NOVA is currently producing a new NOVA Lab, the Financial Behavior Lab, an interactive experience that seeks to help students increase their financial well-being through healthy habit formation. Through mini-games simulating financial decisions, players will identify and overcome built-in human biases, and develop strategies to deal with them.  At this time, the NOVA Labs team is looking for classrooms to play test a beta version of the lab the weeks of May 10, May 31, and June 21 to collect feedback about their experience playing the game. The data collected from play testing is completely anonymized and will be instrumental in shaping the game’s final design. If you and your students are interested in participating further, or have any questions, please email NOVA Outreach Manager, Gina Varamo, at gina_varamo@wgbh.org. 

West Virginia Public Broadcasting was recently given access to four documentaries produced by MotionMasters.  These documentaries with support materials have been published on PBS LearningMedia.  Access to PBS LearningMedia is free but it is highly recommended that teacher and student users register/create an account.  This allows users to identify “favorites”, organize resources into folders, assign classwork, and create lessons, puzzles, tests, and storyboards using the Dashboard Tools.

Titles and links to the new PBSLearningMedia resources are:

Robert C. Byrd: Soul of the Senate

Burning Springs: A History of the Oil and Gas Industry

A Principled Man: Rev. Leon Sullivan

The WV State Capitol: A Moving Monument

Sent on Behalf of

Dr. Jason Allen 

Assistant Professor of Education

Shepherd University.

The University of Pittsburgh, called NCTAsia and Shepherd University have partnered together to conduct seminars for K-12 educators related to the teaching of Asian history, culture, literature, art, and many other topics. 

This summer, Shepherd University is conducting a synchronous seminar. Attendees can earn stipends, mini-grants, classroom materials, and potential PD hours.

Here is the website for more information: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/ncta/seminar-site-states/west-virginia

NCTAsia is a great organization, and we really would like to share the knowledge and resources that the group offers with our state educators.

Sent on Behalf of 

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito

The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is offering live,  online classes about the U.S. Capitol and Congress that are now available for teachers.

The attachment below summarizes the offerings and opportunities.

Sent on Behalf of 

Shepherd University

The Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education at Shepherd University is offering four educational professional development sections of a course this summer for teachers called Toward a More Perfect Union:  Teaching About Congress, the U.S. Constitution and Representative Democracy in American History.  We have a limited number of free spaces in each section of these three-credit non-degree courses due to a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council.  Attached is a flyer describing the course.

CRN     Subject  Course   Section  Date                     Time

15415    EDPD     699            61      6/3 & 6/4            9 am – 12 pm

15416    EDPD     699            62      6/7                        9 am – 4 pm

15417    EDPD     699            63      6/10 & 6/11        9 am – 12 pm

15418    EDPD     699            64      6/14 & 6/15        9 am – 12 pm