A teacher training academy for AP Human Geography, World Geography, Environmental Science, and pre-service teachers sponsored by the VGA.
October 7, 8, and 9
Registration available via this google form: Bit.ly/SWVAAcademy
Registration Deadline: September 12, 2016
For more information, see flyer.
Esri is challenging students all over the world to unleash the power of Esri content by way of their own geographic analyses, visualizations, predictive models and more to tell a compelling scientific story. (See: http://go.esri.com/content-challenge.)The story must be presented using the Esri map journal app. We’ll point you to the best of our data and our map journal tips and tricks. You do the rest! Judges will select the best map journals to be awarded prizes. Esri will also share the winning map journals on our Collaborative Resource Portal and feature them at Esri’s Federal GIS and Education User Conferences, and Young Professionals Network events.
Esri’s Global Content Challenge is open to undergraduate or graduate students at colleges or universities, as well as high school students enrolled in an Advanced Placement Human Geography course. Get creative by using Esri’s land, ocean, and population premium content libraries to tell compelling stories that bring about understanding and action.
Prizes:
There will be winners in each of three categories (land, ocean, and population) who will receive:
Key Dates:
August 29, 2016 Competition opens
November 11, 2016 Competition closes at 5:00 PM (PDT)
December 5, 2016 Winners announced
For more info or any questions, contact
Dawn Wright, Ph.D., GISP, Esri Chief Scientist
Esri | 380 New York Street | Redlands, CA 92373 | USA
T 909 793 2853 x2182 | dwright@esri.com | esriurl.com/dawn | esriurl.com/scicomm | @deepseadawn
If you love technology, maps, or both, this free course is for you. You’ll learn how geoenabled apps make communities smarter and organizations more successful. Whether you’re looking for a career path or just want to build something cool, you’ll learn to build geo apps with minimal coding using free cloud services.
The course runs for four weeks and includes seven sections. Each section includes roughly one to two hours of content. Students who complete all content earn a certificate of completion from Esri. The course runs from July 20 to August 17, 2016.
Find out more at: http://www.esri.com/mooc/diy-geo-apps?utm_source=esri&utm_medium=email&utm_term=174004&utm_campaign=mooc_geoapps_2016
We are pleased to announce that registration for the Virginia Geographic Alliance-endorsed professional development opportunity, “Putting Social Studies in its Place: Using GIS to Enhance the Classroom” is now open. The course will run from Tuesday, July 5, 2016 – Tuesday, August 2, 2016. It is open to K-16 faculty and pre-service teachers in the state of Virginia and is limited to 50 participants.
Putting Social Studies in its Place is a FREE Online 5-week Professional Development Program that will teach you to:
Access and utilize over 30 classroom ready 15-Minute GeoInquiries for US History, Human Geography, and Earth Science
Other benefits include:
REGISTRATION IS ON A FIRST COME BASIS & IS LIMITED TO 50 PARTICIPANTS!
WHEN: Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at 9:00 AM – Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at 11:59 PM (EST)
96th National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference
December 2-4, 2016, Washington, DC
Since the NCSS annual conference is in DC this winter, there will be no Fall VCSS state social studies conference. Be aware that there is a special registration link for Virginia teachers to receive the discount for local educators! (If you register via the regular NCSS registration link it will cost more!)
Individuals may register online at www.socialstudies.org/conference/local_registration. You may also use the attached individual form. Groups should use the attached group form to get the reduced fee.
Anyone who is presenting on behalf of VGA, please let Annie Evans (Anne.Evans@charlottesvilleschools.org) know ASAP so she can see if the VGA can support a portion of your costs.
Please go to www.socialstudies.org/conference for details about the national conference. Anyone from VA who registers through the standard website registration link won’t receive the local discount.
The International Perspectives on Geography and Earth Science Teacher Education 2016 conference is requesting conference proposals at this time. The conference will be held in Switzerland on September 26-27, 2016. The two-day conference aims to bring together researchers, teacher educators, pre-service teacher students and in-service teachers. Proposals for presentations and posters can deal with all aspects of geography and earth science teacher education, including geographic aspects in combined subjects such as social studies or science.
Learn more about IPGESTE here.
NCGE has named “A Research Agenda for Geospatial Technologies and Learning,” authored by Dr. Robert Kolvoord, James Madison University, and seven other educators from across the U.S. as the BEST ARTICLE FOR GEOGRAPHY PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps hosted Geography Day on April 20 in honor of the week of Earth Day. In addition to the VGA, exhibitors from groups such as NOAA, the National Parks Service, Nystrom, and the Library of Congress were on hand to do geography-related activities for school aged students who filled out a “passport” to win a prize. Students got to try their hand at mapping the sea floor and trying to find artifacts from a dive as well as make a map out of puzzle pieces as fast as they can. After 5 previous yearly events in the evening, this is the first event during the day and was another success. Approximately 552 students and 144 parents/teachers attended. The Museum is looking forward to hosting the next Geography Day event.
2016 Harm J. de Blij Award is presented to Donald J. Zeigler of Old Dominion University for his long and distinguished career as a teacher of geography to undergraduate students. The Harm J. de Blij Award recognizes outstanding achievement in teaching undergraduate geography including the use of innovative teaching methods. This award is generously funded by John Wiley & Sons in memory of their long-standing collaboration with the late Harm de Blij on his seminal geography textbooks
Don Zeigler has taught geography to undergraduate students at Old Dominion University, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for the past 36 years. During that period, he has taught nearly 200 sections of geography courses representing more than 25 geographical topics.
Zeigler attended to the ever changing student population and course dynamics by using a variety of pedagogical methods, beginning initially with chalk and talk in 1980 and employing video streaming and virtual reality in 2016. His teaching repertoire includes standard lecture classes (serving small to very large course sections), field-based and study abroad courses, problem based learning, and web-based and televised distance learning courses. Zeigler’s commitment to excellence in teaching has led him to design and teach courses fulfilling key university missions, including writing intensive and service learning courses, each with a geographical perspective.
Bill Carstensen is a 2016 recipient of the Distinguished Mentor Award (DMA) from the National Council for Geographic Education. The DMA honors university faculty who have been exceptional at mentoring students of geography and geography education.
Donna Shifflett is a 2016 recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award K-12 from the National Council for Geographic Education! This award honors those who have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and learning of geography in the classroom. A panel of NCGE reviewers has agreed that she deserves national recognition for her professional dedication and skill.
Both honorees will be formally recognized by the NCGE community at an awards ceremony on Saturday, July 30, 2016 at 6:00pm at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina.
