i-STEM

i-STEM Summer Institutes

Opportunity Goals & Objectives: To empower Idaho educators to gain STEM content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and build local communities of learning to increase student excitement for and interest in STEM.

Brief Description: i-STEM is a summer professional development opportunity for educators. During four days, participants attend a strand, attend general sessions, hear from keynote speakers and network with their peers. Strand instruction is focused on hands-on, project-based learning with content that focuses on local topics of interest. Each participant receives a kit of instructional material so that they can implement what they have learned in their teaching environments. i-STEM Institutes are held at 6 locations across the state during the last two weeks in June every summer. Click on the logos below to learn more about each institute.

i-STEM 2021 Theme: STEMpower Your Partnerships – During general sessions participants will learn how to build, maintain and strengthen their partnerships to support STEM education in their schools, organizations and communities. Participants will hear from keynotes speakers, learn about and work with tools to harness the power of partnerships, and network with other educators. Come see how you can use partnerships to help your students, yourself and your community.

Participants are encouraged to attend i-STEM with colleagues from their own school, district or organization to work on building partnerships during workshop sessions.

STEM AC is reaching out to businesses throughout the state to sponsor registration fees. We will reach out to you once you are accepted into the program and let you know if your registration fee is covered by a sponsor.

Your district may have funds to pay your registration fee to attend STEM AC PD opportunities. Learn more about Title 4 funding here and talk to your local administrator for guidance.

ATTENTION! Due to COVID-19 we have made the difficult decision to postpone i-STEM 2020 to June 2021. Everything for i-STEM 2021 will be the same – same theme, same general sessions, and majority of the same strands. All applicants for i-STEM 2020 will not have to reapply for i-STEM 2021. We are sorry that the circumstances have led to this decision, but we hope you will join us in 2021. Please stay safe and healthy during these trying times. And please reach out if you have any questions.

i-STEM Institute Dates (2021 dates TBD) and Locations:

June 2021 @ College of Southern Idaho
June 2021 @ Lewis-Clark State College
June 2021 @ Idaho State University
June 2021 @ College of Eastern Idaho
June 2021 @ North Idaho College
June 2021 @ College of Western Idaho

Travel Reimbursement: Travel will be reimbursed following the guidelines below. Distance is measured from the participant’s home to the closest i-STEM institute location. For example, if you live in Twin Falls but attend the institute in Pocatello, you will only be reimbursed for travel to College of Southern Idaho. Participants must attend all four days of the institute to receive travel reimbursement. Only public Idaho formal and informal educators are eligible for travel reimbursements.

**If you attended i-STEM last summer and you have not yet completed your follow-up questionnaire that is due this winter, please complete it before applying, or you will be ineligible to attend. To learn how to access the questionnaire/report, watch this video.**

Status: Closed

Fee: $90 for formal and informal public educators serving Idaho PreK-12 students ($1000 for private school, home school, retired, non-Idaho, and vendor/for-profit educators.)

Eligible Applicants: Formal and informal public educators

Funding Schedule

Open: February 2, 2020
Close: March 20, 2020
Award date: April 1, 2020

Number of Awards: 500
Value: $1000

Overview of 2021 Strands

Please visit each Institute for more details.

* Indicates this strand is appropriate for informal educators.

CSI (College of Southern Idaho) Strands

* Cracking The Code: Computer Science for K-2 & Beyond - Grades: PreK-5
* Building Bricks & Building Partnerships - Grades: K-3
* Virtual Reality in the Classroom with Blocksmith - Grades: 4-12
* IDX: Engineering Solutions with 3D Design and Fabrication - Grades: 5-12
* Empowering Student Research - Grades: 6-12
STEM Leadership in 21st Century Schools - Grades: K-12

LCSC (Lewis-Clark State College) Strands

* Water Science: Investigations and Leveraging Partnerships - Grades: PreK-12
LEGOs in Primary Classrooms - Grades: PreK-3
* Back to Basics to Build a Conceptual Understanding in Math - Grades: 1-6
Using Human Biology to Model Science Education - Grades: 6-12

ISU (Idaho State University) Strands

* Integrating Technology Across the Curriculum - Grades: PreK-6
STEAM Adventures with Rube Goldberg - Grades: 1-6
* Applying STEM Concepts: The Student Invention Process - Grades: 1-9
* STEM Curriculum Integration Through Project-Based Learning - Grades: 5-8
* IDX: Engineering Solutions with 3D Design & Fabrication - Grades: 5-12
* Paper Circuits and Energy FUNk! - Grades: 6-12

CEI (College of Eastern Idaho) Strands

* Innovation for Good: Design Learning in the Classroom - Grades: PreK-12
* Cracking The Code: Computer Science for K-2 & Beyond - Grades: PreK-5
STEM Leadership in 21st Century Schools - Grades: K-12
*Using STREAMpower to Explore Outer Space - Grades: 1-8
* Wildlife Conservation in Your Backyard - Grades: 1-8
* 3, 2, 1… Energize! - Grades: 4-12

