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Blue
Ridge Teacher Training Institute (TTI) is a
flexible professional development model for
developing educators’ ability to incorporate
technology into effective teaching. Institutes can
range from one to three days of intensive training,
tailored for K-12 educators in the Blue Ridge
region. Institute presentations focus on Virginia
Standards of Learning as well as standards from the
U.S. Department of Education, NCTM (Math), NSTA
(Science), NCTE (English), and the NCHS (History).
(As of September 2005, 24 Blue Ridge Teacher
Training Institutes have been attended by 1688
educators.)
Training is available for a variety of emerging
instructional tools, emphasizing hands-on learning
and a collaborative group process. Blue Ridge
Teacher Training Institutes are endorsed by the
Virginia Department of Education; funding is
provided by the Virginia Department of Education and
Blue Ridge East and Blue Ridge West Ed Tech
Consortia.
Institutes are led by veteran Virginia teachers who
have undergone rigorous training (and continue to
upgrade their skills) to be TTI Master Teachers.
They have consistently received accolades from
participants. Breakout sessions demonstrate how to
1) use new instructional tools, 2) implement best
practices in integration of technology into a
lesson, and 3) develop interdisciplinary lessons
using instructional videos, the Internet, and
digital educational tools and programs. Institutes
culminate in participants' design of their own
technology-rich, SOL-based lessons.
Blue Ridge Teacher Training Institutes present
instructional technology with emphasis on the
ultimate end user, the region's K-12 students.
Seamless integration of technology explains,
motivates, reinforces, and reaches differing
learning styles of students who are mastering new
curriculum concepts and higher order thinking
skills.***
Following a TTI, professional development continues.
More than 125 Virginia lesson plans, vetted by
Master Teachers, are available to freely copy from
the Blue Ridge PBS Education Services website.
Participants are asked to share their Institute
learning with colleagues, by scheduling
demonstrations of how to integrate technology into
standards-based lessons. They are also asked to give
generously of their time to mentor other teachers in
acquiring these skills. Some school divisions
require their participants to publish their
field-tested lesson plans for use by others in their
division. Some Institute participants elect to
become TTI Master Teachers, with the support of
their supervisors and their willingness to undertake
Master Teacher training through Blue Ridge PBS's Education Services Department.
For further information, contact Linda Pharis, VP
Education, Blue Ridge PBS, or Marshall
Gillespie, Director of Teacher Training, Blue Ridge
PBS, 888.332.7788
***Means, Blando, Olson, Middleton, Morocco, Remz &
Zorfass, 1993, cited at
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te800.htm
Also note: National Teacher Training Institute
2001-2002 Final Report, September 2002 by Mark Wier,
Deputy Director Educational Development, Thirteen/WNET
New York. 450 West 33rd Street New York, NY 10001.
212.560.6612.
wier@thirteen.org
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