FOR-PD Update

February 2005

Latest FOR-PD Numbers

8096 students
561 sections
65 participating districts
6 participating universities

FOR-PD Spring 2005 Sections

FOR-PD Spring 2005 semester started with a bang! We are operating a full schedule with 90 sections and we continue to build more sections as districts send us new registration files. This is a booming semester! Congratulations to Florida's educators and school districts for working on the reading endorsement requirements. This semester, the University of Florida is also offering a graduate section of the FOR-PD course and University of West Florida will be offering two graduate sections starting in March 2005. Thank you for helping us spread the word to other educators who need to complete Competency 2. We are here to support Florida's educators in their professional development efforts.

Here is our proposed Summer 2005 and Fall 2005 Open Enrollment and Course Schedule:

Summer 2005
3/14/05	Open enrollment registration for Summer begins
5/2/05	Open enrollment registration for Summer ends
5/16/05	Summer classes begin
8/22/05	Summer classes end

Fall 2005
6/20/05	Open enrollment registration for Fall begins
8/15/05	Open enrollment registration for Fall ends
8/29/05	Fall classes begin
12/5/05	Fall classes end

Available also online: http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/register/schedule2005.html

We will continue to inform you of our successes, challenges, and solutions to online professional development. We thank you for your ongoing collaboration with the FOR-PD project.

FOR-PD On the Road!

Since January we have visited 3 high schools in Seminole county and the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership in Duval County. We have 5 high schools in Seminole county with a significant number of teachers from each school that are currently enrolled in Spring 2005 sections. Our visits have focused on helping large groups of teachers who are taking the FOR-PD course this semester get started. Our staff has been providing technical and facilitation assistance—we continue to collaborate with districts and schools that have large groups of teachers who are participating in the FOR-PD project. We have enjoyed visiting and getting to meet some of our participants.

FL DOE Announcements about the Reading Endorsement

Another exciting piece of news from the Florida Department of Education is the announcement about additional ways for Florida's educators to meet additional competencies—i.e., The Free Online course for Competency 1 offered by Florida State University (http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/ ; see Latest News) and the Professional Development Plans for Competency 1 through the Florida Education Association [PDF: 1 page / 52k].

FOR-PD Literacy e-Newsletter
Please read the February issue of the Literacy Newsletter.

Our emphasis this month is on Assessment. This is power-packed literacy newsletter with a plethora of research and resources for preK-12 educators. This newsletter is sent to over 8,000 teachers in our state. Special thanks to Catherine Glass, our reading specialist, for developing this great literacy resource. We receive a lot of positive feedback from past graduates and current participants who enjoy our resources. You may reach Catherine at cc@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

Facilitating with Felicity
Please also read our February Facilitator Newsletter.

In our "Facilitating with Felicity" e-newsletter, we continue to address issues of quality control and also ways to continue to support facilitators as they monitor teachers' performance in the course. This month's emphasis is on effective professional development and online facilitation. This newsletter is a powerful vehicle for providing ongoing professional development and communication with all FOR-PD facilitators. Special thanks to Wendy Bedwell, our Facilitator Support Specialist, for this wonderful facilitator resource. Our facilitators enjoy the support and resources provided through this newsletter. You may reach Wendy at Wendy@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

Facilitator Leadership Board and Facilitator Professional Development

The FOR-PD Facilitator Leadership Board continues to assist FOR-PD facilitators. We are so excited to have this online study group with educators from across the state of Florida. Currently, we are reading a book titled Systems for Change in Literacy Education: A Guide to Professional Development by Carol A. Lyons and Gay Su Pinnell. The Leadership Board and the FOR-PD Facilitator Leadership Board have been posting summaries of chapters on a monthly basis in the "For Facilitators Only" discussion board, pointing out the important aspects of the book in relation to facilitating the online FOR-PD course. We have had some rich and creative discussions. Here is a sample posting that reflects the type of thinking, planning, and work that some of our facilitators are doing with FOR-PD--we are so pleased with the kind of learning that is taking place among our facilitators and participants. Here is a sample from our online study group that was posted by Catherine Glass:

Chapter 3 – Learning to Be Literate

In order to successfully teach students to be literate, the teacher must have deep understandings about the reading and writing process. This means that teachers must understand the theory behind what they teach. They must possess the knowledge imparted by research. Use data to determine what instruction the student needs. Finally, they must have at their disposal a repertoire of strategies.

Reading is an active process. Readers use many different sources of information as they read: the text, prior knowledge, knowledge of language, visual information, and cognitive strategies. Writing is also an active process. The writing process might be seen as a series of actions: thinking and brainstorming, translating that brainstorming to words on a page, and finally reading and revising it. It is a recursive process, constantly cycling between composing, encoding, and revising.

