TRAINING LINKS

Professional Development Resources

Following is a list of books, websites, and other interesting resources you might find helpful:

• IWEB-The Indiana Educators' Home Web Site A collection of links, resources, and teacher networking opportunities relevant to Indiana teachers.
• North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's Professional Development Resources
  This page offers resources about "Critical Issues in Professional Development" including ways to implement professional development in order to generate results in the classroom, train teachers to more effectively use technology in the classroom, and evaluate professional development opportunities.

Professional Development Opportunities

• Learning and the Brain Conference
  This one is not cheap ($495) and is in Massachusetts, but it has many enticing workshops that are applicable to effective teaching methods and reading education. Workshop attendance can count toward Professional Development credits.
• National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention
  Many, many significant workshops to choose from, plus some events that are absolutely free. Several wonderful speakers, authors, and presenters will be at this convention.
• The Buddy Teaching and Learning Center
  Funded by the Indiana General Assembly and administered by The Corporation for Educational Technology, the Buddy Teaching and Learning Center provides low- or no-cost professional development to educators in a variety of topics and through a number of different venues.
• Butler University's Children's Literature Conference
  Held the last Saturday of January (January 28th, 2006), focuses on authors, writing, and reading children's literature. The cost is around $85, but there are also scheduled community activities that are free to the public and often include autographing sessions by famous authors.
• PBS TeacherLine offers Standards-based professional development courses that can be taken for college credit or lead to an ISTE certificate. Many are low-cost ($25) and can be used for license renewal portfolios or salary advancement. Visit PBS' TeacherSource to find high-quality Standards-based activities and lesson plans.
• Phi Delta Kappa offers a number of training opportunities for educators. With its national headquarters located in Bloomington, Indiana, it isn't difficult to schedule a training seminar for your school or travel to participate in many workshops. A Summer Institute also provides extensive professional development to educators. All training opportunities are available for college credit.
• The U.S. Department of Education's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative provides a list of multiple types of professional development opportunities including e-learning, conferences, summer workshops, and other training resources. The digital workshops are short training courses that can be taken online and are FREE! For a broader list of professional development resources chosen as "Editor's Picks," visit the USDOE's Continuing Education page.