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TEAP Online Newsletter |
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Volume 4, No. 4 - September 2006 |
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Dear Technology Educators & TEAP
Members,
Welcome to the Back
to School Edition of the
TEAP-Online Newsletter for 2006! I
hope this email finds you well on your
way to a great start to a brand new
school year. Please be sure to check out
all of the information regarding the
upcoming TEAP Conference on our website!
Important Act 48 Info for the 2006 Conference
This is an important message to all that plan to attend the 2006 TEAP conference. The Pennsylvania Department of Education as recently created Professional Personnel IDs for all teachers here in the state of Pennsylvania. When registering for Act 48 credits at the conference you will need to have this new ID number, as are no longer going to be able to submit Act 48 credits using your Social Security number.
If you need to get your new ID number you can go directly to the page on PDE's website at https://www.perms.ed.state.pa.us/Screens/wfProfessionalPersonnelID.aspx. You will then need to enter the necessary information to receive your Professional Personnel ID number. Please be sure to bring this number to the conference if you plan to have us submit your information for credits. We look forward to seeing you at the conference, and to being able to provide you with credits for your professional development time!
2006 TEAP Conference
Planning for this years TEAP Conference is in full swing. All registration materials and up to date special interest session information is currently available on the TEAP website for your viewing pleasure. Many informative and exciting sessions have been planned for the conference this year.
Friday’s General Session will be about
nanotechnology. Mr. Michael Boyer, a
technology education teacher and
engineering academy instructor at North
Penn High School will share information
about his students’ research and design
experiences in the exciting field of
nanotechnology and ways to incorporate
innovative new teaching strategies that
are designed to invoke a sense of
ownership and awareness at a higher
level of learning and application of
knowledge and skills. Thursday’s General
Session will be about the Center to
Advance the Teaching of Technology and
Science (CATTS) and how you can
incorporate this material into your
classroom. A representative from the
CATTS along with Bill Bertrand will
explain how you can get these materials
at no cost. The CATTS materials are
already aligned with ITEA standards and
are easily aligned with PA standards.
The Council for Leadership will also
sponsor a forum on Thursday about
“Managing and Leadership.” It is
open to all members of the TEAP.
Of course the ballroom will be
filled with venders eager to share their
products and information with you. Act
48 credits will be awarded to conference
attendees at the end of each day, so
plan on attending both days.
For more information please visit our website (www.teap-online.org) and check out all the materials listed under the Conference category in the Navigation System.
Tech. Ed. Assoc. of Northwest PA Exhibitor's Night Banquet
This years banquet is scheduled to be held on October 2,2006 at the St. Francis Ushers Club in McKean, PA. Doors open at 4:00, with dinner at 6:00. In the past there have been between 7 and 10 vendors displaying their products. Admission is $15 per person or $25 a couple. There will be a 50/50 drawing and door prizes donated by the vendors. If you have any questions be sure to contact Mike Whitman. His email contact information can be found on the TEAP website at http://www.teap-online.org/about/executive.htm.
Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors
Could one of your students be America’s next great inventor? Sealed Air Corporation, the creator of Bubble Wrap® cushioning, is sponsoring the first-ever Bubble Wrap® Competition for Young Inventors to encourage students in grades 5-8 to demonstrate their creativity and ingenuity by creating an invention that incorporates the use of Bubble Wrap® cushioning. Three finalists will win a three-day trip to New York City, where the Grand Prize Winner will be announced on Bubble Wrap® Appreciation Day, January 29, 2007. The Grand Prize Winner will receive a $10,000 savings bond, while the 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive $5,000 and $3,000 respectively in savings bonds.* The teacher/mentor of each finalist will receive a $500 gift card.
Bubble Wrap® cushioning was invented in 1960 by Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, and was originally intended to be used as textured wallpaper; however, the two inventors quickly realized it was actually a superior cushioning material and went on to found Sealed Air Corporation, now a global, Fortune 500 company that offers a wide range of packaging solutions and has annual sales in excess of $4 billion. Sealed Air is widely recognized for its strong commitment to innovation and continues to be an industry leader in research and development.
