Category Archives: Professional Development

Aug 30 2012

JPS Teachers Invest in Technology

With an “app” for just about anything, Jenison teachers are learning that the best “app” for this upcoming school year is spending the day intensively training for a new year with new technology.

To do that, we welcomed Mr. Andy Losik, Apple Distinguished Educator and 2009 Michigan Tech-Educator of the Year, to kick off our professional development yesterday. His keynote challenged teachers to consider the many varied ways that technology can hook, engage, and keep kids focused on exploring and learning. With the early morning charge still echoing in the hallways, teachers left with purpose and embarked on the next frontier: a full day of pull-out seminars with literally dozens of topics from which to choose.

Learning opportunities during the pull-outs were staffed almost exclusively by Jenison teachers instructing their colleagues. They included: Creating Presentations on Your iPad, Student Presentations with Pizzazz, Creating Student ePubs, Blogging Made Simple, I Love My Document Camera, Screencasting Tools to Benefit Students, and many more!

All of this work comes on the heels of the district expanding its technological reach with the purchase of several hundred iPads for teachers and staff. Funds from the recently passed Bond Issue made the expansion possible, and teachers are thrilled to incorporate powerful tools into their teaching.

“We recognize that for most of our students, technology like smart phones and iPads are part of everyday life. Now, instead of separating kids from their devices when they walk through the doors, we’re empowering teachers to embrace technology and use it to their advantage,” said Dr. Brandon Graham, principal of Jenison High School.

We salute our amazing teachers for modeling what it looks like to be lifelong, eager learners. The students of Jenison Public Schools will be richly rewarded by your hard work and willingness to learn!

Jan 5 2012

Professional Development for Secondary Teachers

If you ask me, there’s no better way to kick off the New Year than to spend time growing and learning with colleagues as a professional community. That’s why this past Monday, January 2nd, was such a special treat. Jenison junior and senior high teachers had the privilege of listening to Mr. Kevin Honeycutt, a nationally respected keynote speaker and educator who challenged us to consider the digital worlds in which many of our children live—and the digital skills demanded by the  job markets into which they will be entering as adults.

With a moving personal history, compelling stories of his own childhood and time in the classroom, Mr. Honeycutt pushed us to consider new strategies and loftier ideals. He probed with questions that had us thinking twice:

  • Children, teens, and young adults are playing on a “digital playground.” Are there enough “playground supervisors” to make it not only a safe experience—but a beneficial one?
  • How many of us adults would feel lost without our laptops, cell phones, or digital organizers? Is it appropriate to ask kids, then, to leave their “digital appendages” at home when coming to school? Is there a way to leverage the most powerful computing equipment that our world has ever known—and use it for amazing learning opportunities?

After this exciting and thought-provoking presentation, teachers had the afternoon to learn from their district community about topics such as Google documents, flip cameras and their uses in the classroom, blogging, “bell ringers” (ideas for engaging students in the minutes before/after the bell rings), the electronic library, and understanding the iPad.

We are blessed to not only have had a rich day of learning, but that so many of our educators were willing to participate in the teaching and presenting. It reminds me that our staff is giving and supportive, seeking to partner with their fellow educators in any way they can so that kids will benefit.

Because at the end of the day, that’s why we do it.

We do it for the kids.

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Check back tomorrow for more wonderful photos of our PD Day!