PD

toc =media type="custom" key="6323653"= =Desiging Classroom Instruction and Professional Development= To be honest with you this will be a lot about professional development, but I believe you can take the same items and apply them to your classroom.

Why are you here? For many of us this is an opportunity for us to learn more about technology and 21st Century skills and how to bring them into the classroom.

So what will you do from here? For some of us we will return to school in August and might implement some of what we got out of these three days, others will start in on developing lessons with what we just learned but not go whole hog, some will work each night of the academy and then forget it by next week, and then there is the select few. Those that will return to their schools as a laptop leader and will "Be the change they want to see." That is right some of you will help to plan the professional development at your inservices and become the "tech know it all".

Now some of you will be asked, but I challenge everyone that attends to go back to your school and volunteer to put on part of an inservice, yes you heard me volunteer. Become one of those teachers that brings back and shows off what they have learned.

With that statement some of you are now looking at me like, I can get in front of my 1st graders, but don't ask me to get in front of my fellow teachers. But think about the last inservice you went to and another teacher got up and did something. Do you think they were the know it all. Here is the funny thing about inservice, we all hate to be there, but we have to. But what if you take a little control of it and present instead of just sitting there.

Some have probably wished they had gone to Bloom's Taxonomy or SmartBoards, but you didn't. Here are a couple quick tips to help you out.

Things to help you get through the fear.

 * Find something you have used in your class and show it off. Focus on how you use it and how they could use it.
 * Don't be afraid if you don't know everything about it. Nobody really knows it all.
 * People will be impressed that you presented.
 * People are easily impressed with any technology tool that is new to them.

Things to help you create the presentation.

 * Avoid using a PowerPoint, you know what your doing so just do it.
 * Use a wikispace as your notes and presentation. That why when the one person in the audience who is taking more notes than you are saying, can actually pay attention and go back to your site at anytime. The other cool thing about using a wiki is if you need to change something midstream you can.
 * Find a tool that lets you do screen captures. I like using the screen capture in OneNote. I also will use Adobe Captivate (this you have to purchase). However there are free tools on the web like [] and []

Things to remember when presenting professional development.
1. Do not test the equipment prior to presenting. 2. Do not prepare alternate activities just in case the Internet is not functioning. 3. Do not allow your audience to ever ask questions. 4. Do not give refreshments. What do they think? This is not a café! 5. Do not help confused participants. Assume they were not paying attention. 6. No need to verify links. A broken link never hurt anyone. 7. Talk really fast; the faster the better. 8. Hands-on activities are for losers. It’s all about the lecture. 9. Discussions are a waste of time. 10. No preparation required. Real professional developers shoot from the hip. 11. No agenda required. Your participants are perfectly capable of taking notes. 12. No tutorials required. The Internet will take care of this. 13. No follow up required because we all work too hard. 14. No need to worry about varying software versions or computing platforms. After all, it all works the same way; basically. 15. Feedback??? We don’t need any stinking surveys!!!

[|//The 15 Essentials of Bad Professional Development in Technology//] //by Jacob Gutnicki//

Other great Training Tips (Easy to relate to the classroom)
Modified from Seven qualities of highly effective technology trainers.

//1.) WIIFM (What's in it for Me) -// Anything you say or do as a technology trainer when teaching specific technology skills will fall on deaf ears unless the people being trained understand and believe what they are learning will in some way be of personal benefit.

//2. The problem is on the desk, not in the chair. -// We need to instill in most of our adult learners the courage to experiment. Rather than always answering direct questions about technology, good trainers will often say, “Try it and see what happens. If you mess something up, I’ll help you fix it.” We tell our new technology learners that we can repair or replace anything but their original creations. The only real worry they should have is about backing up personal files.

//3. No mouse touching. -// One sure sign of this saintly virtue in teachers is that they **//never//** touch a learner’s mouse or keyboard.

//4. Great analogies -// There is a theory that the only way we can think about a new thing is if we have some way to relate it to what we already know.

//5. Clear support materials and advanced planning. -// Few things are more comforting to teachers than being able to take home a “cheat sheet” that covers much of the same material that was taught in class.

//6. Knowing what is essential and what is only confusing.//

//7. Perspective. -// Most teachers see technology as a sometimes helpful thing that should occupy about 1% of one’s conscious thinking time. It’s easy to lose the perspective that teachers are teachers first and technology users second – or third or fourth.

= [|//15 Additional Practices for Bad Professional Development in Technology//] = //by Jacob Gutnicki//

1. There is no need to start your workshop on time.

2. Workshops are an ideal time for a presenter to catch up with their e-mails and phone calls.

3. Start out your presentation slowly and then speed it up to mess with their heads.

4. Make sure your PowerPoint handouts do not match what they see on the screen because it is really funny to watch participants scratch their head and struggle.

5. Three-hour workshops do not require breaks.

6. If a participant cannot log on to the computer, ignore them.

7. Tonight I’m going to teach technology like its 1999!

8. Do not provide laptops or computers for the participants to work with.

9. Reading from a PowerPoint is the essence of good Professional Development.

10. Malware!! Schmalware!!

11. Manuals do not need directions. Screenshots without explanations are sufficient.

12. If the user's application is not working; its all good. Just tell them to look at what you are doing on the screen or look at their neighbor’s screen.

13. Speaking of screens, use the smallest font possible because its fun to watch participants squint.

14. If the application fails while are you presenting; blame the programmer who made the application. Never accept responsibility for your actions!

15. If a user insists on asking for help. Give them a blow-off answer like, "You should really ask your IT person for help."

Resources to help you find ideas.
[] [] [] [] - Then go to his cool free tools.