Chapter 4 – Teaching Literacy: What Teachers Need to Know

"The goal of literacy instruction is consistent progress, knowing where to meet students as readers and writers, and knowing where to go next (p.34)."

Using the balanced literacy framework, teachers can meet students at different levels and with different interests (differentiated instruction). Balanced literacy incorporates:

Read Alouds
Shared Reading
Guided Reading
Independent Reading
Language Experience or Shared Writing
Guided Writing

Guiding Questions:

How do you focus your attention on helping participants understand what they are learning in the course?
How do you, as facilitator, model the process of learning for your participants?
How do you encourage participants to engage in a discussion of important issues related to literacy instruction?
What information is important for our participants to know about the reading and writing process?

Bi-Monthly Facilitator Discussion Topics

This is another form of ongoing professional development and support for facilitators. Not only do we at FOR-PD believe in the professional development of our participants through the information provided in our course, but we also believe in the professional development of our facilitators! We are going to begin having informal, bi-monthly online facilitator discussions in the "For Facilitators Only" course under Bi-Monthly Facilitator Discussion Topics. Here are the new discussion topics:

The topic for Feb. 3 - Feb. 13 is Chat Topics for FOR-PD Facilitators. We will be discussing topics facilitators are interested in as they relate to their facilitation duties and also to their overall professional development.

The topic for Feb. 14 - Feb. 27 is about Teamwork. Discussions will focus on what constitutes a good team, what facilitates teamwork, how facilitators can learn from each other, and how they can utilize this virtual support network.

FOR-PD New Help Desk Hours

Help Desk hours are:
Monday through Friday 9:30 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. & 6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. EST
Saturday 10:00 A.M.- 3:00 P.M. EST

866-863-READ: Technical Support Help Desk - Toll Free, Florida Calls Only
407-249-4702: Technical Support Help Desk - Non-Florida Calls Only

Technical support is also available through AOL Instant Messenger, screen name "forpdhelp", and through email at helpdesk@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month

This month we are featuring an authentic reading strategy called, Modified QAR. This strategy was developed by Zygouris-Coe & Glass (2005). Questioning is critical and effective for improving comprehension because it gives the students a purpose for reading. Therefore, if inferential understanding is desired, a student's question answering behavior can be shaped by the questions that require them to connect information in the text to their knowledge base. In the state of Florida, the FCAT Reading Test requires such inferential understanding of text. The Modified QAR will help teachers and students identify and use questioning effectively to strengthen students' comprehension.

Last month we featured the Prediction Wheel reading strategy. This strategy was developed by Zygouris-Coe & Glass (2005). Do your students struggle with making logical predictions based on the text? Try out the Prediction Wheel. Predicting involves previewing text and anticipating what will happen next. Making predictions requires students to use their prior knowledge, make inferential guesses, and make connections. The Prediction Wheel will provide guided practice in making predictions, checking predictions, and revising predictions as needed.

Check out other FOR-PD Reading Strategies and please share the FOR-PD Reading Strategies with your colleagues. Let us know how you utilize them in your classroom. Email us at forpd@mail.ucf.edu subject heading FOR-PD Reading Strategies.

FOR-PD Online Chats

Our online chats were a tremendous success! We had 57 people attend the February 2 chat and close to 78 people attend the February 3 chat—our tech team did a great job of assisting and answering participants' and facilitators' questions about the various technical aspects of the course.

Our February online chats will continue to focus on technical course-related issues. Our FOR-PD TECH Team is hosting February's FOR-PD chats.

WHEN: Monday, February 28, 2005
TIME: 7:15 PM - 8:00 PM EST
WHERE: For Facilitators Only course Chatroom 1
TOPIC: February Spring Facilitator Meeting Update
REQUIRED RESOURCE(s): We will post materials from the meeting on the web site - look in the For Facilitator Only course for details.

FOR-PD Notable Quotables

Read what a facilitator is saying about the FOR-PD experience.

"One of my participants, an assistant principal, was really excited about some changes she made in meetings with teachers to discuss student interventions. She 'combined' the teacher's reading interventions with someof her own that she learned through taking FOR-PD. She responded, 'It was exciting to see the teachers go right back to their classrooms and begin using some of the ideas. One teacher called me 'wonderful'. That was a great feeling and due only to some new knowledge.' Just what FOR-PD is all about--growing professionally!!! :) " ~ Barbara Poole, FOR-PD Facilitator

Give us your opinion of the course. Email forpd@mail.ucf.edu.