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We enjoy sharing our passion via speaking. We tend to personalize our topics to our audience, but you can scroll down to see our active topics!
Keynote: "The One Creating is The One Who is Learning" [Estimated Time: 45 minutes- 1 hour] Amoeba Sisters is a science YouTube channel that was created to try to solve a classroom obstacle, but over the past five years, it ended up showing us more about creating than we could have ever imagined. We have discovered there is so much learning in the creative process. What is the value in involving students as creators in the classroom? What are some ways that students can create while still facing obstacles such as limited classroom time and/or resources? Join us in exploring the lessons we've learned in our adventure in creating! Discover how you can empower students as classroom creators! Featured Presentation: "Five Fabulous Ways for Your Students to Create in Science" [Estimated Time: 1-1.5 hours] The one doing the creating is the one who is learning, and this includes your science students! As the Amoeba Sisters, we are creators of videos, GIFs, and comics that demystify science. Consider the power of providing opportunities for your students to create! Learn how to involve your students as creators in your classroom while still maximizing your classroom time. Student creation types discussed include GIFs, comics, podcasts, and more with strategies for handling obstacles including limited technology. Teachers will leave this session with five ideas, several template resources, and recommendations of freely available tools to involve their students as creators, and not just consumers, of creations that can support science standards. Featured Presentation: "Bringing Science to Life with GIFs" [Estimated Time: 1-1.5 hours] GIFs are popular among students on social media, but did you know they are also very powerful in science education? GIFs can serve as powerful visualizations and models for science processes and vocabulary. Take a look at the GIF science collection we have created! Learn how you and your students can create GIFs with or without technology while maximizing precious classroom time. When students are provided opportunities for creating GIFs, the result is a powerful blend of engagement, relevance, and science content! Featured Presentation: "Using YouTube Videos to Facilitate Curiosity and Student Questioning" [Estimated Time: 1-1.5 hours] As co-creators of the Amoeba Sisters YouTube Channel, we create short science educational videos that use a style of memorable comics.Yet, we are only one of the many educational YouTube Channels out there! YouTube videos can serve as a tool, and like many tools, it is how the tool is used that determines its effectiveness. What are some different styles of educational YouTube videos out there? How can educational YouTube videos be more effectively used so that they provide more time for student discussion and encourage students to ask questions beyond the content? What are some free tools that can help students connect to the YouTube content? Participants will leave this session with an understanding of educational tools that can be used with educational YouTube videos, tips that help make YouTube videos more accessible, and creative ideas for promoting student discussion and questioning. Featured Presentation: "Facilitating Student Discussion with Biology Comics" [Estimated Time: 1-1.5 hours] There is research that suggests humor, when used effectively, can be used to increase student content retention. As the Amoeba Sisters, we create biology videos, GIFs, and comics that strive to be memorable and are frequently humorous. How can the many biology comics that exist out there be used to facilitate student discussion and dynamically change traditional lectures? How can students get involved in creating biological comics that can be presented to the class for feedback? Participants will leave this session with an understanding of using comics as a student discussion tool as well as ideas for involving their students in the comic creation process. Concepts in this presentation are very similar to the method behind our Unlectured Series. Workshop: "Communicating Science with GIFs" [Estimated Time: 2-3 hours] While GIFs have been around since 1987, they have surged in popularity on social media and everyday messaging communication. Have you considered their use in education? GIFs can be very powerful for communicating educational concepts including science processes and vocabulary. This session will demonstrate several ways that GIFs can be used for class discussion as well as how instructors- and students- can create their own. Participants will leave this session with ideas for using GIFs in their biology course as well as a sample template for creating them. A smartphone, laptop, or tablet is recommended for this session. Note: Unlike the featured presentation on GIFs, this workshop format provides more time for participants to create GIFs to communicate their science (perhaps what they are teaching or their current research). We have a collection of GIFs that we often use as examples which may be helpful to view if considering whether this session would be a good fit. Workshop: "Amoeba Sisters Video Creation Workshop" [Estimated Time: 2-3 hours] This workshop shows a teacher-student collaborative video creation process that uses a similar style of video creation that we use in our videos. The steps used are designed to maximize time and work with already freely available technology resources. You can actually find out more about our video creation steps on our "Student Creators" page. |
Upcoming EventsWe are on a temporary speaking hiatus until February 2019- Pinky is expecting her second baby! We have several events on our calendar for Spring 2019- check back for those listed events soon!
Previous EventsJuly 2018: Panhandle STEM Conference
Five Fabulous Ways for Your Students to Create in Biology Lubbock, TX July 2018: UTeach Stem Conference Keynote: "The One Creating is the One Who is Learning" Austin, TX June 2018: American Society of Microbiology Microbe Part of Symposium titled Creative Approaches to Presenting the Microbial World Atlanta, GA June 2018: #KleinPinIt Conference Keynote: "Adventures in Creating" Klein, TX November 2017: CAST (Conference for Advancement of Science Teaching) Five Fabulous Ways for Your Students to Create in Biology Houston, TX October 2017: Region 4 Science Conference Formative Assessments with Student-Created GIFs Let Students Be Creators with Science Vocabulary Houston, TX August 2017: TEKS Resource System Conference Five Fantastic Ways Students Can Be Classroom Creators Bringing Science TEKS to Life with GIFs San Antonio, TX May 2017: UTeach Conference Speaker in Opening Plenary (Pinky is a UTeach alumna) Austin, TX March 2017: ComSciCon-Houston Science Multimedia Panel Houston, TX January 2017: Klein ISD Unconference Keynote: "The One Creating is the One Who Is Learning" Klein, TX October 2016: TCCA Amoeba Sisters Present: Five Fabulous Student Creation Types Houston, TX October 2016: Region 4 Science Conference Student Video Creation in Science with Humor and Relevance Houston, TX July 2016: UTeach Alumni Conference Strategies for Student Creation in a Time-Crunched Classroom Austin, TX June 2016: Region 9 Texoma Regional Math and Science Conference Keynote: "The One Creating is the One Learning" Amoeba Sisters Video Creation in the Classroom Bringing Biology TEKS to Life with Comics and GIFs Wichita Falls, TX October 2015: TCCA Student Video Creation: Combining Creativity with Content The Comeback of the GIF: Animated Models Created by Students for Students Houston, TX July 2015: "Amoeba Sisters Student Video Creation Workshop" (in collaboration with UTeach) Austin, TX March 2015: SXSWEdu "Video Creation: Where is the Humor and Relevance?" Austin, TX February 2015: Region 4 Science Conference Student Video Creation in Science with Humor and Relevance Houston, TX November 2014: CAST (Conference for Advancement of Science Teaching) Engaging the 21st Century Biology Student With Student Generated Video Dallas, TX October 2014: Region 4 Digital Learning Conference Beyond Screen Record: Bringing Humor and Relevance to Video Creation Houston, Texas July 2014: UTeach Alumni Conference Engaging the 21st Century Learner with Video Creation Austin, Texas |
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