Category Archives: Events

Events

2017 Open House for Teachers

Calling all CMS teachers!!!

2017 CTI Teacher Open House is Thursday, 23 February 2017, at the Charlotte Museum of History

Register today!

Come learn about the eight seminars offered in 2017.

Benefits to being a CTI Fellow:
•Professional
•Creative, Collaborative & Collegial
•Intensive content study in your area of interest (7 months)
•Diverse classroom teachers (all grade levels & subjects)
•Expert faculty from Davidson College & UNC Charlotte
•Design new curriculum for your own students
•Publish your work
•Develop your leadership role in CMS
•$1,500 stipend and 3 CEU credits

Current Events Events

2016 CTI Teachers as Scholars: Charlotte as a New South City at the Levine Museum

savethedate-receptiontasTeachers as Scholars

Charlotte:  a New South City

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

5:30-8:30 p.m.

Levine Museum of the New South

200 E. 7th St., Charlotte, NC 28202

REGISTER HERE!

 

 

What can a New South history scholar and three local public school educators who developed new curricula about mill children, music, racism and the power of individual voices, teach us the Queen City’s future? Come find out at Charlotte: A New South City, a Teachers As Scholars event, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 5:30-9:00 p.m., at the Levine Museum of the New South, presented by Charlotte Teachers Institute.

Part of CTI’s Teachers As Scholars series, this event features work that grew out of CTI seminars for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers, including two seminars led by Dr. Shepherd (Shep) McKinley, senior lecturer in history at UNC Charlotte.

“I’ve always felt that much of the rich history of Charlotte and the South in the several decades after the Civil War was relatively neglected,” McKinley said. “Now, after the Keith Scott shooting in September, I think it’s even more important for teachers, students and all of us to understand the origins and rise of industrialization, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement and the post-1980 boom years. As always in history, it’s a complicated story, and the more we all know about it, the better choices we’ll make in the future.”

In his two CTI seminars (Charlotte as a New South City in 2013 and The Rise of the New South in 2010), McKinley collaborated with about 25 CMS teachers. These CTI Fellows created original New South curricula to teach to their own students, in first grade through advanced high school classes, and a wide range of subject areas — history, economics, music, literature, apparel and design and more. McKinley’s 2013 seminar included a dozen meetings at the Levine Museum of the New South where Fellows studied the museum’s exhibitions and collections up close to inform and enliven the new curricula they developed for their students. They also toured Charlotte’s NoDa community and Loray Mills in Gastonia. Fellows used these resources and more in creating new curricula to teach students about their own community and its complex history.

The Nov. 15 Teachers As Scholars program begins with a reception and viewing of the Levine Museum of the New South exhibitions from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Featured presentations and discussion follow with McKinley, the three featured CTI Fellows, and some of their students, until 8:00 p.m. Presentations include:

  • Charlotte as a New South City – Shepherd McKinley, senior lecturer in history, UNC Charlotte
  • Using Music as a Common Language to Fight Racism – Holly Lambert, music and special education teacher, and her 12th grade student William Young, Lincoln Heights Academy
  • Inspirational Lessons through Life Struggles: The Mill Children – Elizabeth Kennedy, language arts teacher, Randolph Middle School
  • My Story: Students’ Lives through Students’ Eyes – Eboné Lockett, English teacher, Cato Middle College High School, and students from Cato’s Our Voices Spoken Word Guild and the West Mecklenburg High School Drama Guild.

Guests can explore the Levine Museum exhibitions (The Life and Times of Robert Smalls, NUEVOlution! Latinos and the New South and Cottonfields to Skyscrapers) again after the presentations until 9:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested. REGISTER HERE.

Presentation Descriptions

Charlotte as a New South City –Shepherd McKinley, Senior Lecturer, History, UNC Charlotte

Shep McKinley has led two CTI seminars for CMS teachers exploring the New South and Charlotte, 1865-present. In 2010, his CTI Fellows discussed eras and issues from Reconstruction to the newest New South and toured Noda with Tom Hanchett. In 2013, the focus was closer to home. They met with Tom at the Levine Museum of the New South, toured the “Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers” exhibit, and toured the Loray Mill in Gastonia.

