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    • phonological awareness
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    • rhyming
    • sight words
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    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
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how professional development for educators has changed and where it needs to go

home / teaching / how professional development for educators has changed and where it needs to go
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Now, more than ever, we need to re-think education. 

These past few months have taught us so much. One thing weโ€™ve realized is that we donโ€™t have to keep doing the same things weโ€™ve always done โ€” the realities with which weโ€™ve been presented are malleable. And if yesterdayโ€™s order of things can change so dramatically, then itโ€™s well within our power as people and as a community to decide what tomorrow should look like. 

In that spirit, Tomorrow, powered by Remake Learning, is a campaign that calls us to forge a future where each day holds promise for every learner โ€” where youth, families, and educators connect timeless ideas and new ways of learning to prepare for what comes next, no matter what tomorrow might bring. 

An educator guides a student through an exercise at Duquesne City Schools. credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

We need to seriously think about the function and purpose of our schools and how we can be sure that our schools are supporting our students, teachers, support staff, and community. More than ever, professional development needs to be re-vamped in order to meet our needs–needs that are changing by the minute. 

One day schools are going to start with in-person instruction. Then next day, itโ€™s not in-person–itโ€™s all virtual. Then two days later, school will be a combination of in-person and virtual instruction. Teachers have always needed to be flexible and change directions on a dime; however, this is unprecedented and uncharted territory. 

So what do we do other than scour the web for โ€˜online instructionโ€™ and beg, borrow, and steal for a few extra PTA bucks to pay for what we hope will be the best platforms, resources, and PD?

Here are four ways that professional development needs to go for the future in order to be even more valuable for educators: 

Professional Development must: 

  • be timely and relevant;
  • focus on ways of encouraging student discourse virtually;
  • include ways of keeping students engaged in virtual instruction;
  • bridge the gap between home and school.

Hereโ€™s the skinny. . . 

How Professional Development for Educators has Changed and Where It Needs to Go

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted life around the world and created unprecedented challenges.

Message for Me, in both Physical and App form being used in the classroom. credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

The full scope of the pandemic is still unfolding, and we will feel its impact for years to come. We need our teachers to be ready and equipped to meet the needs of their students–students who need steadfast and sturdy teachers now more than ever. 

In order to do best for both our students and teachers, Professional Development must: 

1.) Professional Development must be timely and relevant.

Teachers need to experience learning that they can use the very same day to reach their students. 

Gone are the days of PD being focused on โ€œwhat-ifโ€™sโ€ and โ€œmaybesโ€. Teachers do not need time-waster PD where they receive dozens of handouts that will simply sit in manilla folders at the back of their file cabinets.

A student uses a soldering iron to create a metal structure at the Millvale Community Library as part of a partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh MAKESHOP. credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

The landscape of education is changing right before our eyes. Classroom teachers, support staff, and specialists donโ€™t even have time to read a book about pedagogy or best practices. They need actionable tips, tricks, and ideas that they can use in their instruction today.

2.) Professional Development must focus on ways of encouraging student discourse virtually.

Many of our schools are beginning virtually this year, so teachers need to learn ways to facilitate student discussion and interaction virtually. With a ton of new platforms popping up on the daily, teachers need to know what will meet their studentsโ€™ needs safely and efficiently. They dontโ€™ even have time to research on their own. 

Children explore color mixing, rainbows, and light at the Oakmont Carnegie Library as part of Color Play, a program of Light Bright Beautiful Puppetry. credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Itโ€™s up to admin teams and staff development specialists to do the research, manage subscriptions and payment information, and then teach staff how best to use it. Students need to interact with one another. They learn best from each other and from talking through challenges and problem-solving together.  But how do they do this in a safe, age-appropriate manner? Professional Development must focus on this. 

3.) Professional Development must include ways of keeping students engaged in virtual instruction.

Virtual instruction is new, and though students today spend more consecutive hours a day in front of a screen, they are not used to doing so for educational purposes. Keeping students interested and engaged in virtual instruction must be a priority of todayโ€™s Professional Development. 

A librarian and teen patron make music together at the Sheraden branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Itโ€™s important for colleagues to collaborate regularly and share successes and challenges. Time must be allocated for teachers to do just this–almost like a staff meeting with no agenda or with time set aside for collaboration. 

4.) Professional Development must help bridge the gap between home and school.

How will Back-to-School Night be formatted? What will Open House look like? Will there be a Scholastic Book Fair? What will Parent Conferences look like? All of these in-person events helped create a connection between home and school. What will that look like this year? 

Itโ€™s so important for families to feel comfortable conversing with teachers, and in order for students to meet with success, that strong home-school connection is key. 

A father and daughter make art using a robot and a tablet at Duquesne Elementary School during a Remake Learning Days event. credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Professional Development must involve some community stakeholders this year so that teachers can learn the best ways to reach families during this ever-changing time. 

A Duquesne City School District student explores a virtual world using a virtual reality (VR) headset. credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

What do you think Professional Development will look like this year? What has worked in your community? Iโ€™d love to know. 

The Tomorrow campaign will engage youth, families, and educators between May and October 2020, provoking a critical conversation about what comes next and the future of educational learning.

The Tomorrow campaign is focused on asking what we can do today to make tomorrow a more promising place for every learner. We aim to find this out together.

Check out this article called Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers for more information and ideas about what tomorrow’s professional development can and should look like!

From May-October 2020, Tomorrow, powered by Remake Learning will host a series of virtual meet-ups and workshops, youth documentaries and podcasts, social media chats and exchanges of life lessons. Grants will help equip educators to forge the future of learning.

For virtual event schedules and more information, visit: https://bit.ly/2WJX91v

Fyi: this post was written as part of a partnership with Tomorrow, powered by Remake Learning, but as always, my opinions are my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.

photo credit: Ben Filio for Remake Learning Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
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How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
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Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
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Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
View
Open
(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
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Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, youโ€™ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwardsโ€”b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? Iโ€™m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
View
Open
How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
Open
Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
View
Open
(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
View
Open
Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, youโ€™ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwardsโ€”b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? Iโ€™m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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