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"Please, No More Professional Development! By Peter DeWitt on April 17, 2015 8:10 AM Today's guest blog is written by Kristine Fox (Ed.D), Senior Field Specialist/Research Associate at Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA). She is a former teacher and administrator who has passion for teacher learning and student voice. Kris works directly with teachers and leaders across the country to help all learners reach their fullest potential. Peter DeWitt recently outlined why "faculty meetings are a waste of time." Furthering on his idea, most professional development opportunities don't offer optimal learning experiences and the rare teacher is sitting in her classroom thinking "I can't wait until my district's next PD day." When I inform a fellow educator that I am a PD provider, I can read her thoughts - boring, painful, waste of time, useless, irrelevant - one would think my job is equal to going to the dentist (sorry to my dentist friends). According to the Quaglia Institute and Teacher Voice and Aspirations International Center's National Teacher Voice Report only 54% percent of teachers agree "Meaningful staff development exists in my school." I can't imagine any other profession being satisfied with that number when it comes to employee learning and growth. What sense does it make for the science teacher to spend a day learning about upcoming English assessments? Or, for the veteran teacher to learn for the hundredth time how to use conceptual conflict as a hook. Why does education insist everyone attend the same type of training regardless of specialization, experience, or need? As a nod to the upcoming political campaigns and the inevitable introduction of plans with lots of points, here is my 5 Point Plan for revamping professional development. 5 Point Plan Point I - Change the Term: Semantics Matter We cannot reclaim the term Professional Development for teachers. It has a long, baggage-laden history of conformity that does not

"Creative Commons has recently rolled out its new 4.0 licenses and made it available for adoption worldwide. This is a fruit of two years of hard work to overcome some of the weaknesses that marked the 2011 version CC licenses .Some of the features and improvements included in 4.0 licences which make them easily shared and re-used include : improved readability and organization and common-sense attribution."

"Like many districts serving low-income populations, it was fairly easy for Piedmont City School District officials in Alabama to find funds for devices. District officials wanted to leverage technology to open up opportunities for the 1,240 students in this rural community, so they started sending devices home with kids in grades 4-12 in 2009 through a program they call mPower Piedmont. However, lack of access to the Internet after school and in kids' homes became a major obstacle to learning with those devices."

Check out the "Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry" sections for K-4 and 5-12 for many activities and links.

"Like many districts serving low-income populations, it was fairly easy for Piedmont City School District officials in Alabama to find funds for devices. District officials wanted to leverage technology to open up opportunities for the 1,240 students in this rural community, so they started sending devices home with kids in grades 4-12 in 2009 through a program they call mPower Piedmont. However, lack of access to the Internet after school and in kids' homes became a major obstacle to learning with those devices."

"The Franklin Academy High School implemented a 1:1 iPad deployment a the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. Over the course of the next two school years, the pilot was expanded to include all grades 9-12 in the high school. This deployment has reached 475 high school students and all teaching staff. Our K-8 program deployed iPads across the grade levels in the form of class sets and mobile carts. This study targeted our 1:1 deployment at the high school to investigate the impact the device has had on teaching and learning. The survey used to gather the student data was administered in April of 2014. Students included in the survey used the device anywhere from 1 to 4 years. The students use the iPad while at school and home. Results of the survey hope to shed light on the impact the use of the iPad has had on academic gains as well as the development of the most important non-cognitive skills our program is founded upon."

"Finland is an innovative country when it comes to education, and its innovation yields results. It's consistently one of the highest performing developed countries on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an important tool for measuring education systems worldwide. While Finland's ranking dropped to 12 in the most recent PISA ranking, it's still a lot higher than the US ranking of 36. Here are some things Finland does differently - and arguably better - than the US when it comes to education."

"If you haven't said it yourself, someone has said it to you: "I'm just not that creative." Most of us wouldn't mind being just a little more creative. Fortunately, you can. Not only are there proven ways to increase your creativity, but also, according to research, all of us have a creative gene. In a longitudinal test of creative potential, a NASA study found that of 1,600 4- and 5-year-olds, 98 percent scored at "creative genius" level. Five years later, only 30 percent of the same group of children scored at the same level, and again, five years later, only 12 percent. When the same test was administered to adults, it was found that only two percent scored at this genius level. According to the study, our creativity is drained by our education. As we learn to excel at convergent thinking--or the ability to focus and hone our thoughts--we squash our instinct for divergent, or generative, thought. The 5-year-old in us never goes away, though. Here are four ways to rediscover your creative genius."