Using Music as a Common Language to Fight Racism Holly Lambert, Music & Special Education Teacher, and William Young, Student, Class of 2017, Lincoln Heights Academy

Holly Lambert was a CTI Fellow in Shep’s The Rise of the New South seminar in 2010. Based on her involvement in that seminar she created a curriculum unit for secondary music classes on how music is used to peacefully protest.  Holly will discuss components from her unit, as well as barriers she faced in teaching it to mostly minority special education students. She will also showcase a song created from this unit by one of her students, William Young, who is now in 12th grade.

Inspirational Lessons through Life Struggles:  The Mill Children — Elizabeth Kennedy, Language Arts, Randolph Middle School

Beth Kennedy was a Fellow in Shep’s 2013 CTI seminar Charlotte as a New South City: Using the Collections of the Levine Museum of the New South which began with the question, “What makes the South distinctive?” After hearing her non-southern colleagues’ perspectives, Beth became inspired to bring the culture, hardships, uniqueness and history of mill workers and their villages to her students, and embedded many primary and secondary sources within her novel study/unit. She notes her students strongly benefit from this unit because many of them see mills from the past in their own backyards.

My Story”– Students’ Lives through Students’ EyesEboné Lockett, English, Cato Middle College High School

Eboné Lockett was a Fellow in CTI’s 2014 Visual Storytelling seminar. She chose to develop new curriculum centered on “The Children of Children Keep Coming,” written by Russell Goings and posthumously illustrated by Romare Bearden. This poetic epic captures and celebrates ancestral Giants, including the Griot who told their tales.  “My Story” was the vehicle Eboné used to inspire her students to become Griots and give breath, voice and ‘worth’ to their own life stories and experiences. Some of Eboné’s students will share their stories with us tonight: Jalah Adgers and Ethiene Matondo from the West Mecklenburg High School Drama Guild, and Isabella Moose, Dayani Williams, Yulisa Wilson-Randich and Imani Clark from the Cato Middle College High School “Our Voices” Spoken Word Guild.

Current Events Events

2016 Evening for Educators: Science/Art/Identity

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Current Events Events

2016 Science Research Experience for Teachers

SRET 8 Sept 2016

Please join us on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016 in the College of Health and Human Services (Room 128) at UNC Charlotte , as CTI Fellows, UNC Charlotte professors, graduate and undergraduate students share their collaborative research working in university laboratories together this summer.  This event marks the kick off of CTI‘s fall seminars for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers.

Science Research Experience Participants

 

Events

Aug. 9 – Teacher Identity Workshop at Bechtler Museum

Teacher Identity: Pop Culture’s Influences, Images and Narrative

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

August 1, 2, and 9, 2016

This workshop engaged teachers in examining their teacher identity on two planes. First, it allowed teachers to explore past and present influences, images, and narratives in popular culture that contribute to teacher identity within our present educational climate in our State and Nation. Second, the workshop allowed teachers to examine on a personal level the influences, images, and narratives that create his/her individual teacher identity.

After exploring the topic of teacher identity, teachers produced a creative piece that translates and transforms what they have learned into art. The workshop culminated with an art exhibit that served as an influence, image, and narrative of the teachers in the workshop that is also representative of teachers in Charlotte and thereby teachers in our State and Nation.

This workshop included 19 CMS classroom teachers who make up Charlotte Teachers Institute’s Teacher Leadership Council. They teach in elementary, middle and high schools, in subjects ranging from science to art, and social studies to Spanish, and have an average of 15 years of teaching experience.   This workshop served as a pilot to inform best practices to investigate teacher identity at a larger scale in the future.

Here is are Teacher Participants and Facilitators that helped make this event Great!

Events

2016 CTI Open House

TRANSFORM your Teaching!

Learn all about CTI’s 2016 Seminars and how you can become a CTI Fellow at the CTI Open House on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at UNC Charlotte Center City (320 E. 9th St., Uptown Charlotte).  Meet the 2016 Seminar Leaders from Davidson College and UNC Charlotte and hear from our Teacher Leaders (all CMS teachers) about how CTI can help transform your teaching.

