FOR-PD Update

Dear Colleagues:

We wish you a joyous and peaceful holiday! The FOR-PD project continues to serve many educators across the state of Florida. We have offered 105 sections during the fall semester with approximately 2,200 participants. Open enrollment registration, for the spring semester, began November 28th and is going exceptionally well. Please make sure you check the spring district registration information contained in this project update.

In this update you will find information about spring registration, participant and facilitator updates, and changes happening at FOR-PD. Please pay close attention to our project deadlines. We appreciate your ongoing support of FOR-PD and always welcome your feedback.

Open Enrollment Registration:

Below is our proposed Spring and Summer 2006 Open Enrollment course schedule:

Spring 2006
11/28/05	Open enrollment registration for Spring begins
1/9/06	Open enrollment registration for Spring ends
1/23/06	Spring classes begin
5/1/06	Spring classes end
5/29/06	All spring courses will be closed

We have received many questions about when participants will be notified about their acceptance into the spring open enrollment courses. We will begin notifying participants the week of January 9, 2006. As you know, our open enrollment registration for spring is limited to teachers needing to complete competency 2 of the Florida Reading Endorsement and/or REESOL by the endorsement deadline. We anticipate being able to accommodate all registrants who meet these criteria.

Summer 2006
5/8/06	Open enrollment for Summer begins
6/26/06	Open enrollment for Summer ends
7/10/06	Summer classes begin
10/02/06	Summer classes end

 

Spring District Registration:

We are currently accepting district registrations for the FOR-PD course. As you know, there are some changes for the spring term. We are offering districts three different registration options: a 14-week course, a 12-week course, and a 10-week course.  Below are the registration deadlines for the spring semester:

14-week Course

• 1/9/06 – Registration files must be received no later than this date
• 1/23/06 - Course begins
• 5/1/06 - Course closes

12-week Course

• 2/20/006 – Registration file must be received no later than this date
• 3/6/06 – Course begins
• 5/29/06 – Course closes

10-week Course

• 3/6/06 – Registration file must be received no later than this date
• 3/20/06 – Course begins
• 5/29/06 – Course closes

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

An additional change for the spring term is district payment of courses. 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, coaches, Alternative Certification teachers, and others who do not meet the criteria for reading endorsement.

 

Important News about Web CT Upgrade

This month, FOR-PD will be upgrading our version of WebCT to 4.1. We are very excited about this change as we know it will address some of the needs of our project, our facilitators and our participants. We expect a smooth transition and know that it will help simplify your course management. WebCT 4.1 is very similar to the current version we are using. There are a few new features but we expect that there will be little impact on our facilitators. The major change in this version is the availability of an HTML editor within the discussions and email composers. This means that students will be able to spell check their assignments prior to posting! The look and feel is a little "cleaner" with tools being available in fewer clicks. We hope the changes will help you and your participants in the upcoming semesters!

We value your feedback and collaboration. Please feel free to contact me at cc@orion.itrc.ucf.edu and/or (407) 207-7294

Best wishes,
Catherine Glass
FOR-PD Director

 

Latest FOR-PD Numbers

• 11,391 students
• 787 sections
• 67 participating districts
• 7 participating universities

 

FOR-PD Literacy e-Newsletter

Please read the December issue of the Literacy Newsletter. 

This month the literacy newsletter focuses on the issue of technology and literacy. Today's students must be able to master and apply technologies in order to remain competitive in the new job market. They must also be consumers of information as our service based economy changes to one based on knowledge. Literacy in the 21st century means more than basic reading, writing, and computing skills. Digital forms of expression are increasingly replacing traditional printed forms of text; therefore, our students must not only become better readers of printed text, but also competent readers of online text. Teachers must become better users of technology and integrate it into the lessons they deliver each day. In this newsletter you will find a wealth of information and resources related to technology and literacy. 

 

FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month

December’s Reading Strategy of the Month examines think alouds and the importance they play in developing comprehension. A think-aloud is a metacognitive technique or strategy in which the teacher models the strategic decision-making and interpretive processes that a reader uses. The teacher makes explicit these processes through talk and action. The word explicit is frequently used to describe the kind of comprehension instruction that focuses on the direct teaching of strategies and on making visible the covert processes of effective readers. Teachers can help students learn to be thoughtful and purposeful readers by demonstrating, through think-alouds, their own comprehension strategies and then allowing students to practice using the strategies and thinking aloud themselves (Israel & Massey, 2005).  Check out the Reading Strategy of the Month to find out how you can implement a word wall in your classroom.