"Doodle 4 Google Canada is a national contest inviting students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 to redesign the logo for the Google.ca homepage for a day.* As Canada blows out a whole lot of candles for its 150th birthday this year, what better way to celebrate than by asking students to imagine what the next 150 years will look like? Google believes our youth hold the key to a bright future for Canada, and can't wait to see what their optimism, creativity and imagination give rise to. The winning doodle will be featured on the Google Canada homepage for 24 hours. The winning student will also receive a $10,000 university scholarship, a Google Chromebook, and a $10,000 technology award for their current school along with a trip to the final event on June 13, 2017."

"4 websites for creating student projects"

"Physics 4 Kids is a great resource packed full of basic lessons covering different key concepts of physics. You can use this resource to expand students knowledge of physics and to also initiate them to those physics concepts you are planning to teach them in class. Physics 4 Kids provides students with  guided tours that they can use by themselves to learn about physics. To make things easier, the site embeds visual aids and video tutorials to enhance students understandings. Some of the core physics ideas the site covers include: motion and mechanics, electricity and magnetism, modern physics, light and optics and many more. "

"Graphic design students require a variety of tools in their arsenal at all times, ranging from high-end laptops to smartphones. Most K-12 schools and higher-ed institutions, however, are focusing on the use of tablets. This is because designers are now able to use more of a 'free hand' in tablet use due to the availability of additional screen space. This is especially helpful in item personalization and logo branding, for mechanical engineering, as well as custom t-shirts or other commercial products, and perhaps most of all web design."

"In order for students to tackle the multi-step word problems they'll be asked to solve as early as elementary school, they need to have mastered their addition, subtraction and multiplication facts. By answering 4 + 12, 15 - 5, 9 x 7 and 18 / 3 quickly and accurately, students can focus on reading word problems to figure out what the question is asking them to do. There are tons of fun apps that help children build their math fluency through games and flashcards. Check out some of these fantastic math apps. "

This looks like just the type of program a middle school librarian could love. CS, or Computer Science First is a free Google program designed to increase student exposure to computer science education through after-school, in-school, and summer programs in a club approach run by teachers and/or community volunteers. CS First works towards its goal of developing student courage, confidence and curiosity about computer science by providing a wealth of free training materials targeted at students grades 4 through 12. The resources may be tailored for nearly any schedule. Students learn how to build creative projects using Scratch, learn about the critical role computer science and coding play in today's world, and explore technology-based career options. There's something here every kid could love as well.

"Our weekly picks for Best iPad App of the Week are published here every Saturday. Check out all out picks below and you'll soon have a collection of stellar apps for your favorite tablet. This week's pick is Flickr.  A classic iPad app that recently went through a major update.  With Flickr you can upload, access, organize, edit, and share your photos from any device, from anywhere in the world.  Flickr has always had a special place in my heart as I initially used it to share all of our baby photos with family members when our first son was born over 12 years ago.  Since then, there have been so many other resources available to store your photos, especially in the cloud, that I haven't used it in years-that was until the recent version 4.0 update caught my eye.   The newest update brings with it a welcomed addition of features to an already powerful app."

Manitoba educators who are "reaching out" to other schools using technology should consider applying for $1000 grant. Six grants in total are available with 2 at K-4; 2 at 5-8 and 2 at 9-12 grade levels. Submission deadlines are Jan 26 & Apr 13, 2011. This opportunity is a meaningful extension for LwICT empowered students to reach out and make a difference.

Here are the most popular items in the month of November: 1. Why Teachers Use Twitter 2. 9 Resources for Website Evaluation Lessons 3. 6 Ways for Students to Publish Their Writing Online 4. 12 Ways for Students to Publish Slideshows Online 5. Intro to Wikis Video Created By Kids 6. Ten Trends to Affect Teaching In the Future (and now) 7. Daylight Saving Time Explained

"This is a new version of the original 50+ Web Ways to Tell a Story that was created in 2007. As of May 12, 2014 4:52 pm 30 are in the new site and some 30+ are waiting in the wings! We have also expanded the scope and now include 9 Mobile creation apps (and plan to add more over 2014)."