A professional Development activity that I am participating in this summer is the Pre-K Teacher Endorsement Seminar at Tennessee Wesleyan College in July 2011. This week-long seminar will provide knowledge of up-to-date pedagogy for teaching early childhood children. A Praxis II test, Education of Young Children (0021), will be taken after the class to ensure that I will receive Add-on Endorsement from the state of Tennessee to teach Pre-K.
_____________________________________________ In February 2011, I was able to attend Maryville City Schools Personal Development Technology Day. During this time I was student teaching at John Sevier Elementary School, so I was able to follow my Cooperating Teacher for the day and participate in any training.
During the day, I received training on ActiVotes. These Learner Response systems are a great addition to have in the classroom. These voters allow for full classroom participation. I learned about all of the benefits, uses, and ways to set up these voters. I also participated in an Apple Ipod Touch class that focused on the uses and up-to-date technology an Ipod Touch offers a classroom teacher. In this class I was able to learn a lot of various uses to use with diverse learners. This can be a great tool to use for differentiating instruction. The last class I participated in during the day introduced me to the basics of a program called TumbleBooks. This is an interactive reading program that can provide enrichment or support to learners. _____________________________________________ In April 2011 I attended a small class on Grant Writing. In this workshop I was introduced to the basics, the benefits, and also the tips of grant writing. I was most surprised by this experience to learn about the tremendous amount of money available for grants! I also had the opportunity to participate in a grant that was being written at John Sevier Elementary School. ____________________________________________ I have attended the Annual Spring conferences sponsored by the Autism Society of American- East Tennessee Chapter for 3 years. At these conferences I am able to receive training from professional doctors and therapists about best practices concerning children with Autism. I have learned many management techniques to teach social skills in the classroom. I look forward to these conferences yearly. _____________________________________________ I attended a conference in October 2010 sponsored by Tennessee Education Society. At this conference legal issues were discussed concerning ethics, technology use, tenure, interactions with students and parents, and school policies.
_____________________________________________ In Fall 2009 I was able to attend the Regional Conference for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Nashville, Tennessee. At this conferences I was able to choose classes that I wanted to attend to learn about various math strategies, ideas, and research based practices. I participated in classes at the elementary and middle school level, and also a class specifically for first year teachers!
____________________________________________ In Fall 2010 I attended a workshop at Alcoa Elementary School entitled, "My plate is already full and you asked me to do what with the standards?" This 2 day workshop presented ideas on how to incorporate standards in different ways to best meet different needs.
_____________________________________________ In Spring 2010 I attended a Math Their Way workshop at Sam Houston Elementary School. This 2-day workshop presented ideas on using hands-on strategies when teaching math. This workshop focused on teaching in a way that is as interactive as possible.
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