Downtime Now Means Productivity....

I remember when, as a teacher, if I did not have work to grade or lessons to plan, that time was glorious free time.  I would watch TV, catch up on some leisure reading, or just goof off.  Well, those days sure were nice.  Now, when I find myself free of grading and other teacherly responsibilities, my first thought goes to this grad internship.  Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat and I am screaming things like "telecollaborative", "VBA", or "what standard does that address?"  Hahah....okay, maybe it's not that bad, but I do feel like a house divided.  For example, right now I know that I will collect essay from my G/T students on John Steinbeck's The Pearl come Monday and that means hours and hours and hours of grading and I feel like my attention to my internship suffers.  So, that means I need to work really hard this week to document all of the stuff I've been doing at work to support this internship.  None of this is to complain but it's worth noting that one on the most important aspects of this final project is time management and the ability to juggle many things at once.  It's also another time when I wish that I was a physical education teacher.  Talk about easier grading.....If only I had hand-eye coordination and knew anything about sports.  See, I'm already off topic.  Back to working on my internship portfolio and addressing more standards.....

A Controlled Vision...

I had an interesting talk with my principal today.  She was informing me that her single biggest vision for professional development for our school is still rubrics and helping teachers to use them more effectively.  While Keith and I have been moving forward with professional development with eportfolio and aspen training, it appears evident that some of our PD may end up revolving around rubrics.  The tricky thing I am learning about this internship is that it will ultimately have to involve my own passions but also the direction of my administration as well. If they have an interest that they want to pursue with the staff then my internship will have to change and adapt to fit that need.  When I was first going in to this internship I felt like it would have a lot of flexibility but the more I am getting into it the more I am realizing that there are many hands in the pot that will effect my internship and its course of action.

More ePortfolio

Now that we've led our first session on ePortfolio, Keith and I are drumming up interest for our next session.  Today I was able to send an email to all of the teachers at my school who are signed up for a portfolio evaluation to try to come to our next after school professional development session.  Hopefully they will be able to make this session since we are given them so much prior notice.  Also, today at my team meeting I was able to show my team a preview of the ePortfolio and hopefully generate some interest that way.  Keith and I are hoping for really big turn out with our next session so we will keep our fingers crossed...

Argument Writing

Today I was able to lead a pretty successful PD session for argument writing.  I think the staff is starting to come back around in seeing the Moodle as a valid resource again.  I just wish people would listen during professional development and not talk through the sessions.  Talk about rude....I'm always amazed how teachers can feel comfortable bringing papers to grade or clearly type emails while I am talking.  It makes it frustrating that sometimes teachers are worse than students when it comes to listening and paying attention.

A Vision for PD for the Year

Well, tomorrow after school Keith and I will attend the first Professional Development Committee meeting for the school year. As active members of the PD committee, Keith and I want to hear the vision for the school year and see how our PG goals can be realized within the scope and sequence for the year.  By the end of school tomorrow, we should have a clear plan in place for the school and should know what sessions will be offered to the staff this upcoming year.  Getting excited!!!!

PD, PD, and more PD

Well, the opportunities keep coming and I have begun to realize that as one travels into the realm of PD the pond just keeps getting deeper as teacher needs rise and opportunities abound.  Keith and I have found a dedicated group of teachers interested in planbookedu and the numbers keep growing with each passing day.  It's spreading like wildfire because teachers are always looking for ways to improve their classroom and be more efficient.  We have talked to ITL's in the building, met with interested teachers, and offered one on one tutorial sessions.  The school Moodle continues to be an excting place for teachers to create inspired lessons and we have been working on making it more user friendly for teachers.  In the coming weeks we plan to send out a needs survey to see what teachers need to know about using the Moodle with their classes and then will conduct follow up PD from there.  At this time we're not sure if it will be whole staff or after school break out sessions.  Common Core is still in full swing and Keith and I continue to look for ways to support that through our internship.  One way will be for teachers to log their lesson plans that meet Common Core while using a template created in Moodle.  It will allow teachers to select standards and upload content.  With teachers, we have realized that things must b simple and make their life easier.  No teacher want to add complication to their lives- no matter how beneficial.  Finally, it looks like we might offer a session on podcasts as there seems to be staff interest there as well.
     So, things are going well.  I'm exhausted, but satisfied that things are going smoothly.  I'm still not sure how I will add grad class on top of this busy schedule (class begins next week) but we'll see how it goes.  I only wish we could have taken this class over the summer since unlike previous summers, we only had one class to take (the very enlightening Admin course- can you sense my sarcasm?).  Two classes this summer would not have been too much, I could have focused on the reading, and then go into the school year with just my internship to focus on.  Call me crazy, but this just makes sense.  I have to ask someone about this....

PD well on its way...

So, teachers are back to work and PD is under way.  So far, we've been able to lead a PD session with technology on the Common Core, speak to ITL's about planbookedu and other technology resources, gather interest amongst the staff on planbookedu, begin discussions with staff on what kind of professional development they would like to see this year, and lead sessions on Moodle.  With staff interest at an all-time high, it seems that our internship is coming at a good time after all.  Now, if we can only stop all of this earthquake and hurricane non-sense, we might actually be able to get students in the seats to benefit from all of this PD.