FOR-PD Update

Dear Colleagues:

The staff at FOR-PD would like to wish you a happy new year! The FOR-PD project continues to serve many educators across the state of Florida. We are currently running 87 sections of the FOR-PD online course serving approximately 1,941 educators. These sections include open enrollment, district, university, and community college registrations. We would like to remind districts that there are two more registration periods. Please read the district registration information in the section below. We appreciate your ongoing support of FOR-PD and always welcome your feedback.

In this update you will find information about additional district registration dates, literacy log changes, participant and facilitator updates, and changes happening at FOR-PD.

District Registration Spring 2006:

We are currently accepting registrations for 12- and 10-week courses. Please keep in mind that participants in these courses will complete two lessons on selected weeks to fulfill the requirements of the course.  

12-week Course

• 2/20/2006 - Registration file must be received no later than this date.
• 3/6/2006 - Courses begin
• 5/29/2006 - Courses end

10-week Course

• 3/6/2006 - Registration file must be received no later than this date.
• 3/20/2006 - Courses begin
• 5/29/2006 - Courses end

We request that you adhere to the registration deadlines in this schedule as this will ensure completion information is received prior to the July 2006 deadline. We also request that you use the newest version of our district registration file. Email registration files should be sent to Richard Scott at Richard@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

As you are aware, districts will be charged a $1,000 fee per section. We hope that as you create your district sections you will give first priority to those teachers needing to complete Competency 2 of the Reading Endorsement; however, district cohorts can also include elementary teachers, content area teachers, Alternative Certification teachers, and others who do not meet the criteria for Reading Endorsement.

 

Latest FOR-PD Numbers

• 12,090 students
• 875 sections
• 67 participating districts
• 7 participating universities
• 5 participating community colleges

 

Literacy Log Changes for Spring 2006

Starting this term each participant will submit their Literacy Log online. With the online submission, facilitators will be able to view participants’ logs each week checking to see if it was submitted on time, if the log is complete, and if the log meets the quality of the grading rubric. They will be able to provide feedback in a timely manner so that the participant will have a chance to revise their log prior to it being graded. At the end of the course, the facilitator will assign an overall grade to the participant's Literacy Log using a scoring rubric.

We have provided directions and tips for helping participants with the online Literacy Log submission process in Lesson 1 of the course. We recommend that participants download the complete Literacy Log in Lesson 1. The log entries are meant to record their thoughts and responses as they complete the content of each lesson. Participants should use the downloaded log as a paper/pencil activity and transfer that information to the online Literacy Log. We have also recommended that participants use the handwritten Literacy Log if they are required to submit a log to their district. It is still the responsibility of the participant to send a copy of the Literacy Log to their district if the district requires it as documentation.

If you have a question about the new online Literacy Log, please contact FOR-PD at forpd@mail.ucf.edu or call 1-866-227-7261.

 

Facilitator Celebration

This month we continue to celebrate the successes of our facilitators. Many of them are concerned about the completion rates of their courses. We know that facilitators do many things to keep their participants involved and successful. We would like to acknowledge those facilitators who had a completion rate of 80 percent or higher for the fall 2005 semester.

Tanya Adin (Nassua) Janet Bavonese (Dade) Lou Ann Bigsby (Polk) Connie Blanchard (Okaloosa) Nancy Case (Alachua) Vicki Crisp (NEFEC)

Brian Dorman (Seminole) Sandra Doughman (Hernando) Kelly Hansell (Polk) Lizette Hoelzel (Dade) Nancy Hunt (Broward) Crystal Johnson (Duval)

Ruth Wassather (Lake) Lynda Williams (Orange) Krista Wilson (Pinellas) Sandra Wilson (Marion) Sheila Windom (Orange) Heather Zielke (Dade)

Additionally, a round of applause goes to Kelly Hansell for having a 100 percent completion rate!!! We thank all of our facilitators for their efforts to support and motivate their participants. Their hard work helps the success of both the participants and FOR-PD.

 

FOR-PD Literacy e-Newsletter

Please read the January issue of the Literacy Newsletter. 

This month the Literacy Newsletter begins its focus on the types of reading that should be present in a comprehensive reading program. We will be taking a look at four types of reading- guided reading, shared reading, independent reading, and read alouds. Each of these types of reading requires a different level of support from the teacher with the goal of moving students toward reading independence. January’s focus is on guided reading.  The role of the teacher is crucial when planning and implementing guided reading with students. The teacher must

• collect student data;
• determine the purpose for using guided reading groups;
• form small groups based on both student data and purpose;
• select the text to be used based on the learning needs of the students;
• introduce the text sharing with the students the purpose and the learning outcomes;
• model and explicitly teach reading processes and strategies; and
• guide students as they talk, read, and think their way through the text.

