A Message and an Offer of Support from the CREATE Lab
Wednesdays from 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Fridays from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/218545006

We hope that you all are safe, healthy, and well. As we continue to grapple with the transition to socially distanced learning, our CMU team from the CREATE Lab, the ETC, the Simon Initiative, and the School of Computer Science will continue holding office hours to stay connected with you and to keep learning about how we can help.  While we do have a theme that we discuss below, as always, we’ll respond to whatever comes up. In this rapidly changing landscape, we are committed to supporting educators through uncertainty and the sudden uptake of technology-based learning approaches. We will continue to host two sessions per week: one on Wednesdays from 12:30 - 1:30p and one on Fridays from 11a - 12p. Please feel free to drop in or out at any time during those hours. These are meant to be helpful and flexible first and foremost. 
 
This week, we’ll loosely focus on a theme: Planning for “Indefinitely” while Launching Distance Learning, to facilitate discussion about: how you’re planning for indefinite remote learning, where there are gaps and needs at your school or district, and what we can do to help. These office hours also hold space for you to connect with educator colleagues from other organizations as well as our team at CMU. Bringing everyone together across communities will help us activate resources and apply them where they are most needed. In these unprecedented circumstances, we think it’s most important to stay connected with each other and learn together about how to develop a new normal that will support schools and communities in uncertain times.
 
To join the meeting, please use the link below: 
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/218545006

Learning Pathways Design and Writing Sessions - Remote Style - Stipends Available

Location: Remote via Zoom
Date and Time: Designated Afterschool (4 - 8 PM) and Saturday sessions (8 AM - 12 PM)
See full schedule below.
Overview: With support from our PAsmart grant, ABC CREATE is continuing to develop Learning Pathways (learning unit modules focusing on integrating K-12 STEAM technologies and project-based learning). We are looking for educators who are interested in designing something new, capturing an existing classroom project, or completing a learning pathway already in progress. Best practices for remote delivery of instruction may also be considered.

Stipends: PAsmart funds will pay a $160 stipend per afterschool or Saturday session for your participation. Satisfactory progress will be monitored by the Learning Pathways Leaders. Stipends are available first to educators from an ABC CREATE participating district; other educators who are interested in participating should contact Colleen Smith and will be considered.

Remote Format: 
For Newbies (those engaging in a Learning Pathway session for the first time): 

• You will be required to participate in an initial full session. A Learning Pathways Leader will connect with you and any others via Zoom to lay the foundation, to explain the purpose and current status of our Learning Pathways, to introduce you to the template, and to guide you as you begin to develop your pathway. 
• After your introduction/orientation, you will begin working on your Learning Pathway; the Learning Pathways Leader will be available via phone or video conference to answer any questions or to talk through the development of your pathway.  
• You will connect again via Zoom for a mid-point check-in, and then you will have time to continue to develop your pathway. The Learning Pathways Leader will again only be a phone call or Zoom Chat away if you need help.
• Near the end of the session, there will be a Closing Check-In where you can report on your progress, ask questions, and define next steps. 
  
  

For Experienced Pathway Writers (those who have previously attended at least one Learning Pathways Writing/Design Session):

• You will register for at least one of the assigned times.
• You will have the option of tuning in to the introduction and connecting with the group via Zoom at the beginning of the session, although this is not required after your first session.
• You will connect with a Learning Pathways Leader at some point during the session for which you have registered to provide updates, share progress, exchange insights and perspectives, and define next steps toward completion of your pathway.  The Learning Pathways Leader will reach out to you to set a scheduled time and to establish the mode for connecting during the session for which you have registered.
• You may register for subsequent Learning Pathways as long as you are making demonstrated progress on your pathway.  