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 December Facilitator Newsletter. 

In our "Facilitating with Felicity" Facilitator e-newsletter, we continue to address issues of professional development, facilitation, communication, and teacher participation. This month's focus is on the National Staff Development Council’s Content Standard of Learning. This standard refers to professional development that improves the learning of all students through the application of knowledge about human learning and change.  It is essential that staff development move educators beyond comprehension at the surface level to a new idea or innovation to a fuller and more complete understanding of its purposes, critical attributes, meaning, and connection to other approaches. To improve student achievement, professional development must promote deep understanding of a topic as well as provide many opportunities for teachers and administrators to practice new skills with feedback on their performance and support in implementation.  FOR-PD’s Online Literacy Coaches are there to provide support and feedback to teachers and administration as they try new ideas and approaches to teaching literacy.

This semester’s theme is Celebration of Excellence in Online Literacy Facilitation. Facilitators are a KEY factor in the success of our entire project. Facilitation requires diligence, time, and effort. We have spent some time this fall spotlighting our great facilitators and their achievements! We have so many wonderful facilitators who have dedicated their time, resources, and skills to help teachers across the state of Florida. Please help us in congratulating the following facilitators on their accomplishments. 

Dorothy Zablotsky (Palm Beach County)
Nominated for: Participation

Facilitation Practices:

Dorothy has been with the project since 2004 and has been an inspiration to her participants and her fellow facilitators. "Dorothy never fails to respond to all posts in the Facilitator's Section and she eagerly participates in chat sessions. Her bubbling personality is evident to all of us who know her and I am sure to those lucky participants in the sessions she facilitates. She is so pleasant, warm and positive. We are fortunate to have a 'jewel' like Dorothy among us to lead other educators and be an exemplary role model! Specifically, Dorothy warmly welcomes new facilitators into the group; she finds a way to gingerly and tactfully "suggest" options when others need help; finally, she is unrelenting in her willingness to provide assistance to fellow facilitators and to do it cheerfully. I think she exemplifies model facilitation practices and should be recognized for her efforts!" -FOR-PD facilitator

About Dorothy:

Dorothy has taught in Palm Beach County for almost 20 years. When she retired, she taught Diagnosis and Remediation for FAU. She is also the proud supervisor of seven active student interns. Dorothy's hobbies are photography, reading, and traveling. She has been active in the Florida Reading Association as Conference Exhibit Chairman and also business manager of the quarterly magazine.

Brian Dorman (Seminole County)
Nominated for: Literacy

Facilitation Practices:

Brian has been with our project since 2003. He regularly participates in facilitator book reviews, chats and discussions. Brian also frequents the FOR-PD exhibition booths at several reading conferences. As part of the Facilitator Leadership Board, he has written case studies and willingly volunteers his time to promote and improve the FOR-PD project.

About Brian:
Brian is currently the Reading Coach at Sanford Middle School in Seminole County. The last five years he was a 7th Grade Social Studies (Geography) teacher at the same school. Brian is married and has two young children. He also has been coaching youth soccer in his free time.

Joanna Durst (Seminole County)
Nomination for: Encouragement and Communication

Facilitation Practices:

Joanna has been a facilitator since 2004; she has been a creative motivator and leader in each of her sections. "She actively encourages her participants with positive comments as well as using For Your Information postings for the majority of the lessons to keep her participants informed and on the look out for specific parts of the lesson." - FOR-PD facilitator

About Joanna:
Joanne is the Reading Specialist at Lake Mary High School in Seminole County. She coordinates all Intensive Reading courses and works with teachers and students to improve reading school-wide. She has had five years experience teaching reading, spending three years at the middle school level teaching 7th and 8th graders. Before that, she was teaching 8th grade language arts. Currently, she is expecting her first child! Congratulations, Joanna!

Catherine Glass
Nominated for: Leadership

Facilitation Practices:

Catherine has been our project Reading Specialist since 2003 and she has just been named our new FOR-PD Director! Along with her many duties at the office, she is also a dedicated facilitator. She is constantly sharing her facilitation and reading strategies with other facilitators. She is a wonderful leader in every way!