For more information and forms, visit http://www.nmoe.org/bubblewrap/index.html. And just for fun, be sure to check out http://www.virtual-bubblewrap.com/popnow.shtml to pop some virtual bubblewrap!
Future City Competition
Now in its second decade, the National Engineers Week Future City Competition is a program developed for seventh and eighth grade students to help them discover and foster interests in math, science and engineering. As you'll soon discover, it's a program that's both challenging and stimulating for everyone involved.
According to the competitions website, the mission of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition is
"to
provide a fun and exciting educational
engineering program for seventh- and
eighth-grade students that combines a
stimulating engineering challenge with a
"hands-on" application to present their
vision of a city of the future."
Be sure to visit
http://www.futurecity.org/ for
registration information and additional
details about the competition itself!
The
This gift, made possible by engineering
visionary and inventor Bernard Gordon and
his wife Sophia, will dramatically expand
the impact of the Museum's engineering and
technology education initiative with the
creation of the Sophia & Bernard M. Gordon
Wing, the national headquarters for the
National Center for
Technological Literacy (http://www.nctl.org/).
The Sophia & Bernard M. Gordon Endowed Fund
will support development of interactive
programs to inform and motivate future
engineers, including the Gordon Innovative
Engineers Exhibit spotlighting engineering
leaders. New programming to inform and
inspire future engineers will include: a new
Gordon Innovative Engineers Exhibit to
highlight innovations and career stories of
engineering leaders in New England and
across the country; new live presentations
at the Gordon Current Science & Technology
Center, featuring "real" engineers
demonstrating their work to future
generations of engineers; interactive
engineering Design Challenges to engage
young Museum visitors; and development of
new K-12 engineering curricular materials
and teacher training programs. For more
information, visit
www.mos.org.
Great Sites Online
As we remember those brave astronauts who
have given their lives in pursuit of the
extending humanities reach to the stars, I
thought is appropriate to put together a
number of NASA related links.
Rocket Racing League
http://www.rocketracingleague.com/
The 21st century's newest and greatest sport
- racing rocket- powered aircraft The Rocket
Racing League
is an aerospace sports and entertainment
organization that combines the competition
of racing with the excitement of rocketry.
The RRL was established by X-Prize founder
Peter Diamandis and two-time Indianapolis
500 champion team partner Granger Whitelaw
to advance the technology and increase
public awareness of space travel. The
NASCAR-style racing league features
rocket-powered aircraft that will be flown
by top pilots through a 'three-dimensional
track way' at venues throughout the world.
With millions of fans who enjoy racing and
air shows, and an even wider audience
enthralled with humanity's next step into
space, rocket racing is destined to become
the future of racing!
Popular Mechanics Technology News
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/
If you love
keeping up to date on what's new in
technology as much as I do, then this is a
great source of information. While the rest
of the website also serves as a great source
of information, this is the page I keep in
my favorites list on all of the computers in
my classroom for students to read when they
are looking for something to do after
completing all of their assigned work for
the day. It also makes a great resource for
information when having students complete
writing activities about current and future
technologies!
Sawdust — Fuel
of the Future?
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1314184&table=story_archive&sec=1
For all of
you out there with a materials lab producing
sawdust, this is an article for you. This
link will take you to an article in the
Colorado Springs Gazette back in February of
2006. If you have ever wondered about some
good ways to use sawdust produced in your
classroom, or better ways for local industry
to dispose of their left over waste from
processing wood materials, this article will
show you how one creative energy produciton
company is using the materials to cut down
on energy costs!
Best Buy Te@ch Grant
http://communications.bestbuy.com/communityrelations/teach.asp
This great
program and site has been in our list
before, but it a great way to get some
funding to expand your program with funds
provided by BestBuy!
Best Buy believes technology can excite and
engage students, creating a more valuable
educational experience. Through te@ch Best
Buy supports schools’ creative use of
interactive technology. Over the past three
years, more than 3,500 schools have received
over $9.5 million.
Yahoo! Groups
Please consider joining one of the
TEAP-Online Yahoo-Groups. These services
provide members with the ability upload
files, and chat using Yahoo chat services,
as well as providing another form of
communication for your the members of our
association. To join please visit the group
websites at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TEAP_Online/
and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TEAP-Connections/