NIC (North Idaho College) Strands

STEM Leadership in 21st Century Schools – Grades: K-12
* Cultivating Citizen Scientists in Elementary Grades - Grades: 1-5
* Level Up Your Technology Game - Grades: 3-10
* Creativity in the STEAM-Integrated Classroom - Grades: 4-12
* IDX: Engineering Solutions with 3D Design & Fabrication - Grades: 5-12
* Teaching Mathematics Through Gaming - Grades: 6-12

CWI (College of Western Idaho) Strands

* Build, Create & Innovate: High-Interest STEM on a School Budget- Grades: PreK-12
* H.A.C.K. Bootcamp - Grades: PreK-12
iWONDER - The Power of Inquiry Based Learning - Grades: PreK-2
* Transport Your Students with Making in the Classroom - Grades: 1-5
* Wonderful World of Coding and Robotics for Primary Grades: 1-5
* Exploring Idaho's Geologic Past & Future - Grades: 2, 4, & 6
Building Blocks of Energy: From Chemistry to Conservation - Grades: 5-12
* IDX: Engineering Solutions with 3D Design & Fabrication - Grades: 5-12
* Human Anatomy for Educators - Grades: 9-12

i-STEM Libraries

You can check out amazing resources and materials to support STEM education. Please contact the individuals below for information on checking items out of your local i-STEM library.

College of Western Idaho
Shannon Murray
shannonmurray@cwi.edu
Click here to see what's in the library

College of Southern Idaho
John Hughes
JHughes@csi.edu
Click here to see what's in the library
Additional kits are located at the Twin Fall Public Library

College of Eastern Idaho
Frankie Adams
frankie.adams@cei.edu

Idaho State University
Instructional Materials Center
imc@isu.edu
Click here to see what's in the library

Lewis-Clark State College
Ken Wareham
klwareham@lcsc.edu

North Idaho College
Managed by Gizmo Maker Space
Erin Lanigan
erin@gizmo-cda.org
Click here to see what's in the library

2019 Professional Development Credits

Credits for attending i-STEM

For questions regarding your transcript, please visit the BSU Extended Studies K-12 Professional Development site. If you have specific questions about credits for attending i-STEM, please reach out to Kaitlin at istem@stem.idaho.gov. Syllabi for these credits are below. Registration is closed.

Follow-up Fall Credit for i-STEM

The assignment for this credit involves developing a content standard lesson plan based on the content learned in the workshop strand you attend. See syllabus below for more details. Registration will close August 26, 2019. For questions regarding the follow-up fall credit, please contact Cassidy Hall at cassidyh@uidaho.edu.

i-STEM Academic Year Continuing Professional Development

2019 i-STEM Resources

Speaker Presentations

i-STEM Resources are also accessible in the Resources Portal.

Morning Sessions – Empowering Tomorrow’s Scientists

General Sessions Note Catcher (pdf)
Scientific Phenomenon Note Catcher (pdf)
5E Note Catcher (pdf)

Aaron McKinnon, State Department of Education

Presentation (pdf)
Lesson Plan Template (Word doc)
Idaho Standards in Action Summary Handout (pdf)

Angela Hemingway, Idaho STEM Action Center

Presentation (pdf)

Adam Richins, Idaho Power Vice President of Customer Operations and Business Development

Presentation (pdf)

2018 Professional Development Credits

Assignment for 1st Professional Development Credit

Attend i-STEM Institute and Register on Mentorship Portal

i-STEM participants will receive one paid i-STEM undergraduate professional development credit from the College of Southern Idaho. To receive this credit participants will fill out a registration form during the institute and complete the following assignment.

Contact: John Hughes, CSI - jhughes@csi.edu; 208-732-6549.

Participants must:

Attend all 4 days of the strand and institute.
Complete the post-institute survey via the Community Grants Portal (https://idahostem.force.com/gms/)
Complete the registration process for Mentorship Portal (https://mentorship.stem.idaho.gov/)

Assignment for 2nd Professional Development Credit

Engage with Mentors

i-STEM participants will have the opportunity to purchase ($60) a graduate professional development credit from Boise State University upon completion an assignment throughout the 2018-19 school year. A link to register for this credit and more information is available in the syllabus linked below.

Contact: Kaitlin Maguire, STEM AC – istem@stem.idaho.gov; 208-332-1729.

i-STEM 2018 BSU Syllabus (pdf format)

Participants must:

Complete the registration process for the Mentorship Platform.
Engage in mentorship activities via the Mentorship Platform in one of two ways:
a) Identify at least one student-led project that would benefit from mentorship support, assist student with registration into the Mentorship Platform, and monitor the progress of the project in the platform. (10 hrs)
b) Find at least two mentors in the Mentorship Platform or the community and set up visits with these mentors and a student group (either virtually or in person). (10 hrs)
Create a lesson plan in which there is mentorship engagement. (3 hrs)
Submit a final report via the Community Grants Portal (3 hrs) (https://idahostem.force.com/gms/) answering questions about their experience engaging with the mentorship platform, connecting mentors and students, and student experiences working with a mentor, highlighting best practices, lessons learned and ways they will engage with mentors moving forward.

2018 i-STEM Resources