CTI seminars are open to teachers from all grade levels and subject areas who teach full-time in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS).

Reasons to become a CTI Fellow:

  • Enrich your content knowledge in subjects you teach
  • Collaborate with professors from Davidson College and UNC Charlotte and fellow CMS teachers
  • Create new curriculum you design to meet your own students’ needs
  • Grow professionally, intellectually, personally
  • Experience meaningful PD to advance your teacher portfolio
  • Earn a $1,500 stipend and 3 CEU credits
  • Get inspired and inspire others!

Come to the Open House and hear more from our CTI Teacher Leaders about what CTI can do for you and your teaching. If possible, please REGISTER by Monday, Feb. 22 to attend the Open House.

Questions? Email info@charlotteteachers.org or call 704-687-0047.

CTI News Current Events Events News

2016 CTI Teachers As Scholars: The Global Energy Challenge

8.5_11globalenergychallenge for widget

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) teachers will share bright new ideas for teaching and learning about energy, at a CTI event for the public on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Discovery Place in Uptown Charlotte.

REGISTER HERE

This “Teachers As Scholars” program features CMS teachers who collaborated on the topic “The Global Energy Challenge,” and highlights innovative curricula they developed during a long-term CTI seminar. CTI Seminar Leader Durwin Striplin, professor of chemistry at Davidson College, will also share his energy expertise at the free Feb. 4 event.

Sponsored by Duke Energy, the program begins with a reception and viewing of the CTI-generated, energy-related curricula from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., followed by presentations and a panel discussion with Striplin and CTI Fellows until 8 p.m. Space is limited, so registration is recommended.

Featured topics and teachers include:

  • The Global Energy Challenge – Striplin
  • Energy Explorations – Lisa Lewis, First Grade, Mountain Island Lake Academy
  • Efficiency and Availability: Designing an Energy Self-Sufficient Community – Kory Trosclair, Science, Bailey Middle School
  • Creative Verve: The Merging of Metaphor and the Scientific Mind – Gloria Brinkman, Art, North Mecklenburg High School
  • A Good Planet is Hard to Find: Climate Change, Energy and Global Sustainability – Jeanne Cooper, Earth and Environmental Science, Mallard Creek High School

The event is an outgrowth of an intensive, seven-month-long CTI seminar Striplin led for CMS teachers in grades K-12, where they explored various forms of energy, the history and science behind its conservation, as well as what new technologies can address the global energy crisis. CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan said, “We are so proud to showcase teacher-written curricula focused on energy sciences for K-12 students.  These CTI Fellows are on the front lines inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.”

Thirteen sets of extensive, energy-related curriculum units for grades K-12 were developed by teachers in Striplin’s seminar and designed specifically for their own students. All 13 are published on the CTI website, along with 500 other teacher-created curricula from CTI.  Currently CTI is offering another eight seminars for 2016.

Events Exploding Canons

CTI’s Exploding Canons: NUEVOlution Event Oct. 27 Focuses on Latinos in the New South

8.5_11nuevolution_FINAL_9-30-15

Charlotte Teachers Institute to Explore Latinos in the New South

Levine Museum of the New South joins CTI to present Exploding Canons Speakers Program

Charlotte – Oct. 7, 2015 – The southeastern U.S. is now the nation’s fastest growing Latino region, with many historians calling this cultural shift the South’s biggest post-Civil Rights story. To better understand this powerful transformation, Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) joins Levine Museum of the New South in exploring the impacts of Latinos on the New South and of the New South on Latinos, in CTI’s Exploding Canons interdisciplinary speakers program.

The event will be from 5:15 – 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at Levine Museum, 200 E. 7th St., Charlotte.

“Levine Museum is delighted to partner with Charlotte Teachers Institute to explore the growth and influence of Latinos in Charlotte and across the South,” said Emily Zimmern, President, Levine Museum of the New South.  “We deeply value CTI’s engagement with teachers, professors, students, community members and business leaders around questions of identity and change among Latinos.  What a great way to encourage our community to think differently about who we are.”

CTI’s Exploding Canons: ¡NUEVOlution! is centered on the Museum’s new, groundbreaking exhibition: ¡NUEVOlution! Latinos and the New South, opening Sept. 27.

