One of the biggest issues teachers have is not having time for PD. There is a movement to stop long whole group PD and start doing short peronalized PD's Click the image to learn about the 2 Minute PD movement. You can also follow @mpelochino on Twitter.

If  you would like to watch some 2 minute PD videos, just go to Youtube and search #2minPD and watch any of the choices that interest you. Here are some search results http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%232minPD
I noticed offerings in Thinglink, Augmented Reality, and more.

If you like what you see in 2 minutes, then you can try it out or learn more on your own. If you don't like it, you've not wasted much time.  See me if you would like to earn a badge for any PD you do.

Please consider making your own videos to share something you are good at! Piedmont has some amazing teachers and I can help. See me to hash out ideas or if you'd like me to film you and upload it.

Go to Atomic Learning.

Earn CEU's from any computer and choose your own topic that YOU want to learn!

Receive a CEU for viewing ten or more hours of any video tutorials in Atomic Learning. You do not have to submit anything.  Atomic Learning will send an electronic report to MyPD where the hours will be converted to CEU.

Click the image to be directed to AtomicLearning.com . Sign in with  GAFE (Google Apps for Education-your google drive login or see me) to view the great choices.  Select the Access link to see document on access and CEU.  

Thanks to Donna Jessup for this info and to Julia Winegardner for the inspiration.

Inspiration to post this lesson below came from Stephen Ransom's tweet (embedded below).
You can't go wrong with Pernille Ripp!  I love her ideas on  grading (stop it!)

Are you or your students feeling a Springtime Slump?  Time to  bring the joy back to learning with movement in a method i created called "Dance Your Topic." 10 easy steps below but first the rationale:

You should try this because movement wakes up class and engages higher order thinking. Also sometimes students don't realize they don't understand a topic until they try to interpret it through dance or other artistic media. Older students especially have become adept at writing on autopilot so they can spit back words that make it seem like they understand, but they truly don't.   I have also noticed it bonds the class and cuts down on bullying. It also produces a lot of smiles in addition to understanding.

It takes a lot of warm up on the front end to begin the method, but it is worth it and can be used time and time again throughout the year.
Teens can be shy to the idea of movement or dance-based learning and very vulnerable to embarrassment so it is essential to start slowly in most schools.

 Try this topic-based dance lesson inspired by Dance Your PhD:

Helpful Hints:

• You the teacher being willing to dance first (talent not needed-creativity and silliness is a plus. Props ok) in a solo performance to model what you want will help greatly.
  
• To get higher quality performances, critique performances from Youtube - point out things you do and don't want to see in theirs or do it "wrong" first.
  

Step-by Step Instructions "Dance Your Topic"

1. Choose a curriculum topic. Impart information as usual (read, discuss, etc).
2. Play thisdancing video as students enter room (there is a newer one but I prefer the original) then discuss.  What emotions were you feeling as you watched? Would you be willing to meet Matt and dance on video? Why or why not?
3. Tell students the objective: they will demonstrate their knowledge gained about this topic in a unique way: Dance. Tell them not to panic. We will warm up first.
4. Warmup 1- Cooperative team building warm-ups-Goal is student comfort with using movement in the room and using humor to build a creative thinking environment. Stressed students can't think and conversely, relaxed students have much higher quality thought.  I play and imaginary ball toss improv game and also lots of quick partner switching games (get in a group with everyone born in your month, everyone wearing your same color shirt, everyone who's been to the neighboring state...) Any team building that is non-competitive and uses movement will work. Sites that have such games include http://www.deepfun.com/ and  http://www.humormonth.com/resources.html
5. Warm up 2-Forced Choices Activities (students move into one of two lines then one of 4 corners corners based on their answers to each question.)  Begin with fun questions ( pizza or burger?; cupcake or ice cream; car or truck? beach or mountains? Favorite of  4 (one per each corner (Winter/Spring/Summer or Fall?  Italy/Turkey/California or Mexico) then move into asking low risk topic based questions. (Which topic did you enjoy more X or Y?, Which topic will be more useful for your future A or B?)
6.  Keyword Frozen Tableaux  Give students a key topic, event, or vocabulary word from your unit . Have groups of 3-6 arrange their bodies into a Frozen Statues type  frozen movement scene depicting that keyword or topic (advise them to consider scenes at mutliple height levels--some students sitting/reclining, some standing, some up on a chair). Go around room and share/debrief. One student from each group can pop out of the scene to be the narrarator explaining the tableau and if desired the tableau can come to life as the narrator talks.
7. Once students are a bit more comfortable thinking with their bodies, introduce Dance Your PhD as an idea via Jon Bohannon's Ted talk about  Dance Your Phd. I show the first 6 minutes 10 seconds.
   
8. Go over whatever you want your ground rules to be for content covered, group decision making, appropriate touching, etc.  as needed in your classroom.
9. Share a live example of topic based dance (see helpful hints above) if you are brave enough!
10. Turn groups loose to plan, practice then perform a dance of their chapter topics! Give them 20 minutes to plan, 10 minutes to practice and performance is usually just a minute or two. Debrief verbally or as private writing.
    

Congratulations! you have created higher order thinking, and joy with a low-tech, arts-infused lesson you can use again and again!  


Like this idea?

Here is the PD Session I presented at the CMS Tech Conference a while back: "Bringing the Joy Back With Tech". Includes several more ideas for arts and tech integration. Click the dancing image for ideas including movement-based learning such as Lego Serious Play, Frozen Tableaux and my own Dance Your Phd - inspired "Dance Your Textbook Chapter!" joy-based "hard fun" lesson instructions.

Fun fact, Pernille Ripp Introduced me to Parry Gripp! No middle school classroom should be complete without songs like this!

As students can easily learn anything at the click of a button these days, it becomes more and more important that a school function as a community of learners. Otherwise, it's just more efficient to stay home and stare at a screen.

Culturally Responsive Teaching is especially important in an International Baccalaureate school and our focus on teaching culture is one benefit of attending her. However, not all schools are like this. Sometimes teachers are afraid to talk race. Sometimes teachers are blind to it. This may be convenient, but it is unwise.

Although the idea of race is bogus, the cultural impact of it is not. Just recently students in a class that was discussing the racist element of imperialism waved their MAP score graph printouts at me and asked "Why are Asians smarter?"  (This article was retweeted by an academic today. Caution: Language)

Understanding race as a construct that shapes your classrooms and the lives of the students is one of the most iimportant things you can do to become more culturally responsive. However, you need to be prepared. This article is the most useful one to me:

The concept of Stages of Racial Identity Development  is also useful for both teachers and students in understanding how viewpoints can differ as part of normal development based on racial identity. More on that idea here


More Useful Resources on Teaching Race:

For Students:
Understanding Race

For the Teacher:
Talking about Race: Learning about Racism The Application of Racial Identity Theory in the Classroom (PDF)

More on Dr. Beverly Tatum:
http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-03-04.htm
http://www.colormagazineusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=421:dr-beverly-daniel-tatum-on-race-and-education&catid=53:feature