We hope you are well and finding ways to decrease your stress during these difficult times. Your efforts to be creative, resourceful, and resilient do not go unacknowledged. You matter and are inspiring in your efforts to pivot so quickly. Kuddos to you! We thought we would take a moment to share some analogies to… [Read More]
Emergency Remote Learning: Navigating Uncharted Waters Over a Virtual Cup of Tea
This month, we had educators from Madawaska to Waterboro, Fryeburg to Belfast and many between and beyond join us for multiple sessions to discuss how we can best support learners and families during this crisis. We invited you for a cup of tea over Zoom, and you showed up. In our weekly meetups, we had… [Read More]
WeatherBlur Teacher Leader Marci Train Sets Sail with the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences Team
On January 24th, 2020, Mrs. Marci Train, a teacher at the two-room Long Island School in Maine’s Casco Bay, set sail for the Southern Ocean as part of a partnership between MMSA and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences team. Marci joined Senior Research Scientist Barney Balch and several other Bigelow Laboratory scientists on this… [Read More]
AR Girls Registration Open for Summer 2020
AR Girls registration is open for the summer 2020 workshop program which will run in three art centers across Maine: Fiddlehead Art and Science Center in Gray, Wintergreen Art Center in Presque Isle and Waterfall Arts in Belfast. The AR Girls project is the first of its kind in the nation aimed at increasing the participation… [Read More]
Scholarship Availability MIT Science and Engineering Program for Teachers
The MIT Alumni Club of Maine invites Maine middle school and high school science, engineering, and math teachers to apply for a Club scholarship to the MIT Science and Engineering Program for Teachers (SEPT) July 5 – July 11, 2020. SEPT is a one-week residential program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA…. [Read More]
A Visit from John Cruickshank, Senior NSF Official
MMSA welcomed a senior NSF official, John Cruickshank, for a site visit to review our six current NSF-funded projects and to share news about upcoming funding opportunities. Mr. Cruickshank oversees policy, grants, and conflict management for NSF educational research programs, and serves as a senior advisor across many aspects of the agency. Some years ago, John… [Read More]
STEMeX | Mixing Hands-on Science Inquiry with Personal Storytelling
In 2016, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) created a special research initiative named “STEMeX” (STEM Expert Facilitation of Family Learning in Libraries and Museums). This is the only project at MMSA that engages our research staff in performing evaluation of a federal program. Awards were made to four universities and museums to… [Read More]
Experiential STEM Updates
Throughout 2019, the Experiential STEM project, with the generous support of the Davis Family Foundation, will provide focused, non-hierarchical professional development that works with teams of students and educators together – learning and planning curriculum side-by-side. Innovation in education is a team effort. While teachers and students are central to instructional shifts, changes in education cannot… [Read More]
Moving Environmental Education Forward in Maine
We have just finished up the data collection period for the Census of Community-Based Environmental Learning in Maine and are thrilled with the response that we received from across the state! We received responses from over 600 people from across the state representing schools, nonprofit organizations, land trusts, libraries, science centers, and more. We want… [Read More]