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FOR-PD Update

May 2007

Latest FOR-PD Numbers

  • 15,737 participants
  • 1,201 sections
  • 67 participating districts
  • 7 participating universities
  • 6 participating community colleges


Registration for Summer 2007

Summer registration closed on Monday, May 21st. We continue to have strong registration numbers. This summer approximately 2,247 educators across the state will be completing the FOR-PD course. Those educators taking FOR-PD this summer will receive their login information on Monday, June 4th.


Summer 2007 Course Updates

 We listened to facilitators and participants. We collected data. We thought. We planned. Look at what FOR-PD has done to help you and participants succeed.

Quiz Update

  • Complete quiz updates for quizzes 1-14. Please review quiz questions in advance in order to prepare for any participant questions. Remember to contact our Reading Specialist, Lourdes Smith, if you have questions about the quizzes.
  • Also, feedback for each quiz has been modified so that on multiple choice questions, participants are given a specific area of text to investigate in reference to the question. 
  • Course Evaluation has been moved to lesson 13. Participants are required to complete the evaluation and the post-course survey before they gain access to the lesson 14 quiz.

Glossary

  • The glossary, which was updated this past fall, is now linked throughout the course to immediately provide participants the ability to find the meaning of literacy specific words that may be unfamiliar.
  • Linked glossary terms will be in a light blue, linked format. When clicked, a small pop-up box will provide participants with the definition and term.

Content Update

Updates in the content, lessons 6, 7, 9, 11, 14

  • Lesson 6-Addition of high interest/low level texts and how to evaluate high level and low level text.
  • Lesson 7-Addition of academic vocabulary and tiered words to content.
    • Lesson 7 assignment – Updated to clarify subject field requirement.
  • Lesson 9-Addition of Writing Next findings and restructuring of text. (Please take a look at the new material and the restructuring of the lesson.)
  • Lesson 11-Addition of Double the Work findings.
  • Lesson 14-Update on structure of lesson with some additions on teacher knowledge and leadership.
  • Download Lesson page has been arranged from 01-14.

Update on Resources/Task Lists

  • Resources for each lesson have been updated in both the lesson and on the “list of online resources” page.
  • Task lists have been removed from the end of the lesson, but are still located on the introduction page of each lesson. The Resource page link is now located at the bottom of the Differentiated Instruction page in each lesson.
  • Resource list link has been added to the course menu.

Participant Expectations/Schedule

  • Both reflect that the course evaluation has been moved to lesson 13. Participants are required to complete the evaluation and the post-course survey before they can gain access to lesson 14's quiz.
  • Updated for summer 2007.

Course Navigation in Lesson 1

  • We moved the directions on how to navigate the course to the beginning of the lesson to better prepare our participants for maneuvering through the content.


Registration for Fall 2007

**Please note that due to the changes in school starting dates, our fall courses will run for 12 weeks instead of the typical 14 weeks.

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 Fall 2007
8/06/2007 at 9 AM EST Open enrollment begins on FOR-PD Web site.
9/10/2007 at 5PM EST Open enrollment closes.
9/24/2007 Fall OE courses begin.
12/17/2007 Fall 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 Fall 2007
9/10/2007 Registration file must be received in the FOR-PD office.
9/24/2007 Fall district courses begin.
12/17/2007 Fall 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.

Facilitator Training and Certification Course

The FOR-PD Facilitator Certification and Training Course began on May 7 th. FOR-PD is training approximately 120 new facilitators. They are currently completing their fourth week of a seven-week training. This week participants will be learning about the role of a FOR-PD facilitator.

For more information on becoming a facilitator, please review the information on our website http://forpd.ucf.edu/facilitators/requirements.html. The next application period will be in the fall. We will advertise the application period on our website and in our publications.

FOR-PD Literacy e-Newsletter

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

In Focus & FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month

Beginning in May, the In Focus section and the Reading Strategy of the Month will highlight one research-based literacy strategy.

This month's Reading Strategy focuses on an instructional strategy that can be used in all classrooms to promote vocabulary development. Word sorts engage students in thinking critically about vocabulary. Students classify words into categories based on their prior knowledge. Individually or in a group, students interact with terms by looking for shared features among the words and their meanings. Be sure to check out this month's Reading Strategy of the Month for more information and resources on word sorts.

Text Set

The May text set focuses on the science topic of food chains. Included is a sampling of texts and video to use in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.



FOR-PD's Facilitator e-Newsletter

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

Facilitator Resource of the Month

We hear it all the time from facilitators, "I spend so much time each week online." This month's facilitator resource provides tips for reducing the amount of time spent online. This month facilitators will be exploring an article by Dr. Atsusi Hirumi (2003), Get a life: Six tactics for reducing time spent online. The article discusses the following tactics that help to optimize the time a facilitator spends online:

  1. Align and publish objectives and assessments.
  2. Align instructional events to support objectives and assessments.
  3. Analyze and balance interactions.
  4. Create feedback templates.
  5. Establish telecommunication protocols.
  6. Generate prototypes to formally evaluate materials.

FOR-PD facilitators will be discussing feedback. Dr. Hirumi includes four primary components that should be included in effective feedback:

  1. Assessment criteria,
  2. confirmatory feedback,
  3. corrective feedback, and
  4. personalized messages.

Facilitators will have the opportunity to discuss this article with Dr. Hirumi in an upcoming chat.

FOR-PD Facilitator Close Up

Be sure to read this month's section on Laura Frey. Laura has been a facilitator for FOR-PD since 2005. In this month's Facilitator Newsletter, she discusses how FOR-PD has had an impact in her classroom.

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 that 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 to 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.