“This new Exploding Canons event supports the Levine’s goal of bringing together diverse groups to promote deeper understanding and community building,” said CTI Director Scott Gartlan. Gartlan said Exploding Canons talks aim to challenge participants to think differently about a selected topic, and consider multiple perspectives. CTI’s ¡NUEVOlution! speakers panel, representing Davidson College, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Charlotte and Levine Museum, will frame the story of Latino impact using a variety of liberal arts lenses and lived experiences.

The Oct. 27 program is open to the public without charge and includes admission to the Levine’s ¡NUEVOlution! exhibition. REGISTER HERE.

Featured topics and speakers include:

  • Charlotte: America’s New Immigrant Gateway Model – Owen Furuseth, Associate Provost and Professor of Geography, UNC Charlotte
  • Cultural Geographies, Gender, and Chicana Memory: Amalia Mesa-Bains – Magdalena Maiz-Peña, Professor of Hispanic Studies/Latin American Studies, Davidson College
  • De Aquí y de Allá: Creando Identidad en el Nuevo Sur – Oliver Merino, Latino New South Coordinator, Levine Museum of the New South
  • Latina Finds Inspiration In The Queen City: Race, Language, and Cultural Literacy – Kurma Murrain, English as Second Language Teacher, West Charlotte High School
  • The Train Has Left the Station: You’d Better Climb on Board – Gregory Weeks, Chair and Professor of Political Science, UNC Charlotte

Local organizations representing the Latino community will host information booths about their programs and services during the opening reception at 5:15 p.m., and speaker presentations follow at 6:30 p.m. Nancy Gutierrez, Dean of UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, will moderate the speakers panel and follow-up discussion. Afterward, the museum galleries will reopen until 9:00 pm.

CTI’s Exploding Canons: !NUEVOlution! program is made possible by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council and Levine Museum of the New South. The opening reception is hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and WDAV Public Radio is a media partner.

About the Charlotte Teachers Institute

The Charlotte Teachers Institute is an educational partnership among Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that works to improve teaching in Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools. CTI cultivates content-knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among Charlotte’s public school teachers. Programs include long-term seminars and special events for teachers, as well as community presentations.

CTI’s flagship speakers series Exploding Canons draws on the strengths of CTI’s partners to offer collaborative educational opportunities for teachers and the general public that highlight university and college faculty, explore diverse topics in an interdisciplinary manner, and encourage community conversation.

Currently, 96 CMS teachers in grades preK-12 are enrolled in eight, multidisciplinary seminars that began in the spring and continue until December, where teachers are creating new curriculum units for their students. These curriculum units generate learning beyond each teacher’s classroom, as the final units are shared with teachers’ school colleagues and are also published on the CTI website, providing access to teachers worldwide.

CTI is made possible by a joint commitment of resources from all three Institute partners and through the generosity of private funding institutions such as Wells Fargo, the Belk Foundation, Duke Energy, and the Charlotte Hornets Foundation. The Institute is housed at UNC Charlotte within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

For more information, contact CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan, 704-687-0078, info@charlotteteachers.org.

Current Events Events

2015 Evening for Educators: CTI Fellows Share Curriculum Created in 2014 Seminars

CTI hosted an awesome “Evening for Educators” at the Discovery Place STEM Education Studio March 3. CTI Fellows shared the new curriculum units they developed during their 2014 CTI seminars with students, teachers and members of the community as they participated in a Gallery Crawl and viewed poster presentations.

Click here to see the full list of presenters and their curriculum unit titles.

 

Events Exploding Canons Press Releases

Charlotte Teachers Institute Explores Lake Norman in Exploding Canons: Under The Lake Oct. 21

Photos from CTI’s Exploding Canons: Under The Lake October 21, 2014

Alex Edwards-Aaron Kollar

CTI Fellows Alexandra Edwards and Aaron Kollar welcome guests.

Amy Ringwood-Alan Vitale

CTI Seminar Leader Amy Ringwood and CTI Fellow Alan Vitale set up for guests to view living things Amy collected from Lake Norman waterways.

Mary Fabian and guests

CTI Fellow and Seminar Coordinator Mary Fabian invites guests to take a closer look at creatures who live in the lake.

