The Ova Prima Teacher Workshops
2016-2018

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The Ova Prima Foundation has offered teachers exciting, hands-on, inquiry-based learning experiences in support of ovaprimatological science for more than twenty years. 

This year, in cooperation with Partnerships in Lifelong Learning, the Ova Prima Foundation will offer a series of professional development workshops to train educators for the introduction of ovaprimatology into the classroom.  The Ova Prima Teacher Workshops are designed and led by Ova Prima's world-renowned faculty.  These educators are not only inspiring teachers, but are also respected scholars in the field of ovaprimatological pedagogy. 

All workshops have been accredited by National Educators Association.  Credit toward certificate renewal and continuing education requirements is available for all Ova Prima Teacher Workshops.  Financial aid is also available.  Workshops run continually at the Ova Prima campus throughout the year.  Workshop schedules can be obtained by writing to workshops@ovaprima.org.

Workshop 1:  Which Really Came First?  The Chicken or the Egg?

This workshop will provide teachers with an overview of ovaprimatology and a history of the age-old debate of "which came first?".   The class will focus on content knowledge and skill development, with an eye to instructional skills which will be taken up in Workshop 2: Building the Ovaprimatological Curriculum.  Participants will gain a solid grounding in the basic concepts of genetics, archaeology, and natural history as they apply to ovaprimatology.  Class discussion will focus on current themes and trends in ovaprimatological research.  No prerequisites.

Workshop 2:  Building the Ovaprimatological Curriculum

Class participants will develop ovaprimatological themes and learning units for inclusion in the traditional curriculum (K-12), with emphasis on critical thinking and lifelong learning skills.  Participants will develop egg-related lesson plans, rubrics, and active learning activities that address different learning styles.  Participants will also have the opportunity to practice target teaching in microteaching labs on camera in the Ova Prima Learning Studio and will have their teaching performances evaluated by faculty and peers.  This workshop will also consider the impact of new technologies on the ovaprimatological curriculum, including the use of the Internet as a learning tool.   Working in groups, the class participants will evaluate the growing body of "chicken & egg" web sites that are now found on the Internet.  The workshop will be team-taught by subject faculty and an Ova Prima Foundation instruction librarian.   The final class project, a fully developed lesson plan, will be added to the Ova Prima Lesson Plan Databank.

Prerequisite: Workshop1: Which Really Came First?  The Chicken or the Egg?

Workshop 3:  Becoming a Leader in Ovaprimatological Education

Educational reform in elementary schools has had a wide impact on teaching methodologies, school-wide curriculum design, and assessment techniques.  This workshop is designed for the education administrator who seeks to integrate ovaprimatological concepts with the recent call for student-centered learning and outcomes assessment.  This workshop will help the participant to develop a leadership plan, with emphasis on nurturing a collaborative environment, building partnerships within the community, and writing grants.