School Tours

• October 28, 2019 -- Elizabeth Forward 
• November 18, 2019 -- Quaker Valley
• December 12, 2019 -- Duquesne
  

Are you interested in learning more about what’s happening in local schools? Join administrators and educators to visit area districts, and experience firsthand their approaches to teaching and learning that aims to be more relevant, engaging, and responsive to their students. Between late October and mid-May, you and your colleagues are invited to tour the following school districts: Elizabeth Forward, Quaker Valley, Duquesne, New Castle, Avonworth, South Fayette, Baldwin-Whitehall, and Hampton. Each half-day tour will begin around 9am and conclude by about noon. Space for each tour will be limited to the first 50 registrants. Registration for the three 2019 dates is now available. There is no cost to participate.

Your hosts at each school tour site – along with leaders from each school district – will be Dr. Bille Rondinelli and Dr. Bart Rocco, fellows at The Grable Foundation: “We know that tours of schools can have a powerful impact on educators and students. They provide examples of how districts are teaching children in innovative and exciting ways, and these tours help educators build relationships with other educators to share best practices that enhance learning for all students across our region. They also give children a chance to share their experiences about their learning. We hope you'll join us for these wonderful opportunities!”

Femininity, Girls & STEM: The impact of internalized gender norms on engagement in STEM
Date and Time: Wednesday, October 30, 2019 from 11:30 AM – 3 PM
Location: Pittsburgh YWCA
305 Wood St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Overview: Workshop conducted by TrueChild. Special opportunity made available to ABC CREATE through Grable Funding in partnership with the Pittsburgh YWCA and Assemble. The STEM field has done an amazing job of addressing a host of external barriers to girls’ participation: like lack of role models, teacher bias, etc. But what about internal barriers, like girls’ own attitudes?

For instance, in one focus group, when asked if girls couldn't be smart, feminine, AND popular with boys, they looked at one another and burst out laughing, explaining: "Yes, but not in junior high!" Because that’s when they had to "dumb it down" and focus on appearance. They described an attractive classmate whom "no one sees as a pretty girl because she is so smart she's like a nerd."

As one principal in East San Jose has noted: "We're making progress, yet our upper level classes are still all boys. Gender norms feel like an overlooked but crucial part of the solution."

Join this open, interactive presentation on the impact of rigid feminine norms on girls and STEM achievement. Part I is an overview of gender and STEM, Part II is a training for educators and facilitators on TrueChild’s model FaST (Feminine And STem) curriculum. As the outcome graphic from SUNY Stony Brook below shows, the results of this curriculum can be pretty robust.

Hummingbird Bit Workshop

Date: Tuesday, August 13, 2019 from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Location: Penn State New Kensington

BirdBrain Technologies’ new Hummingbird Bits allow for untethered robot creations and have tremendous capabilities for supporting learning of at least coding and computer science and engineering for beginner learners to the advanced.  Cramming in a last bit of summer fun, we invite educators to join us for professional development and to bring along their children (grades 4 – 12; adult children also welcome J).  Educators without children in attendance are of course, also welcome. 
Kelsey Derringer, from BirdBrain Technologies will conduct this session and is well prepared to guide newbies and the experienced to gaining skill and confidence with integrating robotics lessons in to learning spaces.
This PD is free for educators and their kids and will include lunch (and some morning eats). Please register right away, so we can prepare to have fun with you!

Calling K-2 Educators

ABC CREATE is designing a training for K-2 to highlight STEAM integration to be held in Fall 2019.  This training will include Puzzlets with and without Dash & Dots.  What might we include to make a full-day STEAM/PBL training for K-2 educators in ABC CREATE? What other creative technologies or project based learning are you implementing or would you like to learn more about for your classrooms or districts in K-2? Please help guide ABC CREATE to make this meaningful by sending a quick email to Colleen Smith by August 5th with your insights and suggestions.

Learning Pathways Writing
Date: August 14th and August 15th from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM each day
Location: Penn State New Kensington

Already doing awesome STEAM integrations in K-2?  In other grade levels? Have good ideas or a strong desire to integrate STEAM projects in to your teaching and need some help getting started?

