Suffolk Public Schools Blog

VMFA Teacher Workshops
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts offers a variety of teacher workshops. All workshops are aligned with SOL and model strategies for incorporating works of art into K-12 curricula. Participants receive resource packets with background information, lesson concepts, access to images and more! Pre-registration is required.

Registration Open in January for the 2020 Summer MELT program.  We will soon be finalizing room rate agreements with local hotels.  The new rates for 2020 will be posted in February.  However, all other information is now available.  You are encouraged to begin exploring and making your summer PD plans.  

Mathematics  Education  Leadership  Training

Since 1998, the Mathematics Education Leadership Training program (MELT) at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC has provided cutting edge professional development opportunities for K-12 mathematics teachers and community college faculty through MELT Summer Institutes.  Last year, we had 175 teachers, curriculum personnel, and administrators attend MELT Institutes.  This summer, MELT continues to provide week-long, residential, Summer Institutes focusing on the mathematical and pedagogical content knowledge needed for teachers to assist their students to succeed.  

Please note that MELT Summer Institutes are not only for math CEUs.  Some Institutes provide CEUs in digital learning, literacy, and science.  Each MELT Summer Institute provides participants with the opportunity of earning either continuing education units (CEUs) or graduate credits. 

The MELT Institutes for Summer 2020 include the following: 

Full Week 1:  June 22-26, 2020 

Math 4 (high school) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face 

Math 1 (high school) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Desmos: Intro-Advanced (high school) (3 CEUs, Math/DL combination):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Integrated STEM for the K-5 Classroom (3 CEUs, Math/Science combination):  Face-to-face

Numbers, Operations, & Manipulatives (grades K-5) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face 

Numbers, Operations, & Manipulatives (grades 6-8) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face 

Short Week 2:  June 29 – July 1, 2020

Matrices in the 4th Level Math Courses (high school) (1.7 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Brief Desmos (grades 6-12) (1.7 CEUs Math/DL combination):  Face-to-face or ONLINE

Digital Learning (grades K-5) (1.7 Digital Learning CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Vertical Alignment, Math Curriculum & Instruction (grades K-5) (1.7 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Vertical Alignment, Math Curriculum & Instruction (grades 6-8) (1.7 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Short Week 3:  July 8-10, 2020

Literacy in Mathematics (grades K-5) (1.7 CEUs Math/Literacy combination):  Face-to-face 

Statistics in the 4th Level Math Courses (1.7 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

New Ideas in Discrete Math (1.7 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE

Math Assessment, Interpretation & Application (grades K-5) (1.7 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE   

Math Assessment, Interpretation & Application (grades 6-8) (1.7 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Full Week 4:  July 13-17, 2020 

Math 3 (high school) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face or ONLINE 

Math 2 (high school) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face) or ONLINE 

Discrete Math (high school) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face 

Fractions: Understanding, Arithmetic, & Application (grades K-5) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face

Fractions, Ratios, & Proportions (grades 6-8) (3 Math CEUs):  Face-to-face 

Descriptions of these institutes are available online. 

All MELT Institutes meet FACE-TO-FACE in Walker Hall at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.  Additionally, SOME institutes will allow a LIMITED number of seats for participants who wish to take the institute in a live, synchronous, ONLINE manner.  This means that online participants will be on their computers, interacting live with the face-to-face institute participants through each institute meeting day through the entire week.  This online option is intended to help educators who, for personal or professional reasons, cannot travel to Boone in the summer.  The FACE-TO-FACE Institutes which will have a synchronous, ONLINE option include: Week 1, Math 1 and Desmos; Week 2, Matrices, Brief Desmos, Digital Learning, and Vertical Alignment (K-5 and 6-8); Week 3, Statistics, New Ideas in Discrete Math, and Math Assessment (K-5 and 6-8); and Week 4, Math 3 and Math 2.

The costs for the MELT Institutes are as follows:

Full Week (weeks 1 and 4): Face-to-face is $300 per person with a buy-one-get-one free discount.  ONLINE is $300 per person with no BOGO available.

Short Week (weeks 2 and 3): Either Face-to-face or ONLINE, the tuition is $200 per person with no BOGO discount available.

For Weeks 1 and 4, while the cost of tuition is $300 per person per Institute, MELT continues to offer a GroupDiscount for Institute participants.  The group discount is simply a Buy-One-Get-One free on the Institute tuition.  Buy any seat in any MELT Summer Institute and get one seat in either that same Institute or another Institute tuition free.  Pairs of teachers do not need to register for the same institute or even for the same week.  This discount is even applicable to one teacher who wishes to attend two Summer Institutes for the price of one.  (This discount is only applied to MELT Institute tuition costs and not the costs for housing.  Online Institutes are not eligible for group discounts.)  Groups of teachers can organize this group discount or a school or district can organize this through the MELT program. 

To accommodate needs of teachers, curriculum personnel, and administrators, we:

1.  are continuing to offer an Institute for STEM. For this Institute, participants will select to earn CEUs in either science, math, or a combination;   

2.  are continuing to offer an Institute for participants to earn CEUs in Literacy;

3.  have added a number of new content Institutes;

4.  continue to offer Institutes for each grade band during each week; and

5.  are allowing a limited number of participants to join some select FACE-TO-FACE institutes in a synchronous online manner. 

MELT continues to arrange discounts with local hotels.  We will soon be posting our new agreements for 2020 on our website.

If you wish to earn graduate credits for Institutes, you must begin soon to complete the necessary paperwork.  Please contact Dr. Holly Hirst (hirsthp@appstate.edu); she will guide you through the process. 

If you are an administrator and are interested in sending some teachers from your district or school to MELT, blocks of seats can be purchased to reserve slots and ensure the group discount.  Contact the MELT office as soon as possible.  If you are a teacher and want professional development, act quickly.  If you have any questions, please contact me through the information below.  

Please visit MELT online for far more information regarding: fuller descriptions of the MELT program; descriptions of the Summer Institutes, curriculum, and costs; the Summer Institutes Daily Schedule; a brief Promotional Brochure; and the Summer Institutes Registration Form.