Over the last ten years I’ve had the privilege to visit hundreds of schools and conferences to lead professional development workshops. During that time the topics of my workshops have evolved in response to the continuously evolving field of educational technology. What hasn’t changed is that the goal of my workshops is to provide you with ideas and tools that you can use in your classroom right away.
Structure of a PD Day With Me
I’ll work within the schedule that your school usually follows for PD days. Meaning that if teachers have to be at school from 7:45 to 3:15, that’s the time constraint that we’ll work in. And if you need to have time for administrative items at the beginning or end, we’ll make sure that’s scheduled too. Aside from those two constraints here’s the structure I usually follow:
- Opening talk to introduce big concepts and goals for the day (20-30 minutes)
- Three or four blocks of time for hands-on learning activities. Each block has a focus and “product” that teachers will create.
- The length of these work blocks is variable depending on the group, topic, and available time.
- Sharing and debriefing.
- Teaching History With Technology
- Getting Going With G Suite for Education
- Introduction to AR & VR in Education
- Video Projects for Every Classroom
- Fast & Formative Assessment
- DIY App Creation
- Search Strategies Students Need to Know
- Building Digital Portfolios
- Google Maps & Earth, It’s More Than Social Studies
- Blending Technology Into Outdoor Lessons
What does it cost?
Finally, one of the best compliments that I ever got from a school after my time with them came in the form of this video.