Please share your work or come to develop your thoughts and ideas and GET PAID to do Learning Pathways Writing.  Our last Summer 2019 Learning Pathways Writing Session is coming up in August:

• $40/hour with funding from ABC CREATE’s PAsmart’s Advancing Grant
• Morning nibbles, coffee, and lunch provided

PAsmart Advancing Grant Opportunities

Learning Pathways - Paid Summer 2019 Opportunity
A goal of ABC CREATE's PAsmart Advancing Grant is to have 6-10 Learning Pathways within each strand developed by June 2020. To start this effort, we are reaching out to teachers for paid opportunities this summer. If you started a Pathway you'd like to polish or have one in mind you'd like to create, please complete this application.  

Invitations to participate will be issued based on the following criteria:

1. Original and engaging STEAM proposal that meets ABC CREATE goals
2. Fills a gap in the strands/levels needed

Although we will continue to accept and to review applications until we have maxed out the available funding for this, early applications will receive early consideration.

PAsmart Grant Project Facilitator - Seeking independent contractor
The ABC CREATE Connects (PAsmart grant) is seeking an independent contractor to manage tasks and responsibilities of the Grant Project Facilitator including assisting the ongoing collaborative (ABC CREATE) initiatives and taking the lead on the targeted outcomes of the PAsmart ABC CREATE Connects grant.  This person will help to push forward the new initiatives without interrupting the work already started within the member school districts. Please share this posting and help us to find someone great for ABC CREATE.

Connecting Classrooms Highlighting direct connections between ABC CREATE STEAM classroom projects and 21st Century workforce applications with three Expos and a Saturday Robotics Build.

Kennametal and Highlands: Preparing Students for Industry 4.0 - May 16th - 6 - 8 PM
Siemens and Allegheny Valley: Preparing Students for Industry 4.0 - Date TBA
Eye-Bots + District Player(s) To be named soon: Preparing Students for Industry 4.0 - Date TBA
Saturday Robotics Build - Date TBA

OPPORTUNITY:

• Seeking HS (or maybe MS) teacher and students who have been working with drones
• Seeking skilled Hummingbird Robotics instructor to lead a Saturday Robotics build for MS students and their parents

For more information, contact Colleen Smith.

TransformED
Winter Workshops

Overview: Attend one - or more - of these FREE workshops to expand your expertise in computer science, STEAM, robotics, coding, and more.  Open to classroom teachers, school administrators, out-of-school instructors, and all other educators.

TransformED
at Allegheny Intermediate Unit
475 E. Waterfront Dr.
Homestead, PA 15120

TransformED WEST
at Montour High School
223 Clever Rd.
McKees Rocks, PA 15136

COMETS
Location: Penn State New Kensington
Date and Time: 2018 - 2019 COMETS begins with Meet-n-Greet Reception for students, parents and STEM Professionals  on October 29, 2018.
Overview: The COMETS program is designed to develop middle school girls' interest in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) fields.  Students participate in special events, field trips, and six monthly workshops on Saturday mornings. 

Culture Jam 2018: Allies in Action
Location: The Ellis School
6425 Fifth Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Date and Time: November 16, 2018 8 AM - 3 PM
Overview: Culture Jam is an annual student-led and produced conference focused on diversity. It is designed to empower students to have courageous conversations alongside their peers. Culture Jam offers a safe, inclusive space for high school students to discuss equity-related issues that are present in schools, the Pittsburgh region, and the global community.

Reflections on Summer Robotics Workshops with ABC CREATE
Posted on CREATE Lab Satellite network blog
by: Colleen Smith
Penn State New Kensington
What do teachers do on the last days of summer?  Sign up for a robotics workshop - with their own kids!  Teachers with kids often cherish the time in the summer with their families and are hesitant to pursue professional development opportunities as they don't want to lose that precious time.  At ABC CREATE, we invite the kids to join in!  It's a win-win...
...The moments of discovery, collaboration, creativity, pride …. Not bad for a professional development in August.  And not a bad way to spend some time with your kids before summer’s over, either!