professional development
March TLP Session
On March 3rd, teachers part of the 2015-2016 cohort of the Teacher Leadership Program, met at George Washington Middle School to share ideas about technology integration and how they are implementing technology at their schools. Brianna Becker, Amy Leslie and Rosetta Stewart from Matthew Maury Elementary presented on a web based tool called EdPuzzle. EdPuzzle is used in conjunction with videos to provide students with interactive lessons that can include questions and teacher voice. Lessons are self paced for each individual student. Laura Murphy and Pei Wing from Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy presented a cross grade level lesson with 1st and 5th graders. It included integrating iMovie into explanations 
about Ancient Civilizations. 5th grade students taught the 1st graders content about the civilizations and how to use iMovie! Laura Zybrick, 3rd grade teacher from Lyles-Crouch also presented about Google Classroom. She demonstrated the ease of use students encounter when they use Google Classroom, specifically when they click on embedded links. For more information about TLP, please see your building Technology Integration Specialist.
TLP-C in action at Maury
TLP-C is an online professional development offered by technology services to all PreK – 12 teachers. Presenters are teachers who share a technology they have used in their classroom. 
One of the monthly topics was the global read aloud. The global read aloud is the reading aloud of one common book and then student participants communicate and collaborate using digital tools. The book for ages 7 & up was The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes. Ms. K Evans (a TLP-C participant from Maury Elementary) and her second graders participated in the global read aloud and made connections with students around the world using Padlet (think an online wall of stickies), Skype (video calling) and blogged on WriteAbout. Here is a picture of the students exploring maps to locate one of their partner classes in Canada while Skyping and an example from the Padlet.
TLP Session December 2014
The Teacher Leadership Project met in December 2014 for a full-day collaboration session to highlight all the great technology projects going on throughout the district as well as to learn new 21st century educational practices.
We began with a teacher sharing session in which 5 participants shared some technology enhanced lessons with the group.
The meeting continued with several breakout sessions including Gaming and Comic Creation. Martha Walsh and Kari Packard demonstrated how to use comic creation to retell stories and assist with story creation. They highlighted software on both computers and iPads. Kyle Dunbar and Bobby Ofterdinger demonstrated some of the educational games available to ACPS students such as DimensionU and MinecraftEDU.
After breaking for lunch, the TLP cohort continued their day of learning by celebrating Computer Science Education Week through participating in the Hour of Code initiative. We reflected on the importance of providing our students with opportunities to learn 21st century skills. After spending time learning the basics of coding, it was clear that coding could provide students with opportunities to develop problem-solving skills and foster creativity.
We concluded the day with our final breakout sessions. Participants had the opportunity to learn more about coding, the benefits of using Skype to have students communicate with authors, and how to build their Professional Learning Network using social media and blogs.
TCW’s 2015 Technology Cohorts
In an effort to better support and encourage teachers to effectively incorporate educational technology and best practices at TC and MH, the Technology Integration Specialists have created a new program based on month-long thematic cohorts. Each month will provide teachers the opportunity to collaborate with the TIS’s and their fellow educators to expand their use of instructional technology by understanding its effective uses in regards to the ISTE Standards and the ACPS Classroom in Focus guidelines. Learn more on the TC TIS Blog: http://blogs.acpsk12.org/tctis/technology-cohorts/
Long story short: Meet with the TIS and teachers, learn, do awesome things,and get recertification points.
You will work with a tight-knit cohort during one planning period a week for four weeks. The TIS will organize and run each session, as well as be available to work with you individually for co-teaching and other projects.
Discover new ways to engage students in content, as well as how to leverage all of the tools available to you. Explore the ISTE Standards for Teachers and how they can expand your understanding of educational technology use.
Develop new activities, and revamp old ones. Build lessons and units that reflect the work and collaborative process you take on in the cohort. Co-teach, reflect, and take chances.
Receive up to 20 recertification points for the cohort. Different strands of participation earn you different levels of points. Choose the strand that best fits your availability and desire for a challenge.