PCSD teachers attend Professional Development Day

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While Pulaski Community School District students were enjoying a day off on Monday, February 20, PCSD teachers were taking part in a professional development day. Unlike most school districts, however, PCSD did not hire any outside speakers or presenters as part of the day’s events.

Instead, the district’s teachers attended presentations and informational seminars put on their co-workers. The presentations were designed to focus on teaching in the 21^st century, with sectionals highlighting the district’s information technology standards and Pulaski’s Google Apps.

“We were very excited to have a ‘teachers teaching teachers’ format, as all of these sessions were led by our knowledgeable and innovative staff,” District Instructional Technology Coordinator Amy Uelmen said. “This was a great opportunity for our teachers to share their area of expertise with other teachers.”

The teachers attended three sessions of presentations throughout the day, focusing on a variety of 21^st century technology tools that can be easily incorporated into classroom learning. The presentations covered a wide variety of topics, ranging from using Google Earth and Blogging in the classroom to Google Docs, Sites and Forms.

In fact, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mel Lightner was the keystone presenter, providing information about a possible school district referendum for technology as well as other district needs.

“It was exciting to see our staff learning together and sharing instructional practices to embed technology into all of our classrooms,” Uelmen said. “The goal of the day was to impact students with higher levels of learning, engagement and preparation for their futures.”

For lunch, many staff members attended a Butch Reimer Chili Cook-Off. Funds from the lunch were donated to the Butch Reimer Scholarship Fund.

Reimer was the PCSD Facilities Director for many years before dying of leukemia in 2010.

The presentations were held at Pulaski Community Middle School from 7:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.  After the professional development day’s events were complete, parent-teacher conferences were held from 1:30p.m. until 3:30 p.m. at schools throughout the district.