Ten-minute take aways are short, meaningful professional development sessions designed to introduce a skill, strategy, or activity to teachers. As an instructional leader, I believe it is my responsibility to have an awareness of the needs of my teachers and to find the most effective ways to share a variety of best practices to meet their needs. I will share ideas for how to present short, meaningful professional ...more »
Every day there are amazing things happening in our classrooms. One of my goals is to ensure that there are opportunities for my teachers to observe one another, share strategies, and collaborate. I would often hear talk of peers wanting to observe one another but rarely was there ever follow through. My instructional coach and I created "Classroom Connections", the opportunity for our teachers to make a connection ...more »
I have begun discussions with my central administration about creating hybrid positions within the district in order to help support a number of different initiatives that we have on-going. For instance, we are piloting a teacher evaluation system this year, and it goes live next school year. Between the administrators also having a new evaluation program, there is simply not enough capacity to support teachers learning ...more »
As of May 2015, Mount Holyoke College in partnership with the National Network of State Teachers of the Year will be launching a new program to support and develop teacher leaders nationally. This program is built around the Teacher Leader Model Standards, the Teacher Leadership Competencies, and the National Board Five Core Propositions. Teachers will be able to earn stackable certificates as they work on building personal ...more »
Sometimes beginning teachers do not have the support system of a mentor, or a PLC, or an immediate colleague, to help them create innovative teaching. Immediate inspiration could be achieved by the "I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Nation Network" and could be the uncomplicated resource to help new teachers find the help they need, immediately. District Professional Learning departments simply create a "go-to" online site on their main ...more »
As the Common Core Standards is implemented, early childhood educators are concerned that alignment of the developmentally appropriate curriculum may be jeopardized by inappropriate assessment practices. We want to use authentic learning experiences that are concrete and developmentally appropriate, followed by appropriately authentic assessment. No 'standardized assessment' - one right answer - bubble sheets' for young ...more »
Teachers of many years experience are valuable resources at the university level for teacher preparation programs and research in best practices, developmentally appropriate assessments, and many more areas of national concern. Career pathways must be established and made readily available so that these teachers who have sustained a career in the classroom may advance to support the education of teachers and the development ...more »
There are many components to teaching in an urban environment outside of curriculum and classroom management. Many teachers entering urban education lack the knowledge of family background, family and community struggles, community dynamics, and how to assist families in their academic, social, and emotional journey. In order to better prepare and retain urban teachers, a scaffolded mentoring and professional development ...more »
Societal rules, basic etiquette, and the definition of respect should be a mandatory workshop at the high school freshman level (or earlier). It is the moral choices, a family support system, and knowledge of different cultures that divide our society. As we see less familial guidance, it is the responsibility of the village to teach our new generations. As educators we strive for all of our students to succeed, but ...more »
Though recent years have seen tremendous progress toward collaboration and sharing ideas between teachers, whether with grade-level teams, content-alike teams, district or personal learning networks, teachers still struggle with how they can implement what they learn in their room with their students. When teachers are practicing something new, whether it's an instructional practice, behavior management technique, technology ...more »
Informal. Formal. Summative. Formative. Assessments are powerful educational tools, and we use them so frequently. Nevertheless, teachers receive very little education about or training in effective, valid assessment practices. Teacher education programs could certainly include more about assessments, but classroom experiences with them provide valuable knowledge that theory never will. Therefore, a greater conversation ...more »
My idea is to create a district online forum (maybe Edmodo as platform) for teachers to collaborate, share ideas, share training videos, resources, etc. This weblog to be used for teachers to log PD hours for re-certification.
Reduce the class load of approved master teachers in each area and allow them to visit classrooms for first-hand feedback.
What are some creative and fun ways to implement PBIS in primary/elementary school setting?
I would like to create a partnership between my school and my community by using social media to allow community organizations to send requests for services needed to our school. Then our school could better decide which service learning projects would work for our school.