STEM Georgia Educator Laureate Awards

Rules and Guidelines

Overview:
The STEM Georgia Educator Laureate Awards are designed to reward Georgia K-12 classroom teachers for
exceptional work in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Teachers are provided a list of
activities that may be completed in order to earn digital badges worth specific points. Once a completed
activity is submitted to the official Edmodo site and verified by the Georgia Department of Education, the
badge will be awarded. The award time frame for the 2014-15 school year runs from August 18, 2014 until
August 1, 2015. Only activities conducted during that time frame are eligible for badges.
Eligibility:
Participants must be full-time certified PK-12 classroom teachers in any Georgia (public/private school).
Registration Instructions:
Complete the teacher information document at http://goo.gl/WcIfbZ
Once you have completed the teacher information document, you will automatically be sent a code
to register as a STUDENT on Edmodo at http://edmodo.com. If you are currently an Edmodo user as
a teacher, you will have to create a student account to participate in this program because badges
can only be awarded from teachers to students on the Edmodo platform. This will enter you into the
STEM Georgia Laureates class where you will submit all award evidence.
Submission Guidelines:
All evidence must be submitted to the official Edmodo site for GaDOE by August 1st, 2015 No exceptions.
Awards:
Any teacher who achieves a badge point total of 250 points will be awarded the Georgia Department of Education
Certificate suitable for framing.
Any teacher who achieves a badge point total of 500 points will be featured on the STEM Georgia website as
members of the STEM Georgia Educator Laureate 500 Point Club.
Any teacher who achieves a badge point total of 750 points will be awarded the Georgia Department of Education
STEM Georgia Educator Laureate lapel pin.
Any teacher who achieves a badge point total of 1000 points will receive a letter of recognition from the Georgia
Department of Education State School Superintendent & sent to the local newspaper.
Any teacher who achieves all four Discovery Education badges will earn the Georgia Discovery Educator lapel pin.
Any teacher who achieves a badge point total of 1250 points will become the Delta Education STEM Educator
Laureates and will be awarded gift certificates to spend on Delta Education materials and a shirt with Delta
Education STEM Educator Laureate on it.
The top three (3) teachers in the state at the end of the 2014-15 competition will become the Georgia Power STEM
Educator Laureates and will be awarded the following:
o Trip to a national conference of their choice
o Receive a STEM Georgia Laureate Award from the Technology Association of Georgia at the annual STEM
Awards in Savannah
o Free attendance to the Discovery Education STEM Network Conference in North Carolina




Badging Activities

Criteria

Badge

Points Evidence
Professional Learning Badges
This must be at the school district level or higher.
Professional learning sponsored by the school will not earn the badge.
Teachers may earn these badges a maximum four (4) times.
Attend a non-mandatory local math, science, CTAE, or STEM
professional learning conference (RESA or School District
Sponsored).

25
Copy of each registration and
photo of you at each
conference submitted to
STEM Georgia Edmodo site.
Attend a STEM Georgia professional learning opportunity
(Georgia STEM Institute, STEM Georgia Teachers Academy,
Georgia STEM Forum, etc).

25
Verified by GaDOE for each
event.
Attend a STEM national, regional, or state professional learning
conference i.e. math, science, CTAE conference or STEM
conference.

25
Copy of each registration and
photo of you at conference
submitted to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
Conduct a STEM-related presentation at a national, regional, or
state professional learning conference.

50
Copy of each conference
program with you listed as a
presenter submitted to STEM
Georgia Edmodo site.
Register to become a Discovery Education Network Star and log a
STEM Activity onto their network.

75
Submit date for acceptance
to DEN STAR program along
with a copy of the STEM
Activity to Edmodo.

Integration Badges
Teachers may submit multiple integrated lessons and earn the badge for each one.
Accepted lessons may be posted on the GaDOE or STEMGeorgia website with credit assigned to the author(s).
Teachers may earn these badges a maximum three (3) times for each level.
Level 1: Creates an integrated STEM unit tied to the science, CTAE Georgia
Performance Standards and math CCGPS that is accepted by the Ga DOE.
Integrated unit example: http://bit.ly/ZbwVGb


50
Lesson submitted to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site and verified by
GaDOE. Links to template: Middle
& High- http://bit.ly/1r21r0r
Elem- http://bit.ly/XQkWMF
Level 2: Completes all requirements for Level 1 and creates a video
implementing the unit in the classroom that is accepted by GaDOE.
Verification for Level 1 must be verified prior to submitting Level 2.

75
Lesson submitted to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site and verified by
GaDOE. Links to template:
Middle & High-
http://bit.ly/1r21r0r
Elem- http://bit.ly/XQkWMF
Level 3: Completes all requirements for Level 2 and submits four (4) samples
of student work that are accepted by GaDOE. The student work must reflect
a continuum of weak work to strong work. Verification for Level 2 must be
verified prior to submitting Level 3.

100
Lesson submitted to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site and verified by
GaDOE. Links to template:
Middle & High-
http://bit.ly/1r21r0r
Elem- http://bit.ly/XQkWMF
Creates an integrated STEM unit tied to the science, CTAE Georgia
Performance Standards, math CCGPS and includes the arts (STEAM) that is
accepted by the Ga DOE. Elementary would not include CTAE.

50
Lesson submitted to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site and verified by
GaDOE. Link to template:
http://bit.ly/1oexgxt
Create and share 1 Board in Discovery Education Board Builder that
demonstrates a STEM strategy for students or other educators. Board must
be shared with the Discovery Education community.