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Expert panelists included (l. to r.): Rebecca McKee, Jan Blodgett, Jeff Michael, Steve Jester and Bill McCoy.

PRESS RELEASE

The flow of life along the Catawba River changed dramatically about 50 years ago when Duke Energy created Lake Norman with the construction of Cowans Ford Dam in 1963. The lake and its surrounding region saw small farms, large plantations, mills and more replaced by state-of-the-art homes and businesses, nuclear power structures, and a recreational lake culture – along with less visible changes such as shifting fish populations and a rise in community activism and environmental protection.

Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) will plumb the depths of Lake Norman – past, present and future – with “Exploding Canons: Under The Lake” on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 5:30-8:00 pm, at Davidson College’s Lilly Family Gallery. This installment of CTI’s flagship speakers series dives deep into the changing social and physical landscapes of Lake Norman and its profound effects on the larger region, with a diverse group of topics and experts including:

  • Lake Norman: Powering the Region — Steve Jester, Vice President of Water Strategy, Hydro Licensing and Lake Services, Duke Energy
  • Stories from Under the Lake — Jan Blodgett, College Archivist, Davidson College
  • Making Room for Nature in Man-Made Environments — Rebecca McKee, Davidson Impact Fellow, Catawba Lands Conservancy
  • From River People to Lake People: Place & Identity in the Lake Norman Area — Jeff Michael, Director, UNC Charlotte Urban Institute
  • Lake Norman: A Catalyst for Growth — William J. “Bill” McCoy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, UNC Charlotte

David Martin, professor of economics and environmental studies at Davidson, will serve as moderator. Community partners including Carolina Thread Trail, Catawba Lands Conservancy and the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute will host information booths during the event. “CTI’s Exploding Canons programs feature new ways of looking at current topics from a variety of perspectives,” said CTI Director Scott Gartlan. “It’s fascinating to consider all the lenses through which we can look at Lake Norman – what lies beneath the lake not just physically but socially and historically, and what it likely means for us in the future.” Gartlan noted this is CTI’s 10th Exploding Canons program. The original “Under the Lake” project began with Davidson College archivist Jan Blodgett who collected oral histories and stories about the people connected to Lake Norman to mark its 50th anniversary. “Exploring the land under the lake brings together so much more than a few names on an old map,” Blodgett noted. “Those names and the land they farmed, or mills they worked in, shaped this region. All our recent economic and social changes are built on what was here before. The more we know of the stories of the lake, the richer our shared culture becomes.” “Duke Energy had a vision to harness the power of the Catawba River to provide electricity for a growing region,” explained Duke Energy’s Steve Jester.  “The completion of Cowans Ford Dam in 1963 created Lake Norman which was a catalyst for the region’s prosperity and continues to be a valuable resource for the community.” CTI’s Oct. 21 event, sponsored by Duke Energy, is free and open to the public. It begins with a reception at 5:30 pm, followed by the speakers’ presentations and panel discussion from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Information and registration is available at www.charlotteteachers.org or 704-687-0047. About Charlotte Teachers Institute The Charlotte Teachers Institute is an educational partnership among Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte initiated to strengthen teaching and learning in CMS. An affiliate of the Yale National Initiative at Yale University, CTI provides intensive, seven-month-long seminars led by Davidson and UNC Charlotte faculty where CMS teachers learn new content, work collaboratively with other district teachers, and create new curriculum for their own classrooms. Teachers serve as leaders in the institute and choose seminar topics they deem most important and engaging for current CMS teachers and their students. Since CTI’s inception in 2009, more than 350 CMS teachers with over 70,000 students have participated in CTI seminars. CTI also reaches out to the larger community with public events such as Teachers As Scholars and the popular Exploding Canons cultural collaboration series. CTI is made possible by a joint commitment of resources from all three Institute partners, with additional support from the Duke Energy Foundation, Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation, Wells Fargo and the Belk Foundation. The institute is housed at UNC Charlotte within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. In 2013, CTI and its partners were recognized by the Council of Great City Schools with the Shirley S. Schwartz Urban Education Impact Award. For more information, please visit charlotteteachers.org or contact CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan at 704-687-0078 or scott.gartlan@uncc.edu.

