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"Whatever you do the first year will be a trainwreck (compared to the nice and tidy sit-and-get PD). So from the beginning, everyone should be aware that it's all a work in progress-just like the profession itself. Perhaps the greatest potential here is in the chance to personalize professional development for teachers. The above ideas are too vague to be considered an exact guide, but an "exact guide" really isn't possible without ending up with something as top-heavy and standardized as the process it seeks to replace-or at least supplement. Instead focus on the big ideas-personalizing educator training through self-directed and social media-based professional development."

"The literature on educational leadership and school change recognizes clearly the role and influence of the campus administrator (the principal, and sometimes an assistant principal) on whether or not change will occur in the school. It seems clear that transforming the school organization into a learning community can be done only with the leaders' sanction and active nurturing of the entire staff's development as a community. Thus, a look at the principal of a school whose staff is a professional learning community seems a good starting point for describing what these learning communities look like and how they operate. "

Attributes of Professional Learning Communities The literature on educational leadership and school change recognizes clearly the role and influence of the campus administrator (the principal, and sometimes an assistant principal) on whether or not change will occur in the school. It seems clear that transforming the school organization into a learning community can be done only with the leaders' sanction and active nurturing of the entire staff's development as a community. Thus, a look at the principal of a school whose staff is a professional learning community seems a good starting point for describing what these learning communities look like and how they operate.

"I want to suggest that we've made professional development learning way too complicated. Partly because as leaders we want to be helpful, partly because teachers have little experience in owning their own learning and partly because we don't trust them."

There are a range of activities/workshops here: http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Professional+Development I'd recommend iPad Exploration, Apps Taskonomy & WIKId Wide Walls to start with.

"Sponsored by the US Partnership on Education for Sustainable Development, the Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability is an informal network of professional associations working on: Professional development for association members Educating the public about sustainability Curricula, standards and tenure requirements to reflect sustainability Legislative briefings on what higher education can bring to sustainability related policies Cross disciplinary projects on education for sustainability DANS Mission - click here"

"WHAT The Sustainability Education & Economic Development Center (SEED) is the first national coordinated strategy to support community colleges in building the green economy. Created by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and ecoAmerica, SEED is A Leadership Initiative: Hundreds of college presidents pledging membership and taking action A Resource Center: 400+ fresh resources, toolkits, and college promising practices curated by industry and higher education experts A Sharing Community: Online and through peer-to-peer professional development workshops and webinars And More! All designed to help community colleges dramatically ramp up quality workforce development programs in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green building. "

We need to develop more learning opportunities where students constitute the actual evaluators for the work itself. Imagine if students, teachers and others evaluate and provide feedback to determine the effectiveness of a student's creation: Develop an 60-second speech to be shared with the student council and three advertising posters to be copied and placed around school to decrease bullying. Your work will be evaluated according to our rubric by the students in our class, outside professionals and me - as the teacher. These are the experiences that push learning beyond a one-way conversation between student and teacher. They demystify the assessment process and allow each student to be a creator and simultaneous evaluator, providing multiple experiences for students to recognize and apply the criteria for quality"

The Spring Branch ISD 21st Century Learning Initiative is the professional development plan that drives and supports the Classroom-Based Technology Project. The Classroom-Based Technology Project places devices for student use into all Spring Branch classsrooms in Pre-K through 12th grade.

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) provides a foundation for professional development for technology integration and a common vocabulary for talking about effective uses of technology in teaching and learning. The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students.The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students.

Intel® Education enables 21st century teaching and learning through free professional development, tools, and resources that help K-12 teachers engage students with effective use of technology.

"Without a doubt, Twitter is my number one form of professional development and I am always recommending it to other educators."

"One of the questions that I'm asked all the time as an advocate for both professional learning communities and teaching with technology is, "How can digital tools be used to support the learning of singletons in our schools?" The answer is that there are two steps in any effort to develop electronic learning teams. First, many singletons need help simply finding peers who teach similar content areas and grade levels. Tackling that challenge can start with Twitter."

"The course has been developed to help SBISD educators learn about technologies that will help transform classrooms into learning centers for the 21st century students that walk through your doors."