Professional Development
RMC Research Report (extraction)
The teachers considered the initial project training, the ACTIVboard training, the classroom visit conducted in 2006, and the Interdisciplinary Educational Alternative Strategies conference in February 2007 the most useful (100% described these offerings as very useful). Additionally, in the spring 2006 interviews many teachers (71%) described the webinars as very useful. The teachers appreciated being able to participate using their own computer in their own classroom, and they reported gaining a wealth of information that could be applied immediately. Due to this feedback SETC provided additional webinars during Year 2.
In spring 2007 a third of the teachers (33%) noted that additional webinars would have been beneficial. During both years the teachers praised My eCoach for centralizing project communications, which fostered the teachers’ sense of connection to the project and each other, and for offering the Individual Learning Profile assignments, which kept them accountable to the project requirements.
Teacher Comments
“I think the TLD program has been more helpful then any other training I have ever received due to its comprehensive nature and of course all the cool supplies. I think all general education teachers should go through a similar training just to modernize the profession.”
“Great training. I’ve been very fortunate to receive this grant.”
TLD Professional Development 2005-2007
| Professional Development | Date |
|---|---|
| Hands-On Professional Development | |
| Initial project training: Introduction to the hardware, software, and the evaluation (Ellensburg, WA) | August 8-12, 2005 |
| Using the new ACTIVboard (Regional locations) | October 1, 2005 October 8, 2005 October 12, 2005 |
| Project training: Introduction to math software and programs (Ellensburg, WA) | August 7-11, 2006 |
| Classroom visit by SETC to provide implementation assistance | September-October 2005 October-November 2006 |
| Videoconferences | |
| Sharing of project progress and challenges | November 17, 2005 |
| Planning for the NCCE conference presentation | January 23, 2006 |
| Advanced features of the document camera | April 27, 2006 |
| Year-end sharing of project successes and challenges; planning for August 2006 training | May 25, 2006 |
| Dinner Meetings | |
| Evaluation results (Portland, OR) | February 9, 2006 |
| Conferences | |
| NCCE Conference (Portland, OR) | February 9-10, 2006 |
| OSPI Winter Conference presentation (Seattle, WA) | January 18, 2006 |
| Interdisciplinary Educational Alternative Strategies (IDEAS) conference (Spokane, WA) | February 1-2, 2007 |
| Online Professional Development | |
| My eCoach online refresher course | September 29, 2005 |
| My eCoach Individual Learning Profile assignments | September 2005-April 2007 |
| Texthelp Read&Write GOLD Webinars | |
| Refresher | October 3, 2005 October 5, 2005 |
| Multiuser features | November 28, 2005 November 30, 2005 |
| Fact Finder, Fact Mapper, and Fact Folder tools | October 18, 2006 |
| Word Prediction tool | November 1, 2006 |
| Integrating the software into lesson plans | January 1, 2007 |
| Lesson plan follow-up | February 14, 2007 |
| Personalized webinar (optional) | April 2007 |