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CTI News Current Events Events News Other Special Events

2014 CTI Teachers As Scholars: The Nature of Energy

8.5_11natureenergyCTI Fellows Share New Curricula on Energy Science

REGISTER NOW

CTI will share bright new ideas for teaching and learning about energy in a special Teachers As Scholars event on Tuesday, Sept. 30, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the EnergyExplorium at McGuire Nuclear Station in Huntersville. The program features CTI Fellows who collaborated on the topic “The Nature of Energy: How We Use and Store It to Power Our Everyday Lives,” and highlights innovative curriculum they developed in their CTI seminar. Seminar Leader Susan Trammell, professor of physics and optical science at UNC Charlotte, will also share her energy expertise.

Sponsored by Piedmont Natural Gas and Duke Energy, the event is free and open to the public. It begins with a reception and viewing of the EnergyExplorium’s exhibits from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., followed by presentations and a panel discussion with Trammell and CTI Fellows until 8 p.m.

Featured topics and teachers include:

  • The Nature of Energy: How to Use and Store It to Power our Everyday Lives – Trammell
  • Energy in Our World – Cindy Woolery, Science, Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School
  • Cruising Continents and an Awesome Asthenosphere: How Convection and Geothermal Energy Fuel Earth’s Ever Changing Surface! – Julie Ruziska Tiddy, Science, Carmel Middle School
  • Mama Did Not Take the Kodachrome Away But Charge-Coupled Devices Did – Deb Semmler, Physics, East Mecklenburg High School

Read the Press Release

View all 13 curriculum units developed by CTI Fellows in The Nature of Energy seminar.

REGISTER NOW

Current Events Events Exploding Canons

CTI Presents Exploding Canons: Sports by the Numbers October 22, 2013

sportsbynumbers_8.5x11_FINALCharlotte Teachers Institute Tackles “Sports by the Numbers” October 22

Ever wondered whether your favorite team should punt or go for it – or who’s really Number 1? CTI will tackle these tough questions and more as we explore the intersection of sports and math in the next installment of our flagship speakers series “Exploding Canons” on Tuesday, October 22. The event takes place from 5:30 to 8 pm at UNC Charlotte’s EPIC Building, next to the new Jerry Richardson Football Stadium on the university’s main campus.

In “Exploding Canons: Sports by the Numbers,” faculty from Davidson College, UNC Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools along with professional sports statisticians will offer a variety of perspectives on how numbers and data are used in sports performance, development, analysis and decision-making – by athletes, coaches, teams, economists, teachers and everyday people. Sponsored by Piedmont Natural Gas with additional support from the Charlotte Bobcats, the event is free and open to the public. All attendees will receive special ticket offers from the Charlotte Bobcats and the Charlotte Checkers.

The event begins with a reception and local sports expo in the EPIC atrium at 5:30 p.m., followed by the panel discussion from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Siemens Energy Lecture Hall (EPIC G256). Space is limited, so pre-registration  is recommended. CMS teachers and administrators from all grade levels and subject areas are especially encouraged to attend.

Program topics and featured speakers include:

  • Who’s Number 1? How to Create Predictive Sports Rankings — Tim Chartier, associate professor of mathematics, Davidson College
  • Using Math to Run Lightning Fast: Usain Bolt by the Numbers — Sharonda LeBlanc, postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering, UNC Charlotte, and West Charlotte High School track and field coach
  • The Hot-Hand Phenomenon: Is It Real? — Michael Pillsbury, secondary math specialist, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
  • Thinking Like a Statistician in the Huddle, the Dugout and on the Bench — Jason W. Rosenfeld, manager of basketball analytics, Charlotte Bobcats
  • Sports Economics: Using Sports Data to Understand the World — Fred Smith, professor and chair of economics, Davidson College

Brian Ralph, vice president of enrollment management at Queens University of Charlotte, will serve as moderator.

Community partners featured during the opening reception’s Sports Expo include: the Charlotte Bobcats, Charlotte Checkers, Charlotte Knights, NASCAR Hall of Fame, as well as UNC Charlotte, Davidson College and Queens University athletic programs.

