Announcing the Fall, 2016 TeachersFirst Book Study
September 20 - November 22
TeachersFirst will be hosting a book study again this fall. This is our way to invite you to actively participate in our professional learning community made up of learners who are teachers. A book study is a way to do professional learning that you might not have tried before or thought of doing outside of your school. Of course, when trying something new, it’s always great to have some friends along to try it with.
Details
The Book: The book we will be reading is The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning by Tom Whitby and Steven W. Anderson. The book is chock full of great ideas on simple tools educators can use to get connected - and why it's important to use them. The Source for Learning, our corporate sponsor, will provide the book for each of our participants. We are limited to 50 participants, so sign up soon.
About the Book Study: Book study discussions will be held using Edmodo, a free learning community. Each week, participants will be expected to read a few chapters, join in a conversation about them, and complete an application exercise.
Participant Criteria: TeachersFirst book studies are a member benefit. In order to participate in the book study you must be a TeachersFirst member (learn how to register for FREE membership) .
Professional learning doesn't just happen during the school day or during the school year. Lots of professional learning happens in the “in between times.” You don’t necessarily have to be at an in-service or a professional development workshop that your school is sponsoring. Sometimes professional learning means you've gone to a Twitter chat and learned something new that you’d like to try in your classroom the next day.
Using free online tools, the TeachersFirst book study creates a unique space that intersects the digital and physical world.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Join conversations about the effectiveness of social media for education.
• Discover ideas and tools you can use to develop a PLN (Personal Learning Network) using social media.
• Learn about forums for exchanging ideas with other educators.
PARTICIPATE!
• Share your thoughts with other book study participants.
• Tell colleagues how your reading influences your views on information sharing and reflection.
• Build your willingness to try a new approach to finding out “what works” for you.
• Discover inspirational points from the book that affect your perspective on professional learning.
EARN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CREDIT
Participants who complete all of the book study components will earn a certificate for 15 hours of professional development.
SCHEDULE:
September 20: Kick-off webinar at 7PM Eastern Time. We will discuss the organization of the book study and participant expectations.
October 3: The Fall 2016 Book Study officially begins.
Throughout October: Reading, discussion, and application will continue a few chapters at a time each week with formal discussions ending on October 30.
November 22: Closing webinar, including adiscussion about how our perspectives may have changed.
SIGN UP HERE - Participation is limited to the first 50 eligible TeachersFirst members who sign up.