Great Resources for Staff Development

I recently received an email from a blog subscriber that I wanted to share with everyone:

"I had the good fortune to recently attend the Student Equity and Access Professional Development Conference in Baton Rouge and wanted to let my colleagues know about two great resources for staff development. The first is a keynote speaker on working with students and families in poverty. It was sobering to hear Dr. Donna Beegle talk about growing up in poverty and the challenges many people, young and old, wake up to every day. Her message is that as educators we need talk about and better understand how poverty impacts learning and utilize strategies that work to help all students succeed in the classroom and in life. Dr. Beegle suggests that everyone should take Poverty 101 because our perception is not their reality. Go to her website, Communication Across Barriers, at http://www.combarriers.com/ to learn more.

The second great resource I learned about for staff development is Taking the Road Less Traveled II. The presenter, Jane Huston, talked about barriers that were keeping students from choosing a nontraditional career pathway and pursuing a nontraditional job, and suggested that stronger communication with our students, parents and community leaders about the opportunities and benefits of a nontraditional career is key. She also recommended that our district and state plans include more emphasis on career exploration in early education. The feature on the CD toolkit that I really like is how easy it is to access all the resources within the toolkit by simply clicking on a button. For instance, if you choose to view the modules on your computer, you can click on numerous links that have been provided to take you to sights with additional information, video shows, games, and lessons. They have also included PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and brochure templates that can be customized for your school. MAVCC has more information on the CD toolkit at their website, http://www.mavcc.com/ . I went there and was surprised to see how many resources they have available for CTE."

I hope you will take the time to research both of these sites. They are excellent resources for your programs. Also, I think I need to get out of my office so I can find more great resources for you! It looks like I missed a great conference!!! J.T.