Post of the Month-April-Professional Development

My most powerful source of ongoing PD is TWITTER! I know it seems like EVERYONE says Twitter is their go to PD place, but it really is an AWESOME resource for educators. Through Twitter I have grown in AWESOME ways within the past year and a half. I have met many new educators whom I've added into my PLN, I've found new conference opportunities, and I've become an executive board member of an AWESOME professional organization.

I will continue to promote Twitter to other educators until I am blue in the face. I can only imagine what Twitter will help me accomplish in the future.

Twitter Chats To Grow Your PLN

This week I participated in my first Twitter chats. I took part of #educoach on Wednesday at 10pm. I also participated in #atPLC at 9pm on Thursday and #PLC101 at 10pm on Thursday. I had participated in twitter "chats" during conferences, but these were my first REAL chats. I LOVED IT!!!
I wanted to write just a little bit here about how I think they can be beneficial to your PLN.

1. You connect with other educators
2. You can easily ask a question and get a variety of answers from other educators.
3. You can earn PD hours for just chatting with new colleagues and friends.
4. You can find new workshops and conferences to attend.

Summer Professional Development #10-Montclair University 21st Century Teacher Camp

This summer I participated in my first MOOC. MOOCs are Massive Open Online Courses. This particular one was offered by Montclair State University through their  ADP Center. This 8-week course focused on various technologies that can be used in the classroom. Each module had a different focus and followed a similar format. There was a discussion forum based off of an article or video we could view. The project each week was different. One week it may have been a lesson plan while another week a behavior plan. I really enjoyed each week's module, discussion and project. I am happy to have participated and earn 40 hours. I cannot wait for next year's camp!!!

Summer Professional Development #8- Edcamp Leadership

Today was my 8th professional development session of the summer. I attended Edcamp Leadership at Kean University. It was attended by a lot of administrators and supervisors. It was nice to be able to network with such a great group of educators though. I attended the first session with Jessica that talked about using Google Apps to address the Common Core Standards. It was cool to see how easy it can be to have teachers use Google Apps that address the Common Core Standards. Then we went to another session on using WordPress to create a great website for your district. After lunch we went to a session that talked about Hiring, Interviewing and Retaining New Teachers. It was cool to see what other principals look for when they search for applicants. Then I sat through a tutorial of how to build a WordPress website. Overall, it was a great time. I have one more workshop before the end of the summer. =) Can't wait!

Summer Professional Development #5-Edcamp STEAM

On Wednesday, July 31, 2013 I attended Edcamp STEAM at Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick. It was my 1st Edcamp experience and I LOVED IT!! I went with a childhood friend and now a colleague, Jessica. It was her first Edcamp also. We got interviewed by Classroom Closeup. Who knows, we may end up in an episode!!! =) The first hour or so was spent networking with fellow educators and setting up the session board. At Edcamps, the participants create the sessions. I decided I would host one. I chose the 4th time slot. I titled the session: "Tracking Evidence & STEAM-How do we effectively track this?" It was a good chance to meet other educators and have a great discussion on assessment and tracking evidence with all of the different curricula in our schools.

The first session we went to was about how to incorporate STEM/STEAM into the Elementary Classroom. It was good. We met a lot of teachers who teach at all girl private schools. It was interesting to see and learn about the different kind of programs there are to help introduce engineering to the elementary grades. The second session we went to was about creating a STEAMy Classroom Environment. Classroom management and classroom design is a HUGE passion of mine. It's hard as a new teacher to say what works and what doesn't because I haven't had a classroom of my own, yet. One day I will and the tips I heard will come in handy.

After lunch we went to one session about using New Media in the classroom. When it wasn't what we expected it to be, we left and went to a session about Flipping the Classroom. We learned a lot of different ways in which to do this. Then came my session. I LOVED IT! We had a really great discussion on portfolios and getting children involved in what is assessed and what is not. After that we went to see if we won anything. Jess got a copy of the Inspiration software. I didn't get anything, but we did network with some awesome educators. I think the best part of the day was getting a tweet from a principal of a school in Manville. He said it was great to meet us and he would be lucky to work with us one day. =)

Overall, it was a great experience. I can't wait for Edcamp Leadership on 8/12 and for Edcamp NJ on 11/23!

