The CBEA EDGE
Educator Development, Growth & Enrichment (March 2016)
Welcome to the EDGE!
This newsletter is created by the CBEA Instruction and Professional Development Committee, a committee dedicated to promoting the educational objectives of the association. These objectives include fostering the continuous improvement of instruction and curriculum in order to assist each student in realizing his or her maximum potential.
Amazon Education: An open educational resource platform is on the way!
If you are interested in seeing what Amazon Education is all about, get on the wait list to be notified when the platform is available for all schools and classrooms! When you join the wait list, consider signing up for the private beta. This private beta gives you exclusive insider access to the future of educational content and the opportunity to create this open platform together with us, Amazon Education. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to have your content featured and attributed to you on Amazon Education channels!
Course Spotlight: Chris Lodwig, Cold Spring Elementary School
The Writing Institute at PAWLP completely changed the way I teach writing. It helped me examine myself as a writer and put me in the shoes of my students. The course was intense, but it had the largest impact on my teaching of any graduate course I have ever taken. I was fortunate enough to learn from Katie Wood Ray in person and through her books. I also made lifelong friends as a result of participating in the Writing Institute.
From a career standpoint, I learned a lot about presenting. As a result of the learning I did at the Writing Institute I have presented at local and national conferences. I have presented at the annual conferences of ASCD and The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards twice. PAWLP gave me the tools and the experience to be a better teacher of writing and opened doors for me professionally that may not have been open if I did not join PAWLP. I am grateful for the opportunity as it has significantly changed my life both personally and professionally. To learn more about PAWLP, or to apply for the 2016 Invitational Writing Institute, visit PAWLP's website.
Designing for Deeper Learning: How to Develop Performance Tasks
A performance task is any learning activity or assessment that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency. If you are interested in learning more about developing performance tasks, cconsider taking this free course offered by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equality (SCALE).
This seven week course, produced by Katie Wilczek and Daisy Martin, will focus on building grade 6 though12 educators' capacity to use and develop curriculum-embedded performance assessments that fit local contexts. Course activities include reviewing sample performance tasks and developing a performance task that is aligned with a specific curricular unit and performance outcomes. The course uses a learning-centered approach where assessments are not only about measuring learning, but are also events for learning.
The course will include video presentations, required readings, homework activities, and peer review. For each of the first five sessions, students can expect to spend a total of 2-4 hours weekly watching videos, reading, completing assignments, and collaborating with peers. In the sixth and seventh week, students will do peer reviews of their colleagues' work and turn in their final assignments.
The instructors encourage and will support collaborative teams of educators in the course. If you are interested in forming a team with other CBSD teachers, please email Lisa Mancini. For more information about this course, visit this link.
Philadelphia Zoo Teacher Pass 2016
About the CBEA Instruction and Professional Development Committee
Email: lmancini@cbsd.org
Website: http://www.cbea.psealocals.org
Location: Central Bucks Education Association, West Oakland Avenue, Doylestown, PA, United States
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentralBucksEducationAssociation