Professional Development

Today I am at the TSC, otherwise known as the Technology Support Center.  When I was a first year teacher, we called this the cosmic center.

Working with Mary Zelenka, a teacher-trainer here, revealed alot about how to manage professional development.
The teacher trainers here work on a 12 month teacher contract, with 25 days of vacation every year, used when they wish to use them.  The main part of their job is to work with school Instructional Technology Leaders, and get current training out to the teachers.  There are many areas of professional development.  eSis, Smartboards, the Moodle, 1:1 Laptop Training, Discovery Education and the Virtual Library are the major areas.  Mary's main duties are in the Smartboard area, and she has just returned from a Smartboard training and conference, a showcase for the new projects and tools that will be available to teachers.  While she is very versatile and understand the full presentation power of the Smartboard, she also finds herself listening to many teachers telling her about their limited time.  She even instituted a program in which high school students were trained to use the Smartboard, and then they took those skills back to their school to train the teachers.
Smartboard was chosen as the interactive board for MPS about 15 years ago, because of it's universal access.  It does not require a device, such as a pen or pointer, to manipulate.  She has even seen student with major physical impairments use a foot to manipulate an image on the Smartboard. 

Several schools in MPS offer a 1:1 Laptop initiative at the 6th grade level.  If students wish to take the laptop home during the school year, the parents must undergo a training session.