This site will serve as a resource for you, the participants attending our PD Week, from July 15th through July 19th. In the navigation bar above, you will find building maps, with the rooms we will be using throughout the week, as well as the daily schedules. The schedules for Tuesday-Friday contain links for each session to their catalog descriptions so you can get more information about them.

Daily Info

7:15-8:00 (Tuesday - Friday only) - Session Sign-ups - On those four mornings, there will be sign-up sheets for all of that day's concurrent sessions in the FA lobby. You will use this time to register for that day's sessions which you want to attend. Please note: Sessions are capped at a specific number of people, and so each sign up sheet has a limited number of blank lines for names. Signing up is first-come-first-served, so be prepared with a second choice if you are closed out of your first. Most of the sessions are being offered more than once during the week in an attempt to make sure no one misses out on something they really want to see.

7:30-8:30 - Refreshments - On all five mornings, refreshments, like coffee and doughnuts, will be available in the area in front of the FA auditorium entrance.

8:00-8:30 (8:15 on Monday) - Whole Group - We will be starting each of the five days as a whole group in the FA auditorium. These days are packed, and we will be starting at 8:00 sharp, so please be in the auditorium and seated by 8:00. For much of the week, participants will be scattered, pursuing your own PD goals. This whole group time will be our only chance to cover topics that we feel are important for everyone to come away from the week with.

11:05-12:05 (Monday), 11:15-12:15 (Tuesday-Friday) - Lunch - Lunch will be served in the cafeteria each day. There will be a variety of options each day, including vegetarian. This is a great chance to relax a bit, laugh with your friends, talk over some of the things you've been seeing in workshops, and get to know some of your colleagues that you might only see a couple of times a year otherwise. If you choose to leave at lunch, please be sure to be back on time for your afternoon sessions. We have a tight schedule for the week, so all sessions will start at their appointed times.

2:45 (Monday), 2:55 (Tuesday-Friday) - End of the Day

Monday

This is the only day of the week that is completely scheduled for you in advance. Tom Cody, from Top 20 Training will be joining us, and we will be breaking our group up so half of us will be with him in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. Meanwhile, those not with Tom will be broken up into three sub-groups, and rotating through a series of other sessions that will help set some goals and the tone for the week.

Use the navigation menu above to see which group you are in for Monday, and your group's schedule for the day.

Tuesday-Friday

The rest of the week will run with a format similar to the Tech Camps we have done in the past. We will start each morning together in the auditorium for a short session. Then, for the remainder of the day, there will be six blocks, with several concurrent workshop sessions being offered during each block. Each morning, you will be signing up for your sessions for that day. Use the navigation menu above to see each day's schedule, with links to the catalog descriptions of each workshop session. You can use these schedules ahead of time to start planning out your week.

A few notes about the workshop sessions:

• Please pay attention to the color coding on the schedule. Some workshops are aimed at elementary staff, some at secondary, and many are applicable to everyone. This does not mean you cannot go to an elementary workshop if you are a secondary teacher, for instance, but be aware that you may find that it does not really apply to your circumstances.
• Please take note of session length when planning your days and signing up. The majority are 50 minutes, but there is a double session and several half and full days. The schedules linked above should help you, visually, see which are longer, and the catalog also states the length of each. So, if you are signing up for a session that is a half day and starts in block 1, do not sign up for anything during blocks 2 & 3, as you will still be in the first workshop.
• Signing up will be done "old school." Each morning, starting at 7:15, there will be sign up sheets for that day's sessions on the designated walls near the lobby, organized by block. Each sheet will have 25 spaces. Once those 25 spaces are filled with names, the session is closed. So signing up is on a first-come-first-served basis. A piece of advice: plan your day the night before, decide on your first and second choices for each block. This will make the process much quicker for you.
• The vast majority of workshop sessions are offered more than once during the week. We will have more than 150 teachers attending PD week. Our goal, as much as possible, is to make sure everyone gets to attend all of the sessions they see as a priority. So since sessions are capped at 25 to keep them workable, they are offered multiple times. So, if you get closed out of a session, check the catalog to see when it will be offered again. If it isn't, then on Friday you will have an opportunity to request sessions you missed.
• Starting Wednesday, there are work sessions built into the schedule. The purpose of these work sessions is to be able to, on your own or working with others, take ideas and techniques learned this week, and create materials that you can use in your classroom in the fall.
  • There are two locations you may go for the work sessions: the library (both floors), or the Adirondack Teacher Center.
  • We are hoping to have some of the presenters in the library for most work sessions, so if you need a hand with something, they will be available.
  • On Wednesday, you may sign up for up to 1 work session, and up to 2 on Thursday and 3 on Friday. We absolutely want people to leave on Friday with materials ready to use in September. But, a great deal of time and effort has gone into planning and carrying out PD Week. If lots of people just disappear for the week into "work sessions," it defeats the purpose.
• The "Back by Popular Demand" sessions on Friday are exactly what they sound like. This is your chance to request a repeat of any session(s) that you may have gotten closed out of, or missed because of conflicts with other sessions.
  • On Friday morning, a Google Form will be opened up for you to make your requests. We will attempt to fill as many of those requests as we can.

Evaluation/Reflection

Please fill out this form before you leave today.