Here are this week’s professional development offerings. To view all professional development offerings or to sign up for courses, please log in to the PLMS website.
This week’s highlighted courses:
All Things College
How do School Counselors help students of different backgrounds become better informed and make decisions to apply and gain admissions to college? In partnership with the National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), school counselors at all levels will participate in a full-day conference on the entire college process. #14788
There will be break out sessions for all levels led by experts in the following areas:
- College best fit
- Financial Aid
- Essay writing
- Recommendation letters
- Course Advising
- NCAA regulations
- On-campus student supports
- Resources for undocumented students
- Naviance tools and resources.
Collaboration and Teaming for Special Ed Paraprofessionals
How can special education paraprofessionals and teachers effectively collaborate to capitalize on their combined expertise to support students? Participants will: Review communication and collaboration strategies, and role-play common collaboration scenarios. The focus of the session is preparing special education paraprofessionals to engage in authentic collaboration with their teaching partners. During this interactive session, participants will learn strategies to effectively collaborate with teachers and other staff. Participants will discuss communication strategies and how to best utilize expertise to meet the needs of students. #14794
Creating a Community of Collaboration by Sharing Exemplar Lesson Planning Resources
English Language (EL) teachers, classroom teachers, and EL Instructional Specialists will work together to review, modify, and submit exemplar lesson plans to a district-wide shared website for ACPS teacher use. The experience and expertise of participants is the core of this session. As a result, all attendees are asked to bring at least one example of an exemplar lesson plan (one of their own or one from a colleague) to share. #14782
Educator’s Round Table Discussions
Join colleagues to read and discuss articles related to current topics in equity and culturally responsive teaching. No preparation is required. Just enjoy reflective professional conversations with colleagues. #14583
Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners with Google Classroom
How can I use Google Classroom to meet the needs of my diverse classroom? This session for teachers will focus on the use of Google Classroom to support the needs of diverse learners. ACPS students in grades 3-12 have access to G Suite (formerly known as Google Apps for Education). Participants in this classroom will learn how Google Classroom, in conjunction with other applications in the G Suite, can personalize learning in their classrooms. Please bring a charged laptop or Chromebook. #14767
Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty Blended Book Discussion Series
To what extent can instructional strategies help to eliminate gaps in achievement among students experiencing poverty and those who are not? In what ways might my professional behavior support or undermine the success of students experiencing poverty? Join us and develop and awareness, attitude, and strategies that improve classroom and school climate. Participants will gain strategies that can increase student engagement and student learning. #14761
Why use inquiry in your classroom? In this session, secondary science teachers will collaborate to perform and analyze a guided inquiry experiment from the teacher and student perspective. There will be an emphasis improving science instruction for students at all levels by incorporating inquiry activities to provide opportunities for structured and purposeful student discourse and interaction. Specific focus areas in the workshop will include scaffolding using visuals, demonstrations, modeling, leveled directions and sentence frames. #14762
To register, please log in to the PLMS website.
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