CSA Teachers' Conference

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is pleased to announce that the next instalment of our annual Space Educator Training Event will be held August 9 to 11, 2011 at the John H. Chapman Space Centre in Longueuil, Quebec.

During each day of this three-day conference, educator participants with their CSA engineer and scientist workshop hosts will explore space-related, curriculum-relevant topics at the primary and secondary levels.

Daily workshop sessions will feature highly visual and interactive presentations designed to introduce you to a variety of space contexts as well as tips and activities to help you bring space right into your classroom. Each workshop and all activities are highly participatory. Come ready to touch, try, hypothesize, observe, analyze and conclude that space learning is a blast!

The Space Educator Training Event will host a maximum of 150 educators. Come meet and learn with like-minded and inspired educators from across the nation and develop a working partnership in learning with the men and women scientists and engineers of the Canadian Space Program. You may even have the opportunity to meet one of our astronauts!

This year will see the introduction of several new elements into the conference, including separate streams for primary/middle school and secondary school educators, that will allow for workshops to better reflect the realities of today’s classroom. Dedicated sessions will be held in which educators will be able to explore ways they can integrate CSA pedagogical resources seamlessly into their lesson plans. Finally, a panel session will provide examples of unique and exciting ways that you can provide your students with space-related learning opportunities.

Registration for this edition of our annual conference, to be held at CSA headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec, will be limited based on the following number of places that have been reserved for educators from each region:

Once the allotted number of spots for a particular region has been filled all others will be placed on a waiting list and notified if a spot becomes available. The deadline for registration is May 15, 2011.

Priority will be given to educators that have a) not yet attended a CSA conference, b) have attended only once before or c) have not attended in at least two years. Educators who have attended the previous two CSA Educator Conferences will automatically be put on a waiting list.

There is a $25 non-refundable conference registration fee. Attendees are responsible for any costs associated with travel to Longueuil, as well as for their accommodations and food.

IMPORTANT

Please make your cheque payable to “The Receiver General of Canada” and send it to the following address:

Space Learning Program
Educator Conference 2011
Canadian Space Agency
6767 Route de l'Aeroport
Longueuil QC J3Y 8Y9

Visit the CSA website at http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/forms/educators.asp for the registration form for this year's conference. The link for your workshop selections will be e-mailed to you and you will be required to use your e-mail address to log-in, so please provide an e-mail address to which you have easy access, as well as ensuring that we have sufficient means of contacting you after the school year (providing home e-mail addresses and phone numbers). If you do not have Internet access please call (450) 926-4345 and we will be happy to help you with the registration process

For educators from outside greater Montreal who plan on attending the conference, there are a number of subsidies available to help defray some of your cost of attending this conference. In order to apply for a subsidy, please complete the form at:
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/forms/grants-awareness.asp

Please note that our subsidy evaluation committee must review each subsidy request and your acceptance to the conference is not a guarantee that your subsidy application will be approved. The deadline to apply for a subsidy for the 2011 Educator Conference is May 13, 2011.