I try to attend as many professional development opportunities as possible so that I can be the best possible teacher to my students. I am always looking for opportunities to learn as much as I can about theory, so that I can apply the best strategies in my classroom.

Presenter

Plymouth Leadership and Technology for Education Conference (July 2008)

• Copy That: Understanding Copyright Law and Its Implications for Schools

  • Presenters: Kimberly Broz, Michael Hughes, & Leyna McDonough

  • Strand: Issues and ideas

  • Format: Presentation/Moderated Discussion

  • Description: Fair Use doesn’t always apply to educators. Do you know the boundaries of when you or your students can use video, music, and images? During our time together, we’ll tackle how copyright law applies to teachers and students including a discussion of the tenants of Fair Use.

• I’m Preparing Kids for the “Real World 2.0”: The Use of Simulation and Gaming in Education

  • Presenters: Eric Baland, Kimberly Broz, & Leyna McDonough

  • Strand: Applied Technologies

  • Format: Presentation/Small Groups

  • Description: Be a player; love the game! Come investigate the effective integration of gaming into an existing curriculum as we get our geek on. Make your teaching come alive and get virtual!

Attended Conferences

Plymouth Leadership and Technology for Education Conference (July 2009)

• Take Everyday Tasks Off Your Plate: let web 2.0 do the work for you!

  • Presented By: Lauren Cortesi, Rawad Bou Hamdan, Patty Kolinski, Sean Sweeney

  • Description: Feel like you’re working too hard to provide your students with bell ringers, updated agendas, and online resources in addition to communicating with parents? Allow innovative Web 2.0 applications to effectively do the work for you.

• Technological Drama

  • Presented By: Rehab Ragab, Jon Bennett, Kelley Cunningham, Jason Shulha

  • Description: This is an active session which will explore, through drama, those moments when your use of technology is questioned by the skeptic and the non-believer. Join us as we role play our way to finding the arguments that will silence the skeptic and the non-believer and hopefully turn them into ET practitioners.

• “But I hate reading!” Using Technology to Hook and Engage Students in Independent Reading

  • Presented By: Lauren Cortesi, Rawad Bou Hamdan, Patty Kolinski, Sean Sweeney

  • Description: Frustrated by the lack of quality online resources to motivate and guide students to read independently?  Become familiar with online resources that will help students to select “just right” books, share and discuss their independent reading choices with peers, and encourage creative culminating activities that go beyond the traditional book reports.

Third Annual Literacy Achievement Research Center (LARC) Symposium (10/26/2007)

• Arnetha Ball, Stanford University: Cultural Diversity, Research on Writing, and Writing Instruction

• Charles “Skip” MacArthur, University of Delaware: Technology and Writing: New Opportunities and New Challenges for Struggling Writers

• Gary A. Troia, Rebecca Shankland, & Ann Lawrence, Michigan State University, & Kimberly Wolbers, University of Tennessee: Relationships between Writing Motivation, Writing Activity, and Writing Achievement: Insights into Motivating All Writers

• Cynthia Okolo, Carol Sue Englert, Anne Heutsche, Carrie Anna Courtad, Christian Oliver, & Laura O’Brien, Michigan State University, & Emily Brouck, Purdue University: Writing about History: The Impact of a Technology-Based History Learning Environment

24th Annual Technology Conference (9/24/2007)

• Joe Freidhoff, Michigan State University: Strategies and Mindsets for Learning New Technologies

• Technology Integration in Languare Arts and Social Studies Classes; COURTT Interns Share Ideas

• Tune In & Turn Kids On–Using a SmartBoard

• Digital Photography in the Classroom

Attended Lectures

• Culturally Contested Literacies: America’s “Rainbow Underclass” and Urban Schools (Dr. Guofang Li: associate professor of literacy education at Michigan State University), 1/15/08

• Why Not Global Education? Moving Global Education into Place, Towards Intimacy, and with Beauty (Dr. William Gaudelli: associate professor of social studies and education at Teachers College, Columbia University), 11/15/2007

• The Sun is Alive: Seeking the Intellectual Lives of Children (Dr. Cynthia Ballenger: Cheche Konnen Center at TERC in Cambridge, MA), 11/10/2006

In-School Professional Development

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Best Practice Strategies; 4/09

• Workshop on blending Marzano’s and Payne’s work for student success; 3/10/09

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Implementing Coaching Guide; 3/09

• Workshop on “Coaching Guide for K-12 Best Practices”; 3/2/09

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Writing Strategies; 2/09

• Workshop on Author Visitation, Books, and Writing; 2/2/09

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Similarities from both Marzano and Payne; 1/09

• Book Study, “Under Resourced Learners” Chapters 7-8; 1/12/09

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Strategies to Boost Student Achievement; 12/08

• Book Study, “Under Resourced Learners” Chapters 4-6; 12/1/08

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Vocabulary development strategy implementation; 11/08

• Vocabulary Six-Step Process, Ingham ISD presentation of Marzano’s work; 11/04/08

• Training “Atlas” protocol for reviewing student assessment data; 10/29/08

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Math strategy implementation; 10/08

• Book Study: Ruby Payne’s “Under Resourced Learners,” Chapters 3-5; 10/6/08

• Monthly grade-level meeting focus: Grade Level Content Expectations; 09/08

• Workshop for Math Strategies using consultant from Ruby Payne’s Institute; 8/26/08