The NCCAT Research and Development Teams program offers educators an opportunity to meet in a residential setting devoid of distraction to create and advance departmental, school, or district-wide projects. These projects might consist of new programming, research, planning, or curricula. Gather a team together to create or refine your own innovative approaches to early grades literacy or digital learning. Early grades literacy or digital learning projects will be given preference. All projects will be considered. Come prepared to share your knowledge and progress with other teams from around our state. Single rooms, meeting space, internet access, and meals for the participants will be provided by NCCAT. Travel and the cost of substitute teachers are not covered. Teachers, administrators, central office personnel, and district coordinators are encouraged to apply.

Extreme weather events offer multiple opportunities to create engaging lessons across grade levels and the curriculum. Real-time media coverage of devastating storms like Katrina creates the ideal catalyst for motivating student interest in science, math, literacy, technology, and social studies lessons. Hear accounts from Outer Banks residents who have experienced hurricanes firsthand and see evidence of damage caused by recent storms. Partner with science, literacy, and digital learning experts to explore how extreme weather events are the perfect storm for creating lessons that will enhance K–12 curriculum.

Open to teachers in their first, second, or third year of teaching, this program supports motivated beginning teachers by strengthening their knowledge base and classroom expertise. Through experiential learning, teachers will explore pedagogical concerns including differentiated instruction, brain-compatible teaching, assessment, the effect of poverty on achievement and behavior, and classroom management. Come prepared to build professional competence and confidence, improve student achievement, and reinforce your commitment to this critically important profession.

Preference will be given to teachers in Grades K–3.

In order for students to become globally competitive, it is imperative students receive a good foundation in literacy instruction. With new challenges facing teachers each day, this task can be daunting. Examine key aspects of the Read to Achieve legislation to insure alignment in your classroom and school with research-based strategies and best practices. See how to “fit it all in” by integrating literacy across the curriculum. Learn how to effectively maintain a progress monitoring assessment schedule. Use data to develop engaging lessons that foster a love for reading while still teaching foundational skills. Develop a reading and writing environment that is welcoming and inviting to students of all developmental levels.

It’s easy to see how engineering applies to robots, but how does it apply to the life sciences? Use an engineering problem-solving strategy, the engineering design cycle, in the studies of ecology, molecular biology, genetics, and other life sciences. From the micro to the macro, tackle these and other questions: How do molecules move into and out of cells? Why is clean water critical to healthy ecosystems? Investigate the natural integration between literacy and science as we analyze informational texts to support innovation, learn strategies to help students uncover facts as they read, and challenge students’ preconceptions. Utilize the cycle with literacy strategies, simulations, and data collection tools to motivate creative thinking. Geared toward the middle grades, the concepts can easily be scaled up or down to fit your classroom needs.

New technologies and related initiatives have been arriving in the classroom with alarming frequency: Chromebooks, iPads, interactive white boards, Web 2.0 and 3.0 tools, student response systems, and countless apps. In an effort to remain current, many teachers may find themselves in a classic tail-wags-dog scenario; their curriculum is driven by the technology, when it is the technology that should support the curriculum. During this program, teachers will receive instruction in how to use digital tools to support and enhance their reading, writing, speaking, and listening instruction.

Generation Z has never known a world without cell phones, texting, and the Internet. Our students are more comfortable with the use of technology than former generations. However, this technology-driven style of learning seems to have resulted in a generation of learners who seek immediate gratification—are prone to boredom and ready to jump to the end of the book. How do we teach the Zs? In a mash-up of professional education—a blend of an EdCamp, an interdisciplinary conference on active learning and assessment, and a gamification boot camp—educators will answer that question.