FOR-PD Update

February 2007

Latest FOR-PD Numbers

15,714 participants
1,167 sections
67 participating districts
7 participating universities
6 participating community colleges

Additional Spring Sections

FOR-PD will be offering additional spring sections to assist districts with CAR-PD and certification deadlines. This will be the final opportunity for teachers to complete FOR-PD prior to this summer's CAR-PD Academy or for those teachers still needing to complete Competency 2 of the Reading Endorsement prior to the June certification deadline.

March 1, 2007	Registration file must be received in the FOR-PD office.
March 12, 2007	Spring district courses begin.
June 18, 2007	Spring district courses end.

Registration for these additional spring sections will be through district registration only. Each section of the FOR-PD course must contain a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 35 participants. The FOR-PD office will work with smaller districts by combining registrations in order to create a section. Please follow the registration directions below.

Download the district registration file.
Complete the district and participant portions of the registration file. All of the information requested is required for participants to take the course. If you're offering more than one section of the course, please make sure to provide separate registration files for each section you wish to run.
Identify the facilitator you wish to facilitate your district section. If you need assistance in identifying a facilitator, you can call (407)-207-4940 or email forpdreg@mail.ucf.edu, and we will provide a list of certified FOR-PD facilitators for your district. We also have a list of facilitators who have agreed to facilitate these course offerings.
Registration files are due by Thursday, March 1, 2007. Please adhere to this due date as we must quickly develop the courses to launch them on time. Email the registration file to forpdreg@mail.ucf.edu.

We hope that districts will take advantage of these additional sections. Thank you for your collaboration.

Registration for Summer 2007

Open Enrollment

Open enrollment allows teachers across the state to register directly with FOR-PD. Teachers are grouped with other teachers from their district or surrounding districts. This option is ideal for smaller districts who feel they cannot register a full district section. Many districts post these dates on their district professional development site or send them out directly to teachers through various district communications.

The open enrollment web site can be found at http://forpd.ucf.edu/register/register.html.

Open Enrollment Summer 2007
4/02/2007 at 9 AM EST	Open enrollment (OE) begins on FOR-PD Web site.
5/21/2007 at 5 PM EST	Open enrollment closes.
6/4/2007	Summer OE courses begin.
9/10/2007	Summer OE courses end.

District Registration

Districts can register their own sections of FOR-PD at no cost to the district. For these sections, the district is responsible for recruiting teachers, completing the registration form, and sending that registration form to FOR-PD. Districts must have at least 20 teachers registered in order to start a district registration. For more information on how your district can register a section of FOR-PD, please go to our district web site at http://forpd.ucf.edu/register/district.html.

District Registration Summer 2007
5/21/2007	Registration file must be received in the FOR-PD office.
6/4/2007	Summer district courses begin.
9/10/2007	Summer district courses end.

We request that districts adhere to the dates provided. All registration files should be emailed to forpdreg@mail.ucf.edu on or before the due dates above. The District Registration file can be downloaded at http://forpd.ucf.edu/register/regfile_district.xls.

Come join us for a day of learning focused on motivating students, improving literacy, and preparing our students for the 21st Century! This is a free professional day for all elementary and secondary educators, including literacy coaches, library media specialists, reading specialists, and administrators. Please share this information with teachers in your district.

Focus: Motivation, Literacy, and the 21st Century

Location: The UCF College of Education (Gymnasium)

Date: Friday, April 6, 2007

Time: 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM (Registration from 8:00 AM to 8:45 AM in the Education Complex Gymnasium.)

For additional information on this year's literacy symposium, please visit the website http://forpd.ucf.edu/litsym.

Would you like to present at this year's Literacy Symposium? If so, download and complete the proposal form (rich text format). All proposals should be submitted electronically to Janine Ireland by March 12, 2007 at 12PM EST.

