September Pro-D News

The PD Fund: the budget for July-Dec out-of-district travel has almost been reached -- currently $47,600 out of the $50,000 allocated has been committed. The next 2 or 3 applications will finish this off. The majority of approved out-of-district travel was for conferences on (or including) the Oct 25th PD day -- 41 of 53 applications. In-district events and special projects may still be funded (all year), as well as out-of-district travel after December. This year, one of our goals is to evolve the expectations for conference attendees, mainly in providing more options for sharing professional learning.

Robson Valley PD on Oct 25th: presenter needed on topic of project-based learning; $400 honorarium & travel expenses paid -- details here: http://goo.gl/9UQ0pm -- contact me if interested by Oct 2nd.

Program for Quality Teaching: BCTF grant for teacher collaboration -- application deadline is Oct. 4th -- details at http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/public/AboutUs/ServicesHandbook/16PQT.pdf

PD Reps: most schools have found one. Being a PD rep can be as simple as being a contact, or can be kicked up a notch to include planning PD with other staff or helping teachers develop ideas for their PD. PD Rep training is taking place Oct 30th at Van Bien - last year this was a great day and well attended. This year our emphasis is on self-directed teacher inquiry. Contact me if you need to be convinced. Sign up on PD Reg, fill in a leave app, and phone sub service to book a TTOC. The specific leave app info will be posted here as well as sent to your school secretary once you register.

Sep 27 PD reminder: some schools have planned activities on this day (by mutual agreement and voluntary participation), while many teachers are working on independent inquiry or collaborative professional development in formal or informal groups. Others are seeking out a colleague with which to work through common problems. Still others are attending workshops or conferences, viewing webcasts or joining webinars, exploring ERAC resources, or even reading & reflecting on professional literature. Please be aware of our responsibilities regarding doing PD on PD days -- it is not unreasonable for our administrators to know where we are and have a rough idea what we are doing. There are many things that are beneficial to students and important for teachers to do (like marking and organizing a classroom) that do not constitute professional development by most definitions. There are grey areas, too -- e.g. planning your next set of lessons is marginal for PD, whereas planning for a new unit, course or teaching approach is much better, especially if it involves others. Working from home is not an option, but PD can take place off-site if the in-district venue fits the activity. Feel free to contact me if you need more background on our contractual obligations and also strategies for professional growth. The BCTF also has a good overview of PD days: http://www.bctf.ca/publications/NewsmagArticle.aspx?id=12792

AESN Aboriginal Enhancement Grants

This amazing image, a PGSS AESN team logo, is from Prince George artist and educator Jennifer Pighin.

There are three different kinds of grants for educators available from the Aboriginal Enhancement Schools Network.  This is a group associated with the Network of Inquiry and Innovation (Kaser, Halbert, formerly the NPBS) and supported by the Ministry of Education.

These grants can be used for teacher release, learning resources, honoraria, student costs, (e.g. field trips), etc. -- a little wider open than most of the release-based grants we are used to through PGDTA and SD57. The broad emphasis is on Aboriginal student success and sharing of teacher/student work, but there are many ways this can take shape, e.g. teacher inquiry related to student transition, student inquiry that connects to Aboriginal knowledge and communities, or team inquiry at the school or district level (e.g. a common challenge for teachers, admin, and support staff).

An overview of the three grants can be found on the http://www.noii.ca/ site (under Innovations) as well as more information.  Best method to learn more or apply for one of the three grants is to contact deborahkoehn@gmail.com. I believe that all grant applications have an extended deadline of September 30th and have been increased to a maximum of $1500. They are quite flexible about how the grants are spent, but there is also a process for sharing work (and collaborating) along the way.

Call for PBL Presenter

On October 25th, 2013, the schools in Valemount and McBride are hosting a day of professional development at McBride Secondary (School District 57) with a main focus on Project-Based Learning.

The PGDTA Pro-D Committee is looking for an individual who is interested in presenting and facilitating a full-day workshop on this topic.

We will cover mileage to and from McBride (presumably from Prince George), cost of accommodation (one or two nights), and a $400 honorarium in addition to one release day for prep and/or travel. Presenters from outside School District 57 are welcome to submit expressions of interest or make inquiries. Additional travel costs or presenter requirements can be accommodated.

The “mini-conference” will be free and open to any educators but will focus on intermediate and secondary teachers from Valemount and McBride (the Robson Valley sublocal of School District 57).

The structure and style of the day will be up to the presenter and the host schools, but may include:

• student examples of PBL 
• strategies for developing good inquiry questions 
• integrating diverse curricula or place-based learning 
• managing the steps of PBL, including presentation 
• assessing PBL (self / peer / teacher / formative / summative) 
• co-developing existing projects from the attendees (e.g. project tuning) 

Expressions of interest (brief description of your PBL background and presentation approach) and general inquiries can be made to:

Glen Thielmann, Pro-D Chair  gthielmann @ sd57.bc.ca
email or phone (afternoons M-F) if you have questions 250-562-7214 loc. 104 

Deadline for expression of interest: Oct. 2nd, 2013

Presenter will be selected by Pro-D Committee and notified by Oct. 8th, 2013

Program for Quality Teaching

Interested in gathering a group of 10-14 educators together for collective study, reflection, and action on a topic or theme that is relevant to your practice?

The BCTF Program for Quality Teaching and Teacher Inquiry allows a release-based grant and access to a trained BCTF "Inquiry" facilitator. In some ways this is similar to the Learning Team Grants offered by the school districts but the expert facilitator makes a difference in the flow of inquiry. The group can include administrators or support staff as long as a teacher is the lead proponent.

"Teacher inquiry topics may fall within professional development such as: supporting new teachers, critical thinking, curriculum changes, assessment practices, differentiated instruction, early learning, self regulation, innovative teaching, or social justice. The group members will determine questions and foci of the inquiry." (PQT page in BCTF site)

Application deadline is October 4th, 2013. You and your group of teachers begins the application process and the rest is completed by myself and PGDTA president Tina Cousins. I would need your part submitted by October 1st in order to meet the deadline. Please note that the application does not give you much space to explain your inquiry plan -- feel free to attach a document. Send it by email (gthielmann @ sd57.bc.ca), fax or delivered.

See http://www.bctf.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment.aspx?id=23501&libID=23491 for basic details including the application. Full details available at http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/public/AboutUs/ServicesHandbook/16PQT.pdf

Our local Pro-D Committee will also accept applications for smaller teacher inquiry projects with flexible configurations and number of meetings. These are especially useful if your inquiry topic or framework is not a good fit with District Learning Team Grants.

Check out other BCTF resources for Teacher Inquiry at http://www.bctf.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment.aspx#quality

Photo source: http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedImages/images/LOs/image17.jpg