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Professional Development Opportunities

Digital Storytelling and Service-Learning - Conference Call
The conference call will be offered two times:
Conference Call One: Monday, February 27, 2007 at 10am PST
Conference Call Two: Tuesday, February 28, 2007 at 1pm PST

This call will be facilitated by John Minkler, Director of the Center for Multicultural Cooperation, and Lisa Whitmer, Manager of the Pacific Region of the National Service-Learning Exchange. Helping youth create videos that document the memories and wisdom of elders in local communities is a powerful way to engage students in service and education. The "mini movies", which use the storytellers' words and personal photographs, teach youth valuable technical and leadership skills, in addition to facilitating intergenerational relationships. This professional development call will illustrate how to develop this type of service-learning project and identify available support resources.

The call will last approximately one hour. To sign up for the time that
works best for you, email Lisa Whitmer at lisa@yscal.org by Friday, February
23, 2007.

When you register, please be sure to tell us:

1. Your Name & Organization and mailing address
2. Your Email Address
3. Which call (February 27 or February 28) you wish to attend

All registrants will be sent an email with the toll-free dial-in call number
and the materials for the call.

Summer Service Learning Institute - Preparing Families, Schools, and Communities through Service Learning
July 10 & 11, 2007 in Philadelphia PA

Young people across the country have been learning academic skills, meeting standards, and finding meaningful opportunities to participate in projects designed to help their families and communities prepare for and respond to disasters or emergencies through service learning. Join us at the Hyatt Hotel in historic Philadelphia for this fun 2 day interactive institute. Participants will acquire knowledge, skills, and resources related to implementing high quality service learning, with an emphasis on school and community safety, disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Teams of teachers, students, school administrators, community based staff, and AmeriCorps members are invited. These 2 action packed days will include youth led presentations, hands on activities, games, disaster response simulations, and many, many ideas for preparing your own schools and communities. through service learning.
For details: http://www.igesl.org/html/service_learning_training.html

Online Opportunities

Service-Learning Marketplace from the National Service-Learning Partnership
This is the only professional services directory that offers information about the services that service-learning organizations provide. At present, the Marketplace features 35 service-learning providers of fee and non-fee services in such areas as policy and advocacy, training, partnerships, research and evaluation, teaching and practice, assessment, and graduate certification. The Marketplace will be updated on a regular basis. Find the service providers you need to help you achieve your service-learning goals: go to http://www.service-learningpartnership.org/ps
 
Teaching Teachers: Professional Development to Improve Student Achievement.
Good teachers form the foundation of good schools, and improving teachers' skills and knowledge is one of the most important investments of time and money that local, state, and national leaders make in education. Yet with the wide variety of professional development options available, which methods have the most impact on student learning? Read more in the new issue of Research Points, the quarterly research brief on education published by the American Educational Research Association:
http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/Journals_and_
Publications/Research_Points/RPSummer05.pdf
 
Free computer classes for Philadelphia adults
[posted from Community Technology Centers Philadelphia listserv]
The Mayor's commission on Technology is still offering free computer training and certification for any resident of Philadelphia. Classes are available in several sections of the city, and they are offered during the day, in the evening, and on Saturday. If you are interested go to http://www.projecttime-pa.org and register. If you don't have access to the internet call 215-685-0770 to register.
 
University of Wisconsin River Falls' Online Graduate Certificate in Community Education:
http://www.uwrf.edu/ogs/Community_Ed/welcome.htm
This online program is geared towards individuals who are interested in being involved with school-community partnerships.  The program is comprised of four, three-credit graduate classes and one, three-credit practicum. It is a cooperative effort between the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the National Community Education Association. All participants pay Wisconsin resident tuition fee.
 
Concept to Classroom's free online workshops, including after school programming:
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/index.html
This website offers free, self-paced online workshops on a variety of engaging and relevant educational topics.  Participants may also obtain professional development credit for completing a workshop.  Courses topics include:

• After School Programs—From Vision to Reality
• Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Redesign
• Cooperative and Collaborative Learning
• Making Family and Community Connections