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Professional Learning

Professional Development Opportunities

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Danielle Pinto Danielle Pinto 400 Points

Hi all!  I'm currently a 1st semester student teacher learning the ropes about what all teaching entails. One of the things that is constantly mentioned in professional development. I understand that part of having a growth mindset is always remembering that there is room to grow and learn at every point in your life and I would really like to hear about some of the professional development opportunities any of you have experienced! In addition to this, if there are any suggestions for certain types of professional development I should attend I would love to hear about those as well.  Thank you!

Pamela Dupre Pamela Dupre 92369 Points

Danielle, traditionally, in my parish, there has been very little PD in science for elementary teachers. In the past three or four years that has changed for the better. You can ask consultants to invite people to your district for inservices. It's more cost effective to have one person come to train say 100 people. I begged my boss for two years to get Steve Spangler to come for an inservice. We were working as part of a grant and had the funding. He came for one day and this summer he is returning for 2 days! Look up his videos online. He taught me a lot of cool things and it's those cool "tricks/magic" that gets kids hooked. Those tricks also can be considered phenomena and keep kids interested as they come up with different explanations as to how it works. http://www.dianawehrellgrabowski.com/ Dr. Diana Grabowski also came to our parish several times and each time she came, she had new things to share. Spending two days back to back with hands on science for teachers is no easy task, but she did an amazing job! Find out what is offered in your state for science conferences. Ask local universities what they might be willing to offer. Joining professional communities such as NSTA is a great resource. Look at all of the amazing PD offered in this forum! Many of them cover most of your expenses for travel. Our district will cover our conference fees if we are presenting. Good luck to you and read your science journals that can be found online through NSTA to find out about upcoming conferences.

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