Training Teacher for edTPA, a New Certification for Teachers

A new system of certification for teachers edTPA caused a lot of controversy and debates. The debate is never ending but the training of teachers needs to be adjusted to this new professional demand.

I have been always video-taping teacher candidates and since my first years of designing and teaching education courses I required students to keep blogs for developing their reflective thinking and create their professional e-folios to learn how to add the content to their professional portfolios and make their personal professional story. Now it is a nation wide requirement!

Last year I was asked to design a professional web mix of the resources about and of edTPA and I was awarded some grant money for that!

http://drsmirnovamsmc.symbaloo.com/mix/edtpaandmsmcedprogram

Student teachers like the resource. This year I have been supervising student teachers and noticed that some are afraid of using other lesson plan formats than just a direct instruction lesson plan framework. I requested to make a workshop for student teachers and called it "Implementing edTPA: From Teacher-Centered to Student-Centered Continuum" and explained to them how important it s to use a variety of pedagogical methods in teaching diverse learners. It is always safe and effective to start introducing new content, concepts and skills with the direct instruction and follow all its steps and then after reaching the mastery of the content encourage students' critical thinking skills, inquiry and exploration via problem-solving and inquiry-based approach and engage learners eventually in cooperative learning projects to show the results of the learned and mastered concepts and skills. MY presentation was a success. I created and shared the google folder with the three types of lesson plan formats and illustrated the continuum with the examples from the field. One of my current student teachers shared her experience with the lesson plans' design and implementation and how rewarding it was for her to see the educational effects of this approach to teaching and planning.  Almost every day I am getting now messages from student teachers to look over their lesson plans and give them advice on how to improve their lessons and teaching.

Kindergartners Share Their Inspired Learning with Technology | 30hands Learning

Another success story of an inspiring tech savvy teacher! Read and be amazed what kindergartners can do under a wise and caring guidance of an einnovative teacher:

Kindergartners Share Their Inspired Learning with Technology | 30hands Learning:



'via Blog this'

Learning from Others

I came across with this CCP Interactive's Blog that promotes interaction in today's classrooms and integration of technology in teaching. I have to remember to add it to my eClass (Moodle) courses to share with the teacher candidates when discussing effective ways of teaching social studies and other content areas.

Classroom Architect: Imagine Your Own Classroom

I am  about to start teaching a course "Child Development and Psychology of Learning." One of the assignments will be creating an ideal classroom. This Classroom Architect website will allow teacher candidates to design  their classrooms using drag and place items in the space.  I predict a lot of engagement and creativity with this task. There are other websites that allow doing the same. Scholastic classroom set up has the tools that  a teacher can play with and imagine what his or her classroom will look like.

6 Tips To Design Interactive Virtual Classroom Training - eLearning Industry

A great resource for educators about creating the environment for an effective online learning and teaching. I will share it with my colleagues who are in the same PD online course at my college.




6 Tips To Design Interactive Virtual Classroom Training - eLearning Industry