Professional Development

Each school day, thousands of teachers, and their students, visit Internet4Classrooms.
Internet4Classrooms is available to conduct technology utilization sessions at your school.

Note: Your teachers may produce documents which they will want to save for use in their classroom.
Please encourage them to bring a USB Flash storage device with them to the training session.

Standardized Assessment Assistance - Training designed to help teachers find resources on the Internet to assist them in preparing students for State Standardized Testing such as TCAP, Gateway and others. Teachers will access sites that will support individualized instruction for a student's area of need. Participants will locate examples of tested skills and access actual out-of-date tests for classroom practice. One-half day of training. ( Note : single half-days of training are not available outside of a 50 mile radius from Memphis, TN. Half-days beyond that distance are conducted only as part of a multi-day assignment)

Technology Integration - Training designed to include technology in daily lessons using Microsoft Office and/or the Internet. Participants will explore strategies for using technology within their lessons. Hands-on activities will give participants opportunities to see integration in action and how to adapt these to use with their own students. One day of training . (This session can be expanded to a two day workshop)

Productive Strategies for Internet Searches - Training designed to familiarize participants with productive searching and browsing skills. Special techniques required by search engines will be practiced. Browser skills will be taught such as organizing and managing bookmarks. Specialized search engines will be covered such as image and audio searches. Participants should bring a USB flash storage device to save a list of book marked sites related to a subject or concept. One-half day of training. ( Note : single half-days of training are not available outside of a 50 mile radius from Memphis, TN. Half-days beyond that distance are conducted only as part of a multi-day assignment)

What can a 5-year-old do with a computer? - If your answer to this question is "not much," you may learn a lot in this workshop. Discover how young students can independently utilize Microsoft Office and handle Internet resources for curriculum driven activities. Increase your knowledge about Early Childhood resources which contain free activities for the Pre-K and Kindergarten classroom to be used independently in the Computer Center. One day of training

Using Computers in Primary Classrooms -"They can't read yet, so they don't need computers!" There are many ways which primary students would benefit from use of the computer in learning. Let your teachers find out what their students could do and what resources they could find to help make life in the classroom easier. Learn creative ways to use Microsoft Office applications to enhance learning in a fun way! One day of training .

Non-Mathematical uses of Excel - There are many things that teachers can do with Excel that do not involve number-crunching or data analysis. Graphic organizers of many types can be created; concept maps, webs, Venn diagrams, you name it, Excel can be used to make it. Interactive worksheets can tell students if they select the correct answer on a review quiz or crossword puzzle. Branching stories, the kind where students select what happens next, can be written in an Excel workbook. Let your teachers see what they can do with what they have once viewed as only a math tool . One day of training .

Using Excel to Analyze Data - Practice importing and analyzing real-world data using MS Excel. In this session teachers will find real world data related to their curriculum and use Excel to import the data. A variety of charts will be explored and participants will gain experience making modifications to the charts. Part of the day will be devoted to developing activities to use in their classroom. Experts, novices, and those that fear Excel mightily are all welcome. Step-by-step instructions will be provided. One day of training .

Effective Use of Power Point in the Classroom - Help your teachers encourage their students to go beyond the glitz with PowerPoint projects. The focus of this training will be to enable teachers to guide their students to add various techniques to classroom presentations. Teachers will also learn techniques to help improve the shows they make for classroom use. Action buttons, sending word outlines to PowerPoint, hyperlinks and type-on slides will be covered. Participants will also become experienced at searching for PowerPoint shows on the web and making modifications to those shows (“Yes, that’s legal”). One day of training .

Application Training Offered

1. Using PowerPoint in the Classroom - Introductory level or Advanced level available - One day of training
2. Using Excel in the Classroom - Introductory level or Advanced level available - One day of training.
3. Using Word in the Classroom - Introductory level or Advanced level available - One day of training.

Making Effective Use of the Internet in your Classroom - Training designed to equip teachers with skills and strategies to use the Internet effectively in the classroom. Participants will see where to find quests and internet-based projects, and will see how to adapt them to their own classroom situation. Emphasis will be placed on finding and using some of the outstanding Internet sites available. One day of training.

