Part+9+-+Professional+Development+Plan

=PART 9 - Professional Development Plan =

**A. Goals of Professional Development** Implementing SMART Boards in the classrooms is an excellent way to help teachers integrate technology and also create 21st century teaching and learning environments. The main goal is to help our teachers become more effective through continual long term professional development which includes the hands on use of the SMART Board technology to reinforce their learning and efforts. The teachers will learn how to effectively utilize and integrate the SMART Board technology into their lessons, thereby, promoting critical thinking, problem solving skills, and collaboration for all types of students.  In order, to create a dynamic environment in which our teachers seamlessly integrate the SMART Board technology into their lessons, the teachers will be provided with informal as well as formal professional development. The Technology Tuesdays will be facilitated by the on site technology coordinator, the staff will meet for thirty minutes in the morning to casually discuss and share SMART Board lessons and procedures they have used. Technology Tuesdays, should help promote a sense of community among the teachers, provide opportunities for modeling and peer coaching.
 * B. Who, What, Where, When, & How Often Professional Development will be provided**

Since we are one of the last schools in the Diocese to have SMART Boards installed, our once a month Professional Development Meeting will focus on new resources, training, collaboration, and be facilitated by Technology Coordinators from other schools in the Diocese. The initial Professional Development at the beginning of the school year will be facilitated by the Director of Technology for the Diocese.  SMART Technologies offers free live online training sessions which are conducted by a SMART trainer who is extremely experienced with the SMAR T products and uses them everyday.  After the training session, participants can ask questions. SMART offers numerous, no cost down-loadable training materials for educators @ []. SMART Technology also offers, “The SMART Summer Institute is a 5-day, resident-based, immersive learning experience on integrating technology  and various SMART products into your teaching practices. The institute is sponsored by SMART Technologies and hosted by Florida Southern College.” In addition, for our novice  teachers, the technology team will create Jing screen casts tutorials for teachers to learn basic SMART Board procedures. Teachers will also be provided with Cheat Sheets to assist them with using new technologies.  There will not be any formal orientation or training plan for the students because they have been exposed to the SMART Board technologies by the Technology coordinator, during their twice a week computer classes. The SMART Boards are very interactive and engaging, therefore, we believe the students will be excited to have access to them in their classrooms. Additional, hands on student training will take place in the classrooms’ by the homeroom teachers integrating the SMART Board technologies in the lessons so that students are engaged and motivated. The purpose of the SMART Board implementation is to increase student achievement by the transformation of teaching using a Smart Board in the classroom. The process becomes more interactive and it appeals to a variety of learning styles. Teachers will begin to create processes to promote interaction and stimulate discussions while learning is made easier and enjoyable.
 * C. Student Orientation/Training Plan** 

**D. Evaluation of Professional Development Program** <span style="color: #96491d; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 99%;">The Technology Implementation Committee will be responsible for evaluating and assessing the successes of the professional development program. They will meet three times during the school year, at the beginning of the school year, in the middle of the school year, and at the end of the school year to assess the success of the professional development program. They will evaluate the progress of the staffs’ development with regard to SMART Board technology integration in classroom teaching. They will assess the degree to which technology has enhanced the learning environment and the impact on collaboration between teachers and students.

<span style="color: #96491d; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="color: #96491d; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 117%;">view COMMITTEE COMMUNICATION page
 * E. Communicate with Professional Technology Committee**