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    focus logo   2017-2018 (Year 3) Professional Development
     
     

    North Allegheny's professional development efforts are led by Mrs. Karyn Dobda, Coordinator of Online Learning and Professional Development and Dr. Tammy Andreyko, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Assessment, and Professional Development. Professional development is a focal area of the District because effective professional development for teachers has an enormous impact on teaching and learning. Teachers must experience sustained and high quality professional development experiences for improved learning outcomes to be realized.

    Research from the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE) also reveals that high quality professional development is job-embedded, personalized, and designed to promote skill transfer. Professional learning experiences must respond to teachers’ interests, needs, and classroom settings. In many cases, these types of learning experiences can extend beyond the traditional school in-service setting to include webinars, Twitter chats, and other virtual experiences. This type of dynamic instruction helps both teachers and students alike. Research reports that teachers who use technology frequently place the highest emphasis on using technology to promote problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication. For these reasons, North Allegheny School District strives to provide a variety of the highest quality professional development opportunities to our staff.

    Based on the Spring 2018 BrightBytes survey, 38% of North Allegheny teachers are spending more than 17 hours in technology related professional development; although this number stayed the same as the prior year the percentage has more than doubled from four years ago.  The amount of professional development teachers participate in is important because research  shows that 14 hours of high quality professional development on a single topic is needed before the effect is statistically significant.  Fifty-six percent (56%) of teachers report the quality of professional development as excellent or above average. NA teachers are exceeding their colleagues within the county, state, and across the nation when it comes to the amount of time spent per year participating in technology related professional development.  Thirty-six percent (36%) of teachers in Allegheny County, 25% of teachers in Pennsylvania, and 27% of teachers across the nation spend more than 17 hours per year learning about technology and only 34% of the professional development is rated as above average or excellent.
    Dr. Tammy Andreyko
    Dr. Tammy Andreyko

     

    Mrs. Dodba
    Mrs. Karyn Dobda
     
     
     
     
     NA Teacher Time Spent in Professional Development
     
     
     
    Bar Graph of Teacher Hours of Professional Development
     
     
    Solid bars represent 2018 data, Striped bars represent 2017 data, Diagonial lines
    represent 2016 data, and speckled represent 2014 data
     
     
     
    Professional Development for Teachers
     
    Technology Integrators and Embedded Professional Development

    One of the key components identified by the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) that enhances a successful migration to a 1:1 environment is the addition of Technology Integrators into the schools. These individuals bridge the gap between technology, classroom, and students. Teaching in a 1:1 environment requires the acquisition of a new skill set for many teachers. Technology Integrators provide embedded professional development for educators

    All of North Allegheny Technology Integrators are certified teachers who also possess a robust technology skill set. They are experts in how to effectively utilize technology in the classroom. Technology Integrators work directly with teachers acting as a coaches to navigate a technology-rich environment. Integrators co-teach and co-plan with the teachers, while also serving as a resource to the Information Technology Department as software and applications are selected and implemented. The Integrators routinely work with building principals to set building-level goals for technology and to coordinate building-level operational issues. It is not uncommon for Technology Integrators to also work directly with students, helping them to gain new confidence in the use of devices through the acquisition of new technological skill sets.

     Meet North Allegheny's Curriculum Team and Technology Integrators
     
     Curriculum Team 2017
    Front Row: Mrs. Christy Franck (CMS, IMS), Mrs. Nancy Creasy (Administrative Assistant - Curriculum Office), Dr. Tammy Andreyko (Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Assessment and Professional Development), Mr. Tony Gentile (MMS/IMS), Mrs. Jordan Cotten (NAI), Mr. Chuck Samek (MES, PES), Mrs. Laura Pacini (BWE, IES), Mrs. Dana Oliver (NASH), Mr. Matt Heckmann (MCK, PES), and Mrs. Monika Tomko (Administrative Assistant - PD Office)
    Back Row: Mr. Tom Ward (FES, HES), Dr. Kathy Curran (Coordinator of Academic Technology and Instructional Services, and Mrs. Karyn Dobda (Coordinator of Online Learning and Professional Development)

     
    2017 Summer Workshops - (17 sessions)
    In the summer of 2017 the District offered  a series of 3-hour workshops on a variety of technology topics. Summer offerings included:
     
    • Become an Apple Certified Teacher (K-8)
    • Design Your Own Breakout! (K-12)
    • Digital Citizenship for Teachers (K-12)
    • Fostering Creativity on the iPad (K-5)
    • Google Activities for the Elementary and Middle School Classroom (K-8)
    • Google Drive for the Primary Teacher (K - 3)
    • Integrating Technology into Primary Learning Centers (K-3)
    • Intro to Breakout EDU/Digital Breakout (K-12)
    • iPads in a 1:1 Classroom (4-8)
    • iPads in a 1:1 Elementary Classroom (K-5)
    • iPads in a 1:1 Middle School Classroom (6-8)
    • Let's Get Organized! Organization and File Management (6-12)
    • Nearpod: Creating Engaging Presentations (K-12)
    • Next Steps with iPads in a 1:1 Classroom (4-8)
    • Next Steps with iPads in the Middle School Classroom (6-8)
    • Now that you are an Apple Teacher...What's Next? (K-8)
    • Updating your Blackboard Class (6-12)
     
