal pool inhabitants;

• Learn about the life cycle of spotted salamanders; and

• Learn how you can help in the amphibian conservation effort

Our science educators guarantee that viewers will develop a new appreciation for our amphibian friends and the springtime magic of their life cycles.

Our science educators, from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, are Mike Dunn, Coordinator of Teacher Education; Liz Baird, Coordinator of Student Outreach and Distance Learning; and Amy Plahuta, Education Specialist.

NSDC Standards for Staff Development

Context Standards
Staff development that improves the learning of all students:

• Organizes adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district. (Learning Communities)

• Requires skillful school and district leaders who guide continuous instructional improvement. (Leadership)

• Requires resources to support adult learning and collaboration. (Resources)

Process Standards
Staff development that improves the learning of all students:

• Uses multiple sources of information to guide improvement and demonstrate its impact. (Evaluation)

• Prepares educators to apply research to decision making. (Research-Based)

• Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal. (Design)

• Applies knowledge about human learning and change. (Learning)

• Provides educators with the knowledge and skills to collaborate. (Collaboration)

Content Standards
Staff development that improves the learning of all students:

• Prepares educators to understand and appreciate all students, create safe, orderly and supportive learning environments, and hold high expectations for their academic achievement. (Equity)

• Deepens educators' content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately. (Quality Teaching)

NOTE: Each site must audio mute upon connecting to the session to prevent voice activated moving of the cameras from site to site.

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