FOR-PD Literacy e-Newsletter

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

In Focus – Technology and Literacy

Technology can no longer be seen as just an assortment of tools that are used to enhance a lesson or format text. Technology has spawned a new kind of literacy that focuses on going beyond the printed text. Technology is not something that is just added into instruction haphazardly and without true consideration on why it's being used and how it will be applied. Integration, incorporation, and a focus on technology fluency must be created as we plan our lessons so that we can better prepare our students for the 21st century. This month, our In Focus section of the Literacy Newsletter reflects on how technology has affected the concept of literacy and learning.

FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month

February's Reading Strategy of the Month focuses on reader response. The reader response theory of reading is formed from Louise Rosenblatt transactional theory of reading. Rosenblatt suggests that a reader can approach a piece of text with two different motivations. If a reader focuses his/her attention on information to remember, or facts from a text, they are in an efferent stance. If the reader draws from past experiences and feels emotions when reading, he/she is in an aesthetic stance (Rosenblatt, 1982). Having students approach text from both stances invigorates critical thinking and increases the potential for a thoughtful response. This month's Reading Strategy provides specific ways to cultivate reader responses to both fiction and nonfiction text.

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.

Literacy Coaches' Corner

What questions should be considered before a school, district, or state embraces the concept of literacy coaches? In Coaching Considerations: FAQs Useful in the Development of Literacy Coaching, Doug Fisher identifies ten key ideas that should be part of the discussion educators have as they implement, revise, and operate literacy coaching initiatives.

February's Text Set

This month's text set shares some wonderful book on St. Valentines Day. FOR-PD is looking for ideas for future text sets. If you have an idea, please feel free to email us at forpd@mail.ucf.edu.

FOR-PD's Facilitator e-Newsletter

Please also read the February edition of the Facilitator e-Newsletter. This newsletter is developed to support the development and work of our FOR-PD facilitators.

Spring Facilitator Professional Development

During the spring, FOR-PD and facilitators will focus on the topic of teacher presence in an online environment with an emphasis on the use of questions to elicit different types of responses. Interaction is one of the most influential features of online learning. Asynchronous discussions allow students and facilitators to craft thoughtful discussions that lead to the kinds of reflections participants should be having on their learning and instruction. Our upcoming professional development series for facilitators will focus on creating these discussions using questioning. The professional development will run from February 26, 2007 to March 25, 2007.

Facilitator Resource of the Month

Last month our resources offered a broad look at what it takes to create a strong teaching presence in an online learning environment. This month the focus is narrowed by discussing the types of interaction in which the learner engages and thinking about how those interactions occur in an online environment.

Interaction is defined as “mutual or reciprocal action or influence” according to Miriam-Webster Online. Ellen D. Wagner (1994) defined interaction as “reciprocal events requiring two objects and two actions. Interactions are suggested to occur when objects and events mutually influence one another.”

It is critical that FOR-PD facilitators do their part to engage participants in discourse that will help foster further interactions and help participants gain a deeper understanding of the content. Questioning is one of the best methods a facilitator can use to engage participants. Questions are tools for seeking and processing information (Hunkins, 1995).

Resources provided this month include:

Moore , M. (1989). Three types of interaction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2). Retrieved February 16, 2007, from http://www.ajde.com/Contents/vol3_2.htm#editorial.

Center for Teaching Excellence (n.d). Levels and types of questions. Retrieved February 16, 2007, from http://www.cte.uiuc.edu/Did/docs/QUESTION/quest1.htm.

FOR-PD Help Desk Hours

Help Desk hours are:

Monday through Friday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Toll free from Florida only 1-866-863-READ (7323)

Non-Florida calls only 407-249-4702

Technical support is also available through AOL Instant Messenger, screen name "forpdhelp."

If teachers need technical support beyond that which their facilitator or school technology coordinator can offer, they should contact the FOR-PD Technical Support Help Desk. Please fill out the Tech Help Form or call the Help Desk.

Chat Live with the Help Desk. First, make sure we are online. The button below will tell you whether we are online or offline. Next, click on Set Screen Name and type your name. Then, click in the light blue box below to type your message. Press Enter to send it. This requires you have Macromedia Flash installed on your computer. http://forpd.ucf.edu/about/technicalsupport.html

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.