    2017-2018 After School Workshops -  (17 sessions)
    After School Workshops are 90-minute professional development activities on targeted topics. Teachers from any building are welcome to attend any after school workshop. The workshops are scheduled in various buildings throughout the District during the school year.  Workshops offered this year included:
     
    • Ask Your Tech Integrator: Open Forum (Middle School – 3 sessions)
    • Apple Classroom App (Middle School – 1 session)
    • Digital Breakout EDU (Elementary – 1 session)
    • Formative Assessment Apps  (Elementary – 1 session)
    • Google Expeditions (Elementary – 2 sessions)
    • Google Everything (Elementary – 2 sessions)
    • iPads in the Classroom (Elementary – 2 sessions)
    • Tech BINGO (NAI and NASH – 4 sessions)
    • What’s new with Nearpod? (Middle School – 1 session)
     

    2017-2018 Traditional Full-Day Workshops - (14 sessions)
    Professional development workshops are optional full-day training sessions for staff and are offered during the school day; sessions are typically led by North Allegheny staff. Class-sizes were limited to 18 participants; to accommodate as many staff as possible. Staff may not take more than two workshops per year.
     
    • Best Instructional Practices with iPads in the Classroom (K - 8)
    • Designing your own Breakout EDU! (K - 12)
    • Gettin' Google with It! (K - 12)
    • Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom (K - 3)
    • Introduction to Flipped Classroom (K-12) 
    • Let's Get Organized! File Management Tips for Students and Teachers (4 -12)
    • National Geographic: Using the Geo-Inquiry Process (K - 12)
    • Personalization with Blackboard (6 - 12)
    • Reading + Writing + Talking + Technology (K - 12)
    • Implementing Positive Classroom Management Strategies (K - 12)
    • iPad Activities in Elementary Centers (K - 5)
    • Selecting the Most Appropriate Formative Assessment Tool (K-12)
    • Sketchnoting in the Classroom (K - 8)
    • Take a Deeper Bite out of the Apple: iSuite Apps (4 - 8)

     
    2017-2018 Tech Chats
    Tech Chats are casual building-based professional development activities that range from 20-40 minutes on a specific technology that may be new to a building or has been requested by the building staff.  The goal of a Tech Chat is to increase awareness of tools and/or features, but not necessarily to provide in-depth instruction on the topic being shared.
     
         
    • 1:1 iPad Q & A
    • Adobe Spark
    • Apple Classroom
    • Canva
    • Creating GIFs
    • Flipgrid
    • FlipQuiz
    • Getting Ready for 1:1 iPad
    • Google Apps for Paraprofessionals
    • Google Drive
    • Google Everything
    • Google Expeditions
    • iMovie
    • iPads in the Classroom
    • Kahoot
    • Makey Makey
    • Mirroring 360
    • Nearpod
    • Notability
    • Osmo
    • Promethean ActivConnect  
    • Promethean ActivPanels
    • Puzzlets
    • QR Codes
    • Quizalize
    • Quiziz
    • Quizlet Live
    • Socrative
    • Sphero
    • Student Apps Overview for Paraprofessionals
    • Tech to enhance student collaboration
    • Tech to enhance student communication
    • Tech to enhance student creativity
    • Tech to enhance student critical thinking
    • Twitter
     

     
     
       
    Personalized Learning Opportunties
     
    Personalized learning is on the rise for all learners in our schools – including our professional staff. Personal learning plans, which is content tailored to fit learner or adaptive curriculum can provide to learning that fits a grade level or subject needs or interest.  Some educators may to personalize their learning by choosing to dive into a subject by combining resources found on Twitter with viewing a video library of best practice. For others, a path to personalized PD might involve in-person coaching and online courses, combined with video feedback tools.  Regardless of the individual paths many of our North Allegheny educators personalizing their professional development.
     
     
    Tech Bingo
    		  
    Apple Certified Teacher
    		  

     Tech Bingo Card Image

    Teachers at NASH and NAI have been playing "Tech Bingo" during the 2017-2018 school year to build their skills in flipping lessons, using new apps, creating video along with a host of other activities.

     

     Apple Teacher Logo

    100% of the all Middle School teachers earned their Apple Certified Teacher Designation in the Spring and Summer of 2017. 

    This require the teachers to earn badges demonstrating their understanding and skill with: iPad use, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, GarageBand, Productivity with iPad, and Creativity with iPad.

     
     

     
    Opportunities for Students
     
    Fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth grade students participated in “Digital Boot Camps”  to be oriented to their devices. The boot camps were mandatory for students and held during the school day.  Below are links to the boot camp presentations.
     
    NAI Student Boot-up Camp
     
    		  
    MS Student Apple Core Day
     
     
     Link to NAI Boot-up Camp      Link to MS iPad training
     
     
    Elementary Student Apple Core Day
     Link to Elementary Boot-up Camp