In January’s newsletter, you will find information and resources related to guided reading instruction.

 

FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month

January's Reading Strategy of the Month examines the instructional strategy Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA). The DR-TA engages students in a step-by-step process that guides them through understanding and thinking about text. If used effectively, DR-TA has the potential to equip students with the abilities to determine purposes for reading; extract, comprehend, and assimilate information; examine reading materials based on purposes for reading; and make decisions based upon information gleaned from reading. In addition to building comprehension strategies, DR-TA is a useful tool for teachers to model accurate and appropriate reading skills (Richardson & Morgan, 1997). Included in this month's reading strategy is a graphic organizer teachers and students can use while going through the DR-TA process.

We invite you to take a look at our current reading strategy and the examples provided from elementary and secondary levels. Try this strategy in your classroom and then email us and tell us how it worked (forpd@mail.ucf.edu). Also, don't forget to share the strategy with your colleagues. Each month we feature an effective reading strategy, explain the rationale behind the strategy, give directions on how to use the strategy with students, present ideas for adapting the strategy to different content areas, present ideas for assessing the strategy, and, of course, provide a printable PDF version of the strategy. Check out our Reading Strategy Archive to see past Reading Strategies of the Month.

 

Facilitator Newsletter

Please also read our January Facilitator Newsletter. 

In our "Facilitation with Felicity" e-Newsletter, we continue to address the issues of facilitator professional development, facilitation, communication, and teacher participation. Our theme this semester will be on building effective online communities. We know that online community does not occur magically; it is something that must be created and sustained. Online communities focus on integrating content and communication between facilitator and participants and participant to participant. Relationships are fundamental to our learning. In order to create a successful online community, facilitators must go beyond just posting the course outline, ensuring that participants are reading and understanding the content, grading assignments, and meeting deadlines. Facilitators have to create opportunities for social interactions amongst the course participants. They have to regularly interact with participants and provide quality feedback to shape learning. It takes both technical competence and effective pedagogy to teach successfully in an e-learning environment.

This month’s facilitation resource is an online article entitled Facilitating Online Learning: Tips and Suggestions by Gail Matthews-DeNatale and Sue Doubler. This article defines online facilitation and then provides specific examples, tips, and suggestions related to facilitating online courses. Facilitators will be posting their reactions to the article and the guiding questions on our facilitator only discussion board.

 

FOR-PD Help Desk Hours

Our Technical Team continues to improve the services they offer. They have added a Live Chat feature that is available on the Help Desk Web page.  In order to use this feature you must follow these directions. First, make sure that you are online. The button below the directions will tell you whether you are online or offline. Next, click on Set Screen Name and type your name. Then, click in the light blue box below the screen name box to type your message. Press Enter to send it. This requires you have Macromedia Flash installed on your computer.

The Technical Team has also been busy updating the course Tutorials and Troubleshooting Guide. Both of these resources provide a wealth of information on the tools used in the course and specific technology problems past participants have had along with solutions to these problems. They have made these resources more interactive by using Captivate to create short movies. These movies visually show participants, in a step by step manner, exactly what to do and click as they attempt to solve their problems.

The Technical Support Site lists the most up-to-date Help Desk hours. Our hours are as follows:
Monday through Friday 9:00am - 4:00pm EST and 6:00pm - 10:00pm EST
Saturday 10:00am- 3:00pm EST

The phone number is 1-866-863-READ (7323) toll free, Florida calls only. Out of the state of Florida, please call 407-249-4702. Technical support is also available through the Tech Help form our Help Desk Web page. Additionally, technical support is available through AOL Instant Messenger, screen name "forpdhelp."

 

FOR-PD Notable Quotables

"Thank you so much for this course. It was tough and it didn’t always go as well as I’d hoped. As a new teacher it was a bit more difficult than anticipated, it was so full of great information." –Fall FOR-PD participant to his/her Facilitator

"I will work hard on increasing my students’ motivation to read. After taking this course I feel I am better prepared, I learned techniques and methods that will help me achieve my goals. I already see it! I feel like a reading teacher. I will also use and implement all the necessary reading strategies and techniques in order to increase my students’ reading levels." –Fall FOR-PD participant to his/her Facilitator

 

Do you have comments about the course? Have you received any comments from people in your district? We are always looking for feedback so send it our way. Email forpd@mail.ucf.edu.