MsCoffeeLover
05-26-2008, 08:47 AM
This summer I am one of the lucky folks that got on the top list to teach summer school. It is good money, good hours, and a separate paycheck. Now that I am a homeowner, I have all these little plans. In addition, I am not the kind of person that can have too much time to herself. I just need something to do.
So I began looking for professional development opportunities. The search began in my county. There are lots of things offered, but they all seem to be offered during summer school, and I can't make any of them. An email was sent to the professional development lady, and she did say many things are still coming for later on in the summer, but she has to wait for approval because certain professional development things are mandatory for us. That makes total sense.
Some of the things I signed up for, I didn't qualify for. I signed up to learn to be a mentor teacher and a teacher evaluator because I was inspired with all of the help I received and wanted to be there for other new teachers. As it turns out, since I just ended the final stages of my own evaluation, I have to be an annual contract teacher for at least one year after passing evaluations. Basically, I can't do any of that stuff until next summer.
I wanted to take a grant writing class, but there are none offered. I looked around online and some of the teacher organizations, and there aren't many things available that I could take because of summer school dates or needs. I already have a lot.
I checked out the colleges and university here to see if there was anything I could take, and the results aren't very promising.
I also checked many of the state department of education websites as well as the US dept. of education and some of the teacher organization websites.
This is what I want: Professional Development with interactions with other people. The online thing is great, but I really get into these things and want to have discussions and meet people and run ideas beyond people. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I want to do something more this summer, but nothing excites me. There is always something more! And I want that something more! Then I keep thinking about a book club--not just for casual reading, but a book club with practices in education. Is there anyone out there that is interested in such a thing? Jsfowler's power teaching thing got me thinking.
I would love to collaborate with other teachers (preferably middle level teachers, but it doesn't have to be) about implementing new things in my classroom: new trends in education, new management practices, whatever.
What can I do? I want socialization and am about ready to start my own meet up group.
So I began looking for professional development opportunities. The search began in my county. There are lots of things offered, but they all seem to be offered during summer school, and I can't make any of them. An email was sent to the professional development lady, and she did say many things are still coming for later on in the summer, but she has to wait for approval because certain professional development things are mandatory for us. That makes total sense.
Some of the things I signed up for, I didn't qualify for. I signed up to learn to be a mentor teacher and a teacher evaluator because I was inspired with all of the help I received and wanted to be there for other new teachers. As it turns out, since I just ended the final stages of my own evaluation, I have to be an annual contract teacher for at least one year after passing evaluations. Basically, I can't do any of that stuff until next summer.
I wanted to take a grant writing class, but there are none offered. I looked around online and some of the teacher organizations, and there aren't many things available that I could take because of summer school dates or needs. I already have a lot.
I checked out the colleges and university here to see if there was anything I could take, and the results aren't very promising.
I also checked many of the state department of education websites as well as the US dept. of education and some of the teacher organization websites.
This is what I want: Professional Development with interactions with other people. The online thing is great, but I really get into these things and want to have discussions and meet people and run ideas beyond people. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I want to do something more this summer, but nothing excites me. There is always something more! And I want that something more! Then I keep thinking about a book club--not just for casual reading, but a book club with practices in education. Is there anyone out there that is interested in such a thing? Jsfowler's power teaching thing got me thinking.
I would love to collaborate with other teachers (preferably middle level teachers, but it doesn't have to be) about implementing new things in my classroom: new trends in education, new management practices, whatever.
What can I do? I want socialization and am about ready to start my own meet up group.