Event directions and parking information.

Events Other Special Events

Teachers as Scholars: African American Literature of the Civil Rights Movement – 2/7/13

CTI Fellows will share new curriculum they created about African American literature relating to civil rights, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Gantt Center for African American Art + Culture in uptown Charlotte.

Sponsored by Charlotte Teachers Institute, the Gantt Center and PNC Bank, this “Teachers as Scholars” event will feature CMS teachers who collaborated in an intensive, semester-long CTI seminar, “African American Literature of the Civil Rights Movement.” Brenda Flanagan, the Edward Armfield Professor of English at Davidson College, led the seminar.

Dr. Flanagan’s seminar explored the Black Arts Movement and poetry and drama that reflected and paralleled the modern civil rights movement from 1955 to 2000. Each of the 13 CTI Fellows in the seminar produced an extensive, student-centered curriculum unit for their own classroom, and to be shared with for teachers everywhere. Three of these teachers, from elementary, middle and high school levels, will present their work during the Feb. 7 Teachers as Scholars program.

“One of CTI’s strategic goals is to provide opportunities to showcase CMS teachers’ innovative scholarship created in CTI seminars to a wider community audience,” said Scott Gartlan, CTI executive director. “This partnership with the Gantt Center will serve as an important step in fulfilling this goal.”

Free and open to the public, the event will begin with a reception and viewing of the Gantt exhibition “America I AM: The African American Imprint.” Presentations and a panel discussion with Dr. Flanagan and the three fellows will follow at 6:30 p.m. Featured topics and teachers will include:

  • African American Literature of the Civil Rights Movement – Brenda Flanagan, Davidson College.
  • Using Poetry to Teach Children about the Civil Rights Movement – Elouise Payton, kindergarten-third-grade teacher, Barringer Academic Center.
  • The Power Perspective: Reading the Literature of the Civil Rights Movement through a Socio-Historical Lens – Stefanie Carter-Dodson, eighth-grade language arts teacher, Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School.
  • Art and Black Identity in the Civil Rights Movement – Larry Bosc, social studies teacher, East Mecklenburg High School.

Each of the 13 teachers in the seminar produced a unique set of lessons related to African American literature of the civil rights movement and designed specifically for their own students.
“We hope that these units inspire other teachers to share their creativity with colleagues in an effort to benefit more students in more classrooms across the district,” Gartlan said. Dr. Flanagan’s seminar was one of eight CTI conducted on a wide range of topics for a total of 94 CMS teachers from all grade levels and subject areas, led by Davidson College and UNC Charlotte faculty. The units developed in all eight seminars will be posted soon on the CTI and Yale National Initiative websites for use by teachers around the world. CTI recently announced a new set of eight seminars for CMS teachers to begin in April.

 

Exploding Canons

Exploding Canons: All the Time in the World – 1/25/13

The next installment in the series will be Exploding Canons: All the Time in the World on Friday, January 25, at the McColl Center for Visual Art from 5:30 to 9 pm. This event is free and open to the public.

Register Now

Exploring and expressing the concept of time intrigues artists and scientists alike, and Exploding Canons: All the Time in the World will continue the exploration in this special event presented by CTI and the McColl Center for Visual Art.

The evening begins with a 5:30 p.m. reception, followed by a discussion at 6:30 p.m. when national and local academic experts including the McColl’s visiting artists, will consider time through art, physics, biology, environmental science and personal experiences. Following the panel, the art exhibition “All the Time in the World” will remain open until 9 p.m. CTI designed the event in conjunction with the exhibition, which opens that evening.

Read More…

CTI News Events Exploding Canons Press Releases

Exploding Canons: Sustainability in Charlotte and Beyond – 10/16/12

Charlotte Teachers Institute’s “Exploding Canons” speakers series sets its sights on sustainable living in an interdisciplinary panel discussion and information expo on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 from 5:30 to 9 p.m., at UNC Charlotte Center City at 320 E. 9thStreet.

Academic and community experts from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds will examine the topic of sustainability, at the “Sustainability in Charlotte and Beyond” event. Sponsored by Piedmont Natural Gas with support from the Charlotte Nature Museum and Discovery Place, the event is free and open to the public.

