Professional Development
Our professional development training sessions are not sit and get. Instead, they are active lessons which model how teachers should use technology in the classroom. Teachers are up and moving, flipping their learning with videos and accountability activities, utilizing hyperdocs, blogging, participating in backchannel discussions, and more.
Collaborative Coaching
Research shows that teachers get much more out of their professional development sessions when there is job-embedded coaching in the classroom. Find out how we serve your teachers in the classroom before, during, and after the lesson.
Planning and Consulting
Did you know the recommended technology earmark for teacher technology training is 28%; however, the average technology budget dedicated to teacher professional development is a mere 5%? Consulting at the highest levels is important to make your technology and pedagogical initiatives successful. Don’t wait until you have problems. Call us today to plan properly and insure successful change.
“[Taking part in the Digital Learning Cohort] has been a life and teaching changing experience.”
Start Collaborating With Us, NOW!
If you are interested in working together, send us an inquiry, and we will contact you directly!
Professional development for teachers is important not because it is required but because education is changing radically. No longer is the industrial model going to work. Our world requires lifelong learners who can learn on their own using the resources available: text, video, audio, etc. Learning is not limited to textbooks anymore, and the presence of technology in the form of iPads, Chromebooks, laptops, and BYOD is a game changer. But the technology is not what is important. Technology is merely a tool to help teachers increase learning through a student-centered approach.
Unfortunately, without professional development and coaching, teachers often use technology as a substitute for paper. They teach the way they always have and use technology where it fits in. Some teachers make technology use a major event and pull them out for big projects. Others are afraid to use them for fear a student might accidentally break something. Others use them more regularly in the interest of having a paperless classroom, but the worksheets are still there in digital form.
If you are interested in building more student-centered classrooms where students have agency and are empowered to be responsible for their own learning, keep reading. There are many ways to create personalized classrooms through blended learning, station rotation, flipped learning, PBL, and authentic activities. There is not one way to personalize learning; however, when teachers learn one effective way, they are able to personalize that system for their classroom.
If you are looking for useful, practical professional development for your teachers that honors where they are in the learning process, give us a call. We have experienced instructors who will excite your teachers because they will learn what they need when they need it.
We are also developing online professional development workshops and courses for anytime professional development. New teachers don’t have to be left behind. They can get last year’s professional development by logging in. Let us know what courses you would like to see offered online. With enough registrants, we are happy to customize a professional development course for your school, district, or state.
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How Is It Possible That AP Students Hate Learning?
Curiosity If you don’t know me personally, you might not know: I am insatiably curious. I love learning. I always have and hope I always will. Imagine my shock and surprise when 3 of my 4 children revealed that they hate learning. I think appalled better describes the emotion I felt. How is it...
Cultivating Collaboration in Blended Learning
If you find collaboration in station rotation difficult or unsuccessful, then these recommendations might be helpful. Collaboration is not something students do naturally, so nurturing and cultivating it might do the trick.
Changing Climate and Culture Building-wide
As a coach assisting teachers with technology integration and personalized learning, I notice patterns arising from teacher to teacher. One pattern that I have noticed is that a teacher, no matter how strong he/she is, hits a wall whether earlier or later when it comes to progressing to the next...
7 Steps to Stronger Student Collaboration Activities
If you are trying to encourage collaboration in your classroom and are having trouble, read on. You will see 7 steps that will help you build stronger student collaborators in collaboration activities. What’s All the Hubbub? Why is collaboration such a big deal all of a sudden? Everybody wants...
Virtual Coaching Helps Build Relationships
As the day of an instructional coach becomes more congested, you might need to consider virtual coaching to reach all of your teachers regularly. Check out Hangouts and Classroom as your go-to tools.
The Evolution of an Authentic Activity
Follow the evolution of an authentic activity – from a basic classroom mock trial to a full trial with a 12-person jury and a real judge presiding.
Human Touch In Schools
How do we interact with students? Recently, I decided it was time to treat myself to regular yoga classes. I had been too busy with work and family for too many years and realized that I needed to do it to stay happy and healthy. While participating in the classes, I experienced three different...
Authentic Learning – SharkTank Meets UN Grant
Improving the World One Grant at a Time
Making English class relevant is not always easy. Knowing how to read, write, and communicate effectively are important life skills; however, this seems to escape teenagers. English class can be made relevant through authentic learning activities and authentic assessments. If you are looking for an authentic learning activity including Sharktank, a United Nations grant, a jury, and a solution to social issues, read on.
Are You Leading by Learning?
Many of the messages generated in education are about what students and teachers should be doing, and so LITTLE focuses on what the LEADERS should be doing. All too often, building and district leadership are the least trained in technology, personalized pathways, and new innovative practices that are spreading across more progressive classrooms. Without leadership buy-in, innovation too often goes nowhere. How can you bring your leadership on board?