Continuing education
If there's one thing teaching and going to graduate school have taught me, it's that I can never, ever stop learning if I am expected to model inquiry for my students. In this digital age, it's important to not only continue education, but continuously be involved in learning, as technology seems to change from one day to the next and our learning communities become global.
Summer 2012:
Capturing Kids' Hearts (http://www.flippengroup.com/education/ckh.html ) was a required three-day training for my campus. During this workshop we learned the importance of safety, respect, consistent expectations, communication, and student engagement to capture kids' attention and facilitate not only learning in the classroom, but success outside of school as well. The importance of supporting one another as educators was also emphasized.
I-DO-make-a-difference! at http://www.txla.org/ce is a 5 module program designed to help school librarians lead, collaborate, manage, teach, and use technology in the school media center. I've enrolled for the entire program, which begins on July 30th, 2012. Please follow my blog reflecting on my learning via the tab above.
I've signed up for other workshops as well: Marcia Tate's "Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites", Big6, and online training on wikis, RSS feeds, and blogs.
#DigiFoot12--the MOOC I mentioned on my "Links" page--has me amazed at my classmates' knowledge and contributions; I'll be adding more to my own page as the 5-week course continues: https://mightybell.com/spaces/aad65f1875fd5e04 As of August 15, 2012, I've finished the #digifoot12 MOOC and earned my badge!
Summer 2012:
Capturing Kids' Hearts (http://www.flippengroup.com/education/ckh.html ) was a required three-day training for my campus. During this workshop we learned the importance of safety, respect, consistent expectations, communication, and student engagement to capture kids' attention and facilitate not only learning in the classroom, but success outside of school as well. The importance of supporting one another as educators was also emphasized.
I-DO-make-a-difference! at http://www.txla.org/ce is a 5 module program designed to help school librarians lead, collaborate, manage, teach, and use technology in the school media center. I've enrolled for the entire program, which begins on July 30th, 2012. Please follow my blog reflecting on my learning via the tab above.
I've signed up for other workshops as well: Marcia Tate's "Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites", Big6, and online training on wikis, RSS feeds, and blogs.
#DigiFoot12--the MOOC I mentioned on my "Links" page--has me amazed at my classmates' knowledge and contributions; I'll be adding more to my own page as the 5-week course continues: https://mightybell.com/spaces/aad65f1875fd5e04 As of August 15, 2012, I've finished the #digifoot12 MOOC and earned my badge!
Fall 2012
Everyday Editing--A district-sponsored workshop with Jeff Anderson, author of Everyday Editing, in which we discussed modeling writing for students through literature and mentor sentences, working on editing one feature at a time, and honoring our students' communication efforts by skill-building without constantly focusing on errors. You can find out more info on Jeff's website, http://www.writeguy.net/ .
Big6--I'm attending hour-long monthly webinars sponsored by and teaching the steps of the Big6 research and information literacy program. My goal is to become familiar with the process in order to use and support it in districts that follow the Big6 guidelines. http://big6.com/
Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Instruction--My campus is using Fountas and Pinnell's LLI kits to address readers who struggle on our campus. Since I see all grade levels in my resource room, I attended four days of training to cover the K-5 program.
Big6--I'm attending hour-long monthly webinars sponsored by and teaching the steps of the Big6 research and information literacy program. My goal is to become familiar with the process in order to use and support it in districts that follow the Big6 guidelines. http://big6.com/
Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Instruction--My campus is using Fountas and Pinnell's LLI kits to address readers who struggle on our campus. Since I see all grade levels in my resource room, I attended four days of training to cover the K-5 program.
Spring 2013
Capturing Kids' Hearts/ Process Champion--As a member of my campus' Behavior Cadre, I attended the two-day Process Champions training offered by CKH. This training focused on honing my own behavior management skills, as well as how to be a supportive resource for my colleagues. CKH has made a difference in my classroom; students are becoming more supportive of each other and of the learning process, and I appreciate having a proven system to rely on when solving behavior problems.
Active Literacy Across the Curriculum--Vocabulary and language acquisition and use is present in all content areas. This staff development emphasized the importance of helping students learn the vocabulary of math, science, and social studies, as well as the appropriate use of grammar while writing in all areas. Literature can be used in all subject areas as well, to reinforce ideas and vocabulary.
Other workshops I have attended include topics of teaching students to solve word problems, algebraic thinking in special education settings, and differentiation strategies.
Active Literacy Across the Curriculum--Vocabulary and language acquisition and use is present in all content areas. This staff development emphasized the importance of helping students learn the vocabulary of math, science, and social studies, as well as the appropriate use of grammar while writing in all areas. Literature can be used in all subject areas as well, to reinforce ideas and vocabulary.
Other workshops I have attended include topics of teaching students to solve word problems, algebraic thinking in special education settings, and differentiation strategies.