United Streaming - Training designed to familiarize participants with all aspects of United Streaming; Learning Tools ; Assignment Builder, Quiz Center, Image Gallery, Lesson Plans . Also the session will cover Searching, Streaming video, Using images, Downloading videos and Teacher Handouts. Participants will explore strategies on using United Streaming within their lessons. Hands-on activities will give participants opportunities to see integration in action and how to adapt these to use with their own students. Exploration time to develop and create curriculum units and PPT shows using resources from United Streaming will be given. One half day of training.

United Streaming - If Windows XP or Vista is your platform, training to edit the clips in Windows Movie Maker, adding transitions and music can be added to the training session above making this a full day of training . This is only applicable on Windows XP and Vista machines.

Using WebQuests in the classroom - This two-day training is designed to prepare trainers to return to their schools and help other teachers create their own WebQuests. Participants will become familiar with the basic structure of this way to structure Internet based projects/units. They will be given assistance with finding, saving, and organizing appropriate Internet sites. They will learn to modify a template to produce their own quest. Throughout this session, emphasis will be placed on producing high quality internet-based lessons. By the end of this two-day training each participant should produce a quest ready for use in the classroom. Two days of training

  A Quest for finding Great WebQuests - Training designed to equip teachers with skills and strategies to use for finding effective WebQuests for their individual classroom. Participants will see where to find quests and internet-based projects, and will see how to adapt them to their own classroom situation. Emphasis will be placed on finding and using some of the outstanding Internet sites available. One day of training.

Other Workshops- We will also work with you to create personalized workshops to meet your staff's needs. Our training sessions are not *canned.* Each topic is fine-tuned for the needs of the teachers who will be attending. If you have technology integration needs that are not directly addressed by any of the topics above, Internet4Classrooms will plan training to meet those needs.

Lab Requirements

• Internet connected computers, either platform, running Internet Explorer
• One computer per participant
• Maximum number of participants 24
• Software requirements: MS Office, Shockwave, Flash, Adobe Acrobat Reader

Who are we?

Susan Brooks - Instructional Technology Consultant and Professional Development Trainer - Susan has been in the field of Education since 1971, first as a Kindergarten teacher, then as a school technology coordinator. From 2001 until 2005, Susan was the Technology Facilitator and Infusion Lab Specialist at Hickory Ridge Elementary, Memphis City Schools. She has provided training to Classroom Teachers since 1995, holding staff development sessions in the use of technology integration and applications and also modeling integration in classrooms. After leaving Memphis City Schools, she spends her time maintaining and advancing the Internet4classrooms web site,consulting, and conducting Professional Development training. She has trained after-school technology classes at the Teaching and Learning Academy, the professional development facility for Memphis City Schools, and has worked with pre-service teachers at the University of Memphis. With Bill, Susan was second place winner in the Computer Learning Foundation's 1999 Professional Development contest. In 2004, her 5th grade students won 2nd place in a Technology Academy Award Multimedia Program, beating out 8th grade entries. She has been a presenter at Co-nect Tech Expo 1999, TETC 1999 - TETC 2008, ATA 2005 - 2009, Mid South Technology Conference 2009, and AECT 2002 and has provided workshops for school districts nationally and internationally. . She is a member of the Expert Panel in the AECT Project, Enhancing Learning Through Technology and is a certified I-Safe America trainer.

Bill Byles - Former Staff Development Coordinator at the Teaching and Learning Academy, the professional development facility for Memphis City Schools. Bill has been in the field of Education since 1970, first as a teacher, then as a Staff Development Coordinator. He designed, implemented, and conducted staff development sessions for MCS teachers until his retirement in August, 2003. Since his retirement he and Susan continue to conduct teacher training. He was the 1995 Governor's Fellow to AT&T's Teachers and Technology Seminar and the 1994 Outstanding Science Teacher of West Tennessee. With Susan, Bill was second place winner in the Computer Learning Foundation's 1999 Professional Development contest. He has been a presenter at TETC 1998 - TETC 2008, Administrators Technology Academy (ATA) 2001 - 2007, and at TETA 2000 - 2003. During the 2002-2003 school year, Bill was president of West Tennessee Educational Technology Association. At TETC in 2004 Bill received the TETA Directors' award for outstanding contribution to K-12 Technology Integration in the state of Tennessee.

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