75
Submit link from Discovery
Education to view the Board along
with the title of the Board.

Business/Community/Post-Secondary Partnerships Badges
Teachers may submit multiple business partnerships as long as each submission is a different lesson or with a different business
partner.
Conducts a STEM activity with a business/community/post-secondary
partner and provides evidence of the partnership with photos or video.

50
Submits photos or video of
activity to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
Develops an authentic, real-world lesson for students with a business
partner based upon the role of that business in the community.

100
Submits lesson to STEM
Georgia Edmodo site and it is
accepted by the GaDOE.
Promotes an on-going partnership with a business/community/post-
secondary partner and provides evidence of the partnership.

75
Submit documentation of the
long-range partnership
relationship to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
Externship-Teacher participates in a STEM business/industry work
experience.

100
Submits verification
documents to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.



Encouraging Student Participation in STEM
Teachers may enter student teams in multiple competitions and earn the badge each time.
The competition must have an obvious and explicit science, technology, engineering, and/or math connection. Contact Gilda Lyon at
glyon@doe.k12.ga.us for any clarification prior to the competition.
Sponsor a GaDOE-recognized STEM competitive team where students
participate in a STEM competition (you must show evidence of competing
via photos at the competition).

25
Submits registration form to
STEM Georgia Edmodo site
and evidence of competing.
Sponsor a GaDOE-recognized STEM competitive team where students win a
STEM competition (you must show evidence of winning the competition).

50
Submits final official results of
competition for each
competition to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
Sponsor a team of all female students who participate in a GaDOE-
recognized STEM competition OR all male students if the competition is a
health care science competition (you must show evidence of competing via
registration form).

25
Submits registration form to
STEM Georgia Edmodo site.
Sponsor a team of all female students who win a GaDOE-recognized STEM
competition OR all male students if the competition is a health care science
competition (you must show evidence of winning the competition).

50
Submits final official results of
competition to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
Sponsor a team of all minority students who participate in a GaDOE-
recognized STEM competition (you must show evidence of competing via
registration form). See 1* at bottom of page for a definition of minority
student.

25
Submits registration form to
STEM Georgia Edmodo site.
Sponsor a team of minority students who win a GaDOE recognized STEM
competition (you must show evidence of winning the competition). See 1*
at bottom of page for a definition of minority student.

50
Submits final official results of
competition to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
Sponsor a STEM Day activity with your classroom (May 8, 2014)

25
Register with TAG and submit
activity to TAG and to Edmodo site.
Participate in a Discovery Education monthly virtual fieldtrip, attend a virtual
conference or watch an archive of a STEM presentation. Visit
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com to view upcoming field trips.

25
Submit date and title of event.
Have a student(s) create and share 1 Board in Discovery Education Board
Builder that demonstrates a STEM concept or STEM career. Board must be
shared with the Discovery Education community.
**please note: any personal information about the students should be
removed prior to sharing.

75
Submit link from Discovery
Education to view the Board along
with the title of the Board.
Have a student submit a 2-min video showcasing their idea for an invention
to the 3M Young Scientist Challenge;
http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com

100
Submit project title and date
application was submitted.
*1-A minority race is one that constitutes less than 25% of the population in Georgia. This includes Native Americans, Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asians.

STEM Leadership Badges
These badges may be earned a maximum two (2) times per badge.
Provide outreach to teachers within your school who are seeking to increase
STEM expertise (must provide description of outreach and receiving teacher
and school principal must sign GaDOE document).

50
GaDOE document
(http://goo.gl/J8veOz) submitted
to STEM Georgia Edmodo site.
Provide outreach to other teachers or schools who are seeking STEM
certification (must provide description of outreach and receiving teacher
and school principal must sign GaDOE document).

100
GaDOE document
(http://goo.gl/J8veOz) submitted
to STEM Georgia Edmodo site.
Writes an accepted article for the Delta Education-FOSS newsletter at:
http://www.fossweb.com/newsletter


50
Article is published in the Delta
Education newsletter and
submitted as evidence to STEM
Georgia Edmodo site.
Writes and receives a grant to implement STEM in the classroom.

150
Grant application and letter of
award submitted to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
Submit a STEM article and it is published in a STEM professional journal i.e.
NSTA, NCTM, ACTE or state publication.

200
Article is submitted to STEM
Georgia Edmodo site.

Effective Technology Integration Badges
The effective technology integration badge may only be awarded one time.
The blog badge may only be earned once and is awarded at the end of the school year after verification of a year-
long active blog site.
Demonstrates effective use of technology in the classroom where
students are producers of STEM digital content.

50
Link submitted to STEM
Georgia Edmodo site for
student work.

Create and maintain a classroom blog that students respond to
on a regular basis throughout the year.

50
Link submitted to STEM
Georgia Edmodo site for blog.
This badge not awarded until
the end of the year to verify
student participation all year.



Level Specific Badges
Elementary & Middle School: The badge may be awarded multiple times as long as the entire class is involved in
multiple citizen science projects for the school year.
High School: The badge may be awarded for each five students who submit projects to the research journal.
Elementary and Middle School Only: Engage classroom in school
year-long citizen science project
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_citizen_science_projects)

75
Submits verification
documents to STEM Georgia
Edmodo site.
High School Only: Sponsor at least five students who submit
research proposals to the Georgia High School STEM Journal (see
link:).
75
Verified by GaDOE.