Going into Overdrive

May has arrived! Teachers across the district can see a light at the end of the tunnel. This year’s class will soon be moving on, students will be heading to the pool, and teachers will be taking that much needed breather. Well, a short breather at least. Just as my teachers are gearing down a bit; we here in Educational Technology Professional Development are gearing up to go into overdrive. What a summer we have planned. Already many of our professional development experiences are filling up.

Just a few reminders to consider. When you come to training at Greenwood you will need to park in back of the building. Spaces in front are limited to those making use of the Teacher’s Center and a few staff. Our inservices will be daily from 8-11 and 12-3 with an hour break for lunch. If you attend a 3 hour session you would attend either morning or afternoon. We will train Monday – Friday and we have something in store for you each day of each week with the exception of June 30 – July 4. we have no training scheduled during that holiday period.

Our goal is to provide something for everyone. I am often asked, Helen, why did you not schedule more of this particular offering? Why did you not add more __? With over 1800 teachers and many, many differing levels of technology integration; we strive to offer a menu that will satisfy everyone’s palate. New offerings are on the plate as well as some we continue to offer because the demand is there.

Understand also that if there are not at least 6 people signed up for a session that session will be canceled. It is not economically feasible for us to offer it to a smaller crowd. We will try to schedule it again in the future if there is a demand. Also, when it comes to online professional development each cohort must be large enough to sustain and be interactive. We are offering several this summer and it maybe necessary to combine the Teacher ICT Advanced courses to have a large enough cohort. That offering needs additional participants for it to be as interactive as it needs to be.

We strive to provide the best most comprehensive learning experiences possible. At times decisions must be made to safeguard the fidelity of the program. I would rather reschedule an online course and be successful than try to run it with insufficient participants and it fail.

PowerTeacher is filling up fast. Of course we realize not all will be trained during that week in July. We will make every effort to see that all receive the training they need. You will hear more about that as plans are finalized.

I hope to see everyone at some technology inservice over the summer. Your students… will love you for it!