Much is made of the effect a 1:1 move has on students in a school district. But what about the teachers and administration? How are they affected and what can they do to better handle the change? This is the premise behind Edutopia’s piece about bringing professional development into a 1:1 district. In the article, they focus on the Salisbury Township School District and its mission to not only bring 1:1 devices to the students in the district but also change the mindset of its teachers and administration as well.
[1:1] requires a shift in mindset and in the daily practices of school leaders, teachers, and students. In order to support school leaders and teachers to become their most effective at using digital technologies with new pedagogies, it is vital that a district support the digital transformation through varied building-level and district-level professional learning opportunities.
Changing the mindset and daily practices is no small task, but Edutopia gives us some helpful hints:
Align PD goals with 1:1 program goals – with goals clearly defined, professional development efforts can be fine-tuned.
Rethink use of human resources – rethink the human and financial resources dedicated to supporting change.
Personalize the PD program through differentiation and choice – adult learners come to the work environment with a variety of knowledge.
Instructional Technology Cohorts – professional development took the form of a cohort model over three years.
Summer Academy – professional learning offerings has been provided for professional and support staff.
Conferences and Workshops – encourage staff to attend conferences and workshops offered outside the district.
Learning for School Leaders – school and district leaders meets monthly in a lunch and learn format.
Evaluate PD efforts to meet developing needs – professional development should be monitored and evaluated to stay relevant.
Instagram (in this writer’s opinion) is one of the most fun social media sites. Being able to beautify your pictures and literally see what your friends are up to without the wordy commentary of Facebook, what’s not to like? Just like any social media app, Instagram has some great shortcuts that can improve its experience.
This article delves deeper into nine tips for beginners, many of which include increasing privacy by blocking random followers and removing location tags from a map. You can also find instructions for viewing every photo you’ve ever liked, and arranging notifications to alert you when someone you follow has posted a new picture.
How do you like Instagram? Any other shortcuts or tips the article forgot? Leave us a comment and let us know!
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/md7dfnp, licensed under CC BY 2.0
As the academic year draws to a close, we ask to be made aware of any staffing changes in your location! If you or someone you know is planning to change work locations, or retire, please let us know! We want to be sure to extend a big congratulations to the retirees, and also make sure to keep our contacts up to date with any job changes or new personnel. If our contacts are not kept updated, we run the risk of losing touch entirely with certain locations.
If there have been any special achievements or awards won, we’d like to know that too!
Please send any updates or information you may have to admin@cmle.org. Thank you for your help!
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/ktoxfxm, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) issues their 25 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning each year. The apps were chosen because they foster innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration.
This week we highlight Skitch, an app that “helps you communicate visually with friends, co-workers, and the world.” Taking images, you can have students label or markup them. Adding text, highlights, blur, arrows, or stickers are easy for anyone!
The app is now only available for Mac downloads – read this article for more information on the change and find out how to download the app.
Watch this video to see how to use Skitch with PDFs:
