Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/969549
"Having meaningful and appropriate professional development from local educators that meshes with the needs of teachers is definitely part of our post- strike healing process." —Susan Wolters, ILC Rural Cohort member from Calaveras lead professional development in their respective learning communities." Th e C a l av e ra s profe ssi o n a l d e v e l - o p m e n t e v e n t o f f e r e d e d u c a t o r s opportunities to learn about a variety of programs, teaching tools and tech tricks. Educators chose workshops that best fit their needs. Long offered a few sessions on teaching Newsela — a database of current events and stories created for classroom use. Indexed by broad theme (war and peace, arts, science, health, law, money), stories are student-friendly and can be accessed in different formats by reading level. Wo l t e r s t a u g h t c o l l e a g u e s a b o u t managing student use of MobyMax, an online resource that offers free K-8 math, language and reading curriculum that's aligned to the new standards. P r e s e n t e r s a l s o i n c l u d e d C U E A m emb ers Mich elle B oitano on SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words), a program that helps new and struggling readers build the skills and confidence they need to gain reading f luency and comprehension ; and Mikaela Koppers on Google Apps. "Before this, we had outside profes- sional development that wasn't aimed toward our needs," says Long, an English a n d s o c i al stu di e s t e a ch er at To y on Middle School in Valley Springs. "Now teachers are considering what their col- leagues want and focusing on that." " We were on strike for four days in October, and folks in our district CUEA member Mikaela Koppers helps colleagues with Google apps. Teachers listen to Mikaela Koppers' talk about Google apps. 53 A P R I L / M AY 2 018