Professional development is a critical component of any educators learning process. Changes in curriculum, technology and advances in research require us to seek out learning opportunities to ensure we are providing our students with knowledge and resources necessary. I have chosen three areas of development to focus on over the next year. My first chosen area is early childhood education which links directly to my position as a director of a child care center. Second, I will continue to develop my knowledge and experience in ESL, and finally I will pursue my goal of teaching online at the college level.
Early Child Education/Child Development Course
Sept 30-Oct 2 2010-Austin, TX-TAEYC (Texas Association for the Education of Young Children) Conference-This is an annual early childhood conference that addresses a variety of current topics including technology, child and staff development, and research in the field.
March 2011-Geotech-Dallas, TX-This is a conference hosted at my school, Bishop Dunne Catholic School, it focuses on GIS and Technology in Education. I hope to attend this year’s SmartBoard presentations to help me in direction my research for my dissertation.
ESL
Feb 16-19, 2011-New Orleans, LA-NABE (National Association for Bilingual Education) Annual Conference-Conference with a focus on bilingual and ESL education
Academic
Nov 3-5, 2010-Orlando, FL-The 16th Annual Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning This is the leading conference in online and blended learning at the college level.
March 14 to 16, 2011-New Orleans, LA-International College Teaching & Learning Conference. This conference provides a forum for faculty and administrators to share proven and innovative methods in teaching and learning at the college level
Professional Organization
Renew NAEYC and TAEYC Membership
Join the following:
TESOL-Teachers of English as a Second Language
NCATE-National Council for Accreditation
SECA-Southern Early Childhood Association
Resources
Merlot-Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
Faculty Focus-www.facultyfocus.com