About Catherine:

Catherine was graduated in 1992, from the University of South Florida with a B.S. in Specific Learning Disabilities and in 2001 from Florida Gulf Coast University with a M. Ed. in Reading. She has taught middle and high school students for 13 years. Part of her position at FOR-PD involves working with all participants to ensure that they have a successful experience; producing FOR-PD's monthly Literacy Newsletter and Reading Strategy; maintaining the course links and the FOR-PD's Resources database; working with other facilitators; working with project staff to update the course content; working with school sites who are using the FOR-PD course as school-wide staff development; attending various conferences to promote the FOR-PD Project; and doing a great deal of research in the field of literacy. The areas she is most interested in are adolescent literacy and literacy staff development. When she is not working, her favorite thing to do is spend time with her husband and son. She enjoys going to the movies, computer games, cooking, playing with her two dogs, and traveling. However, you can usually find her with her nose stuck in a book or doing research.

Joy Baldree (Citrus County)
Nominated for: Participation

Facilitation Practices:

Joy has been with our project since 2003 and has been a member of the Facilitator Leadership Board this past year. She regularly participates in facilitator book reviews, chats and discussions. Joy is constantly sharing new ideas for other facilitators as well as suggestions for improving the project. "She had great ideas to promote participation." FOR-PD facilitator

About Joy:
Joy is the Instructional Technology Specialist at Citrus High School in Inverness, Florida. This year she been working on increasing literacy for students through Concept Imagery techniques and working on increasing technology literacy for teachers and students. Joy spends a great deal of time on-line, as it is the nature of her job, but also her hobby. In her spare time, she likes creating things and photograph weddings.

We invite you to share the accomplishments of a facilitator in your district, please email FOR-PD at forpd@mail.ucf.edu.

 

FOR-PD Help Desk Hours

Our Technical Team continues to improve the services they offer. We have created a new Technical Help Web Form to assist participants in contacting the Help Desk with technical issues they are facing. The Web Form can be accessed from a new web page that has the most up-to-date contact information for the Help Desk as well as the latest Help Desk hours. The new FOR-PD Course Technical Support Site will provide a central location with all Help Desk information as well as enable all participants and facilitators to easily communicate problems with the Help Desk.

As indicated above, the Technical Support Site lists the most up-to-date Help Desk hours. Our new hours, effective August 1, 2005 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. For non-Florida calls only 407-249-4702. Technical support is also available through AOL Instant Messenger, screen name "forpdhelp".

 

FOR-PD Notable Quotables

"This is just an example of the wonderful feedback participants give to this course, the gratitude that they have toward us in being flexible, but tight at times, with them as learners, and the overwhelming feeling that they have for all that they have learned. Each time I facilitate a section I am in awe of where learners are at when they finish as compared to the beginning. It is such a magnificent learning process that happens and we are fortunate enough to have been able to have a role in it."
-- Sandra Doughman, Fall 2005 Facilitator

"Your responses to every one of my postings have been greatly appreciated!!! It has reminded me about what it feels like to look forward to a teacher's response and has made me more aware of the feedback that I give my students and the careful necessity of always adding positive comments. Thank you for all your support and ideas."
-- Fall FOR-PD Participant to their Facilitator

This semester the Literacy Log was amended to include a reflection log. The purpose of the reflection log is to help teachers think about the content of the lessons and tie that information to their own classroom practices. Below are a few comments we have received about the new literacy log.

"I too am impressed with the reflection opportunity these logs afford our participants.  They are all individualized - I really like it!  I hope they all made copies - because these are great!"
--Jayna Synder, Fall 2005 Facilitator

"Initially, I was very skeptical about the quality of the Literacy Logs that I would receive this semester- I just wasn't sure what to expect, really. As the fall semester comes to a close, I have received 4 Literacy Logs so far, and I am just blown away by the quality of the responses! I have always believed that this course is a very powerful learning tool for teachers (and I wish that ALL teachers in Florida would take it). I have really been impressed by the value of the literacy logs-I am glad that FOR-PD has added this component as a requirement. The 'reflection' page is extremely valuable- it helps teachers answer the 'why am I doing this?' question. I hope that we keep this new requirement, as I think that it is a great addition to the course!"
--Krista Wilson, Fall 2005 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.