GSTA's annual conference will be held virtually!  With the uncertainties of Covid and potential school budget cuts, we felt an online conference would best meet the needs of our membership. The theme for the conference is "Building Connections" and we are preparing a program that will allow you to connect to colleagues, experts, and resources to help you support your students in any learning environment.

The virtual conference will have multiple sessions each night during the week, 2/1 - 2/4, ending with a full day of sessions, short courses, and events on Saturday, February 6th. Share-A-Thons, social events, and awards will take place through an online platform as well. In addition to regular concurrent sessions, we are proud to host these featured speakers.

• Superintendent Richard Woods, Georgia Department of Education
• Dr. Kenneth Miller, Professor at Brown University and Author for Savvas Learning
• Dr. Jason Crean, Illinois Science Teachers Association Storyline Working Group
• Paige Keeley, NSTA Author and Expert on Formative Assessment in Science

We will be offering three short courses on Saturday, February 6th. Registration is open now - the cost of each course is $15. You can select short courses when you complete your registration.

Saturday Short Course: Creating Your Own Storylines (6-12) - Illinois Science Teachers Association Storyline Working Group

The Illinois Science Teachers Association is known for their biology storyline which has been shared nationally: https://www.ilscience.org/Storyline. They have formed a Storyline Working Group to share their planning strategies with teachers. They will offer a keynote session at the conference and will present a Saturday short course on how to develop storyline lessons. Teachers are encouraged to attend as grade level teams. Storyline lessons are lessons that use phenomena to coherently engage students in content, crosscutting concepts, and the science and engineering practices.This session will be geared towards 6-12 science teachers. Additonal cost: $15

Saturday Short Course: Misconceptions & Formative Assessments (K-12) Page Keeley

Join Page Keeley, author of the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Formative Assessment Probes, Science Formative Assessment Strategies, and Teaching Conceptual Understanding as she provides insight to student misconceptions and how formative assessment strategies can enhance student learning. This session will be geared towards earth, life, and physical science teachers of grades K-12. Additonal cost: $15

Saturday Short Course: Keeping Science at the Center of Elementary STEAM Learning (K-5) Jeremy Peacock

As elementary schools make the shift from STEM to STEAM, it can be challenging to balance the new focus on the Arts with effective science instruction. We know that science and art can have a mutualistic relationship, and many great scientists also display great artistic talent and creativity. So, how can you balance science and art while also integrating technology, math, and engineering and not making STEAM "just one more thing" in your classroom? We will share a STEAM planning framework, along with classroom examples, that meaningfully integrates STEAM components to help students become well-rounded problem solvers and critical thinkers. This session will be geared towards teachers of K-5. Additonal cost: $15

Professional Learning to Support Student Learning