The Greater Professional Learning Center is a fantastic resource for educators who are looking for additional support, new strategies, and collegial collaboration to enhance their teaching practice. We offer a wide variety of professional learning opportunities in various formats to fit your schedule. As always, all courses are available at no fee to you. PL opportunities are found below, and our full catalog of course offerings can be accessed via this link.

UPDATE 1: In order to expedite the awarding of PL hours throughout the school year, all Catalog activities should follow this quarterly time frame:

Summer:

7/1-9/1

Fall:

9/2-12/1

Winter:

12/2-3/1

Spring:

3/2-6/1

No more proposals after 6/1 for current school year without approval of ASI.

UPDATE 2: Possible of over 20 hours with payment

Beginning July 1, 2023, all PL requests above 20 hours will be approved at the building level. This will allow building leaders to determine if the additional Professional Learning is aligned to the building initiatives. The funding for the additional PL hours will come from the building budget. The teacher’s PL request in Frontline will be routed in advance to their supervisor. The building request will be routed to the principal for approval. Districtwide employees will be routed to their department supervisor. This is from the GTA contract, “Professional Learning beyond the 10 hours of choice PL per school year: Each Unit Member may complete up to 10 additional hours of approved PL outside of the contractual work day ($25 per hour). A Unit Member completing such PL will be paid at the PL rate outlined in Article 28 for such work. Should unit members wish to complete hours of PL beyond these 10, the PL must be approved in advance by the appropriate supervisor.”

PL hours rate of pay:

• PL hours 0-10 are non-paid.

• PL hours 11-20 are paid by the District.

• PL hours beyond 20 are paid by the school budget approved in advance by the appropriate supervisor.

UPDATE 3: When submitting a webinar, either upload the certificate or answer questions in the form

UPDATE 4: New process for Digital Badges: Starting July 1, 2023, to earn PL hours for Digital Badges, GTA members will use the Professional Learning (PL) Hours Request Form (Free: Out of District or Virtual) and upload the Certificate that is awarded with each Digital Badge. Please refer to this resource for how to do this.

UPDATE 5: Now, all Frontline forms have been hyperlinked in the Professional Learning Guide. Be sure to first sign in to your Frontline (Professional Growth) account before clicking the links.

Q: Do we automatically get paid for up to 10 hours beyond the first 10 we are required to do? I saw that it will be paid next summer, but I want to know what I need to do to get paid at $25 per hour.

A: After the required initial 10 hours, you will be paid $25 for up to 10 additional hours. The Professional Learning Center will process the PL hours for you. The payment will be paid out summer 2023.

To find something that interests you:

* Within Frontline’s Activity Catalog, you will have access to Greece and other sponsored district’s catalogs. You can find an interesting topic by typing in a search term, program, or click on a course code.

** OR - Are you looking for fall PL from GCSD? Click here for a calendar view !!

To track your completed PL hours:

* Log into your Greece Professional Growth account. On the left, click on “My Info”, the Portfolio-View by Purpose. Then you will see your completed PL hours. Click on “View Current Year” for this year’s info.

To track your PL hours in progress:

* Log into your Greece Professional Growth account. On the left, click on Insights. You can click on “Where I am Now” to see your current activities. You can also click on “Where I’ve been” to see completed professional learning and click on your portfolio. How to check your PL hours.

To find a useful guide containing important information:

GTA PL Hours Guide

From Distractions to Purpose: Embracing Digital Mindfulness (2:45-3:45)

From Distractions to Purpose: Embracing Digital Mindfulness (4:00-5:00)

Triggering Inquiry with Phenomena

Starts on Monday, October 16th

Instructor: Toni Gamils

Triggering inquiry is about learning something new; triggering curiosity is no small feat. It takes modeling enthusiasm and learning something new to generate our confidence, even if it's something new about the content we've covered for years. This workshop will examine how phenomena and driving questions can be the key to student engagement. In addition, participants will discuss the many ways Phenomenal Phenomena supports equitable development of students' knowledge, engagement, and development of questioning skills. The content of this course will be delivered through synchronous meetings and asynchronous work in Google Classroom.

(10 hours)

Computer Science (CS) for the ARTS

Starts on Tuesday, October 17th

Instructor: Tim Needles

In this course, participants will review the basics of Computer Science and Digital Fluency in the arts. This in-depth course will explore creative, fun, project-based art projects and concepts that integrate technology and STEAM learning. Participants will explore a range of emerging and classic tools and media that teach the fundamentals and are cost-effective. This course will explain how to incorporate the principles of Computer Science & Digital Fluency, the arts along with how to engage students with creative projects. During this course, we will share ways to elevate the learning to the next level by adding elements such as collaboration, connection, and community.

The content of this course will be delivered through synchronous meetings and asynchronous work in Google Classroom. (6 hours)

There are several ways to learn more about the instructional technology tools and digital programs we use in GCSD. This page is meant to collect and share the many opportunities that are offered from the edtech tools themselves! Most can be used to earn teachers' Professional Learning hours by submitting the PL Hours Request Form (see here for more info). Visit this page often as it will be updated with timely offerings!

The Greece CSD Instructional Technology Teachers (ITTs) have curated a landing page on our Instructional Technology website called, Recommended Professional Learning for Instructional Technology, to highlight high-quality content that can be used for self-paced professional learning for instructional technology. As a reminder, the Instructional Technology website can also be found in Classlink’s orange Technology Folder.

Greece now has a districtwide membership to Learning Forward which includes access to webinars at no cost. These can count towards your PL hours. <Activate your LF Membership> You can also have access to the Learning Professional publication. Click here to see current webinars.

Spend an hour with some of education’s most influential thought leaders

Join us for a free hour of professional learning to discuss a range of critical issues and gain practical tools and evidence-based strategies.

“A source for teachers... A promise for students”. The Professional Learning Center exists for the purposes of providing professional growth opportunities for the teachers and other school staff so that they may expand their knowledge about educating children and enhance their skills and classroom practices. Our center strongly believes that the outstanding student achievement is tied to a teaching staff that is well educated, professionally current and innovative.

Email: marguerite.dimgba@greececsd.org
Website: https://www.greececsd.org/Page/296
Location: 1790 Latta Road, Rochester, NY, USA
Phone: 585-966-2130
Twitter: @greecementors

The Greece Teachers Association was founded in 1956 and is lead by current president Brian Ebertz. We invite all members to join us for Representative Assembly, which is held at the GTA Office.

Email: Kara.Manjerovic@greececsd.org
Website: https://greeceteachers.com
Location: 120 Erie Canal Drive, Suite 320 Rochester, NY 14626
Phone: (585) 471-5765
Facebook: facebook.com/Greeceteachers/
Twitter: @greeceteachers