“The breadth of speakers on this Exploding Canons panel reflects the relation of sustainability to many aspects of life,” said CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan. “The expo will present a wide representation of organizations and businesses who are working diligently to address current needs without compromising the needs of future generations. This will be a great opportunity for the community to connect with academic experts in a variety of fields, as well as get practical information about daily living and viable business choices.”

The event begins with a reception and information expo in the atrium at 5:30 p.m., followed by the panel discussion from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the auditorium. The panel includes faculty from Davidson College, UNC Charlotte, Wake Forest University and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Follow-up conversation, coffee and the expo continue after the panel discussion until 9 p.m.  Space is limited, so registration at http://charlotteteachers.org is recommended. CMS teachers and administrators from all grade levels and subject areas are especially encouraged to attend.

Featured topics and speakers include:

  • “The Politics of Sustainability,” Graham Bullock, assistant professor of political science and environmental studies, Davidson College
  • “The Business Case for Sustainability,” Dan Fogel, executive professor of business and associate director of the Center for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Wake Forest University
  • “Air Quality: When the ‘Top Ten’ is Not the Goal,” Cindy DeForest Hauser, associate professor of chemistry, Davidson College
  • “Visualizing Alternative Futures of Urbanization and Sustainable Growth,” Ross Meentemeyer, professor of geography and earth sciences and executive director of the Center for Applied Geographic Information Science, UNC Charlotte
  • “Small Changes/Big Results: Creating a Positive Impact on the Environment,” Jashonai Payne, 5th grade teacher, Clear Creek Elementary School; and Deb Semmler, physics teacher, East Mecklenburg High School
  • “New Materials for Modern Infrastructure,” Brett Tempest, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, UNC Charlotte

Rob Phocas, energy and sustainability manager for the City of Charlotte, will serve as moderator for the panel discussion.

Participating groups in the information expo include Catawba River District, Center for Sustainability/Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte Mecklenburg Storm Water Services, Charlotte Nature Museum, City of Charlotte, Clean Air Carolina, Davidson College’s Office of Sustainability, Discovery Place, Duke Energy – Smart Energy Now, Envision Charlotte, Friendship Gardens, Garinger High School Fit and Green, Juice from Juice, McColl Center for Visual Art, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Greenway Program, Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Services (Wipe Out Waste), North Carolina Air Awareness, North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, Piedmont Natural Gas , Project for Innovation, Energy and Sustainability – North Carolina (PiES), Queen City Forward, Sustain Charlotte, UNC Charlotte Levine Scholars Program, UNC Charlotte’s Office of Sustainability, US Green Buildings Council – Charlotte Region Chapter, and others.

The “Exploding Canons” speakers series leverages the partnerships among CTI to offer educators and the public collaborative educational opportunities that highlight university and college faculty, explore diverse topics in an interdisciplinary manner, and encourage community conversation.

About the Charlotte Teachers Institute

The Charlotte Teachers Institute is an educational partnership among Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that works to improve teaching in Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools. An affiliate of the Yale National Initiative at Yale University, CTI cultivates content-knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among Charlotte’s public school teachers. Programs include long-term seminars and special events for teachers, as well as community presentations. CTI’s “Exploding Canons” events engage and educate CMS teachers and the community-at-large, as CTI and a variety of partnering organizations produce forums for college and university faculty and other educators to examine topics through multi-disciplinary lenses.

CTI programs are made possible by a joint commitment of resources from all three Institute partners and through the generosity of private funding institutions such as the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Belk Foundation, and the Wells Fargo Foundation. The institute is housed at UNC Charlotte within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Currently, 102 CMS teachers in grades K-12 are enrolled in eight, multidisciplinary seminars that began in the spring and continue until December. The seminars’ weekly meetings recess during the summer, while teachers immerse themselves in reading and research related to curriculum units they are developing for their students. These curriculum units generate learning beyond each teacher’s classroom, as the final units are shared with teachers’ school colleagues and are also published on the CTI and Yale National Initiative websites, making them accessible to teachers worldwide.

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For more information, contact CTI Executive Director Scott Gartlan, 704-687-2026, info@charlotteteachers.org