Summer Professional Development # 4- All Things Google Summer Camp

Yesterday I attended my 4th conference of the summer! I went to Stockton College for the All Things Google Summer Camp. The keynote speaker was really good. She spoke about getting students to think about the questions that GOOGLE cannot find the answers for. It was a lot of fun. Then I went to the first session-Creating An Assignment In-Box using Google Forms. I actually knew a lot of the information there, but it was a good review. I had never thought to ask students to share the URL link of their projects on Google Drive instead of sharing the actual document with the teacher. I also learned how to add on different "scripts"-the ability to have the spreadsheet graded or send a mail merge to all participants. My second session was about using QR Codes in the Classroom. That was a  fun session. We found a lot of resources to create QR codes. We started brainstorming ideas on how to use them in the classroom- like as a scavenger hunt or on worksheets for students to use. After lunch with some colleagues I met at TeachMeetNJ 2012, I went to my 3rd session-Using Google Forms to help Student Research. It is an easy way to collect information from anywhere in the world. Finally, my last session of the day was about cresting a Google Site for your classroom. I had always gotten confused in the past, but listening to the instructor, it was actually quite easy. 

                              Overall, it was a great day!

From the Keynote Speaker

In my 1st session

Eating Lunch

In my last session

Getting our PD Certs.

Summer Professional Development # 3- National Writing Project:Immersion into the Writers Workshop

This was a 4 day workshop that took place at Rider University. It ran from 9am-12pm. We were reminded about what a Writer's Workshop IS, as well as ways to incorporate the workshop into our classroom and curriculum of the district.

Day 1- We were introduced to the structure of the workshop. We discussed what makes a good writing community and what makes a good writer. We also learned about conferring with our students. MANAGEMENT IS KEY!! We also practiced a quick-write. These are 2-3 minute writing prompts based on different topics.
  

Day 2- We reviewed an article about various activities to use in a Writer's Workshop. We also just threw ideas around about how we've incorporated writing and reading into our tight day schedules. We also talked about Conferring again.

 

Day 3- We watched several conferences and talked about the qualities of a good conference versus a bad conference. We also talked about peer conferences. There was an adorable video about the different people in a peer review. It is the top 10 mistakes to avoid. Take a look at it here. We also talked about teaching grammar. It is a tough thing to do. It can easily be incorporated each morning in a morning message.

Day 4- We talked about teaching grammar again. We also mentioned "mentor texts". These are books that show different qualities of good writing. We then looked at several activities and created samples of each activity. Then we spent time looking for resources that would be beneficial to us. 

Overall, it was a FANTASTIC week! I was very happy with it. 

Summer Professional Development #1- Project Learning Tree

This is really delayed and I apologize for that. Life gets very crazy.

On Saturday, June 8, 2013 I attended a workshop hosted by the Meadowlands Environmental Center. This workshop focused on ways to engage students in environmental education and was provided by the organization Project Learning Tree. This workshop provided me with a great curriculum guide for grades K-8. The guide has several broad topics that lessons are separated into. Each lesson tells me what grade level, time constraints, materials, etc. are needed to run the lesson. They also give us suggestions of related lessons, similar to the one we are looking at.

We not only looked through and understood the book but we participated in a few of the activities ourselves.  We examined different kinds of soil and then predicted how the soil would lay-soil, sand, clay, etc. One of the other activities talked about creating an ideal community-making sure there were resources available, housing, schools, etc. That was my favorite activity. I felt I could relate it to the NASA real time data lessons some colleagues created during the summer last year.

It was a great experience and I am excited to try and implement some of these lessons when I have a classroom of my own.

The Curriculum Guide

Using my iPad to take notes and looking through the Appendixes of the book.

Attempting to paint splatter a cottonwood tree leaf.

My dirt sample.

Playing a "jeopardy" search game.

AVPDS -A Very Professional Development Summer

Every summer since I started college I have had a "productive" summer. I worked, took classes, and spent my time wisely. I was excited for a summer off---until I realized that I am NOT the kind of person who can sit around and do nothing all day long. I have to be productive. So, what better way to be productive than enjoy professional development and grow in that way? 

I have to admit I am awfully exited for all of the PD I'll be attending. At times, I'll have a conference or workshop every day and other times I'll have something one a week. I will be updating my blog after each experience. 

As of 5/26/13:

• 7/8 SMART Board Basics @ Kean
• 7/15-7/18 Writer's Workshop @ Rider
• 7/22 All Things Google @ Stockton
• 7/31 EdCamp STEAM @ Linwood Middle School
• 8/8 Common Core Conference @ Kean
• 8/12 EdCamp Leadership @ Kean
• 8/15, 8/19-21 SMART Board Certification @ Kean
• 8/22 TeachMeetNJ 2013 @ Stockton

It's going to be AVPDS!!

Use the hashtags #summerPD13 and tell me what you'll be doing this summer. =)