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Table of Contents

• Senate to Debate and Vote On Major Math and Science Education Bill This Week
• NSTA Seeks Feedback on New Position Statement: Principles of Professionalism for Science Educators
• New Online Course in Evolution Leads the Pack of Summer Offerings from the American Museum of Natural History
• NSTA Express Poll: Technology in the Science Classroom
• Calling All Teacher Moms!

NSTA Legislative Alert: Senate to Debate and Vote On Major Math and Science Education Bill This Week

The Senate’s competitiveness bill—S. 761 America Competes Act—is on the Senate floor this week for debate and a vote. America Competes provides a number of excellent programs for science and math education that were outlined in the 2005 Augustine Commission report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. Please take a minute today to contact your Senators and ask for their support of S.761 (http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/nstaexpress_2007_04_23_contact.htm) or learn more about the America Competes Act by visiting http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/americacompetes.pdf.

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NSTA Seeks Feedback on New Position Statement: Principles of Professionalism for Science Educators

NSTA continually develops and updates position statements to support the improvement of science education at all levels. Teams of educators develop these important documents, which are then approved and adopted by the NSTA Board of Directors. As always, we seek and encourage the feedback from our members on the content of these statements.

NSTA’s newly revised statement, Principles of Professionalism for Science Educators, sets forth four important principles to guide the professional conduct of science educators. Please take a minute to read the new draft statement and tell us what you think. To view and comment, visit http://www.nsta.org/main/forum/showthread.php?p=3128 and click on Post Reply. (Note: You must register to use the NSTA Discussion Board before posting comments.) Comments must be received by Friday, May 4.

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New Online Course in Evolution Leads the Pack of Summer Offerings from the American Museum of Natural History

Seminars on Science, a member of the NSTA Institute for Professional Development, is offering two summer sessions of award-winning online graduate courses in the life, earth and physical sciences, including our newest course, Evolution. ‘Evolution’ draws on the Museum’s long-standing leadership in the fields of paleontology, geology, systematics, and molecular biology to tell a modern story of evolution. Learn about the contributions of Darwin, the mechanisms of evolution, human evolution and modern applications in medicine, public health and conservation. Designed for K-12 educators, each six-week course is led by an experienced classroom teacher and a scientist affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. In-depth readings and assignments paired with rich web-based discussions assure that educators come away from each class with a deeper understanding of both the science and the tools of scientific inquiry. Graduatecredit is available and each participant receives a CD of course resources suitable for classroom use.

Some of the nine courses available this summer include: Earth: Inside and Out; The Ocean System; Genetics, Genomics, Genethics; and Space, Time and Motion. Please see the website for the full course listing. Free sample resources for each course—including essays, videos and interactive simulations—are available online at http://learn.amnh.org.

Registration is now open! Summer Session One runs June 11- July 22. Summer Session Two runs July 2 – August 12. Sign up now and receive a $50 early registration discount. For more information and to register, go to http://learn.amnh.org or call 800-649-6715.

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NSTA Express Poll: Technology in the Science Classroom

Technology is having a major impact on K-12 education and many feel that it is changing how teachers teach, communicate, access resources, and interact with students in the classroom. How has technology transformed the way you teach science in the classroom? If you are a science educator, please take this week’s NSTA Express poll and tell us what you think. To complete the poll, visit http://science.nsta.org/survey_technology_2007.

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Calling All Teacher Moms!

Working Mother magazine plans to feature a teacher mom—and her child(ren)—on its August/September cover and in the accompanying feature story. They are looking for a teacher who teaches any grade from K-12 (they are specifically looking for teachers, not counselors or administrators).

The successful candidate must be photogenic and willing to share her story about work/life balance. They are most interested in women between the ages of 30-42 with children who are age 13 and younger. To be considered, you will be asked to provide the following information (all information will be kept completely confidential during this selection process):

• Name and age
• Names and ages of children
• Marital status
• City/state of residence
• Subject and grade you teach
• Name and city/state of school where you teach
• If married, husband/partner's occupation
• Child care arrangements
• Daytime phone number and email address
• Close-up snapshots—Please note that they must have pictures to consider candidates. If possible, they will also welcome photos of the mom and her child(ren). (Please e-mail two or three pictures as jpg attachments)
• And in 200 words or less: Why did you choose a career as a teacher? What makes your job meaningful to you? How do you handle work/life balance?

Please e-mail the information, and pictures, to Susan Gerstenzang at teachermom@workingmother.com by May 1, 2007. Due to the volume of responses, they cannot respond to individual responses.

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And Don’t Forget…

• Membership Means You Belong! Join NSTA for these essential benefits that will enhance your marketability in the teaching profession and build your professional knowledge. Being a member of NSTA means you’re part of an international community of practitioners dedicated to improving science education.
• The NSTA Science Store for an outstanding array of bestselling books and teaching resources: http://store.nsta.org. This month’s featured book special is Exploring Ecology. For 30% off, visit http://www.nsta.org/onlinespecial!
• NSTA is offering more Web Seminars in April. Visit http://institute.nsta.org/web_seminars.asp for the topics and registration information for these upcoming professional development opportunities.

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Professional development courses in your future?
Online options give you a world of choice.
Take a look at these institutions offering courses for science educators!
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