J.P. Prezzavento - The Bits and Bytes of Education:

This school year I embarked upon a new journey in my teaching career:  serving as a cooperating teacher to two of my department's three student teachers.  At first I was reluctant to take on student teachers because I wasn't sure if I was cut out for job of helping two pre-service teachers in what will be one of their final preparations before they get their own classrooms.  However, after a colleague and close friend reminded me serving as a cooperating teacher is one of the most valuable forms of professional development , I realized that this was an amazing opportunity for me not only to offer PD to the students assigned to me, but also this would be an opportunity for me to grow as a professional. Throughout the semester I have or will do the following activities with my student teachers: I introduced the student teachers to everyone they need to know in the building including principals, secretaries, department chairs, and custodians. I created a structured ...

Today I was at my district's professional development committee meeting and was talking to my building's co-chair, @Thompson_shs , when an interesting question was posed: What does high quality professional development look like? Seeing as we were at a district-level meeting, there were representatives from elementary schools, middle schools, and of course the district's two high schools.  Since the needs of learners in each level of school is different, should professional development look different at each level?  Or should it look the same at each level since strong instructional practices are similar all across education?  I am not sure that PD should be similar or different in each level of education, but here is what I do know about high quality professional development: High quality PD meets the needs of all the participants. http://goo.gl/YFfMd High quality PD is not quiet .   Teachers are talking, moving around, and interacting. Hig...

Does the talk of professional development in your building make teachers cringe and hope to plan their next root canal on a PD day?  Professional development doesn't have to be painful or boring for teachers.  Under the guidance of a forward-thinking principal, @MrGrimshaw , and with the help of an awesome present and past PD rep, @thompson_SHS and @justintarte , respectively, at Seckman High School , we have been able to add fun and interactivity  to our PD days. Now teachers are getting more out of professional development and more teachers are getting involved with PD.  Here are 5 strategies we have used to increase teacher engagement and enjoyment of our professional development days. 1.  Make sure each activity is part of your PD plan. The first step to a successful PD day is to have a long-range professional development plan.  Scheduling random sessions with no rhyme or reason to them will leave teachers unsure of what to expect on professional d...

 http://goo.gl/16Zut  The past few days, @wmchamberlain   has been tweeting reasons to attend #EdcampSTL , a participant driven unconference.  As I have been reading and retweeting, I started thinking about why I can't wait for Edcamp to get here in19 days. Here is my list of ten reasons I'm excited about #EdcampSTL.   1.  Edcamp is a day of FREE learning.   Many educators are attracted to edcamps instead of traditional conferences for many reasons, but in my opinion, one of the most attractive aspects of #EdcampSTL is that it is totally free.  Edcamps do not advertise world-renowned speakers but sessions and professional discussions led and facilitated by the participants.  2.  A chance to reconnect with educators I met at #METC_CSD and #EdcampKC .   Professional discussions and Twitter chats are a great way to stay connected with members of my PLN throughout the year, but it's always great to get to meet with lik...

http://bit.ly/o0WVrp What is passion?  According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, passion is defined as "an intense, driving...feeling of conviction."  To me, passion is feeling strongly enough about something to want to shout about it from the roof-tops.  Well, maybe not a literal roof-top, but you know what I mean. Last year I found my passion as it relates to education:  instructional technology.  Once I started learning about it and using it in my classroom, I felt like I had to tell everyone I could about it.  I took to Twitter , Facebook, my blog , professional development days , and conferences to share my message.  I didn't feel obligated to do any of those things, but once I realized what a powerful tool I had unearthed, I felt the need to share it with anyone and everyone who would listen to me. http://bit.ly/poalPX What is your passion?   Do you feel strongly about Google Applications?  Using student feedback effectivel...

I am excited to say that I have been given the opportunity to mentor a new English teacher in my building .  Since I found out the good news I have been thinking back to my first  year in the classroom and what helpful hints my mentor gave me, what additional help I needed, and how I can help a new teacher have a smooth transition from student teaching to having his own classroom. http://bit.ly/p81udg The purpose of this post is to share my ideas for my mentoring program and get feedback on my ideas and suggestions from experienced teacher mentors and new teachers who are adjusting to the teaching profession. My Mentoring Plan Introduce the new teacher to all of the building's faculty and staff member. Introducing new teachers to their colleagues is important so that they can  begin to make the valuable connections that will benefit them for their entire career in the building.  Ensure the new teacher is able to access his email, district web portal, a...

http://learnthat.com/2005/06/employee-goal-performance-planning/ The summer is quickly winding down, so that means that it is time to start thinking about the upcoming school year.  I have spent a lot of my summer vacation reflecting on this past school year.  Last year was a big year for me.  I took on a lot of new responsibilities with professional development and started to implement Web 2.0 tools into my lessons for the first time.  While I am proud of what I accomplished last year, I know that I still have plenty of room for growth.  With that being said, here are my goals for the 2011 - 2012 school year. 1.  Make a personal connection with every student in my classroom. I think that making connections is half the battle in education.  I can always tell which students or classes I have a strong rapport with because they care more about me and my class, and they try harder and learn more because of it.  If I am able to make a connection...

Dear Teachers, We know that you have a difficult job.  From what we hear, grading homework and tests, planning activities and going to meetings takes up a lot of your time.  In addition, we know that we can be a handful at times, too. While we may not always show it, we really respect what you do, and no, we can't do your job even though at times we say and act otherwise.  With that being said, there are a few things we would like you to keep in mind when you are planning lessons and interacting with us throughout the school day: 1.  Please consider toning down the amount of homework you assign us each night.  We know that when you assign homework you don't mean to keep us busy all night, but if you give a half hour of homework and so do our other six teachers, that means that we will have 3 1/2 hours of homework each night.  After we finish practice, dinner, and a spend a little time on Facebook, the only way we can get that much homework done is by s...

Before this school year started, a colleague I respect asked me to attend a training session with him for a new grade book program our district was going to roll out.  Little did I know that my quick response was going to trigger a metamorphosis in me. Before I go any further, let me provide you with a little background:  I have been a professional educator for the last seven years.  For the last six years I have taught freshmen and sophomore language arts.  I have always thought of myself as an educator who was able to get the job done with students, but I was light years behind most of my more experienced colleagues. Fast forward to the grade book training:  After two days of training provided by the school district, we were on our own to answer teacher, student, parent and administration questions about this new program.  While I never considered myself a building leader of any kind, I was quickly thrust into a leadership position in re...