February's Free Professional Development

Greetings from the snowy Midwest! Even if it isn't cold and icy where you are, February tends to make it seem like you are in a rut (or are living in a version of Groundhog's Day set in a school). Besides taking some time to decompress and get some much needed rest and relaxation, a great way of getting rejuvenated is to take part in some free webinars and education chats. You'll get some good ideas and connect with some great people, and you can do all of this without having to leave the warmth and comfort of your home (this is a huge bonus if your streets are covered in snow, the temperature is below freezing, and the plow has trapped your car in an icy fortress for the fifth time in three days).

Every month, NCTE hosts a lively and fast-paced Twitter chat on a different aspect of teaching English. This month's chat, which will be on Sunday, February 15 at 8:00 pm ET, focuses on the topic, "How Should Literacy Learning Be Assessed?" To get more information and to see archives of past chats, visit the NCTE Twitter Chat page.

Education Week has three webinars this month addressing topics such as teaching writing in grades K-5 (February 5 at 2:00 pm ET), parent empowerment through local school councils (February 9 at 2:00 pm ET), and how to go 1:1 on a budget (February 11 at 2:00 pm ET). For more information or to register for any of these webinars, go to the Education Week webinar page. 

AMLE has a webinar on February 25 at 4:00 pm ET to help teachers use conferencing to empower student learning and foster accountability. As someone who is a proponent of conferencing with students but who struggles with the logistics, I'm very interested in this topic.

The Library of Congress and Teaching with Tolerance have another webinar in their Civil Rights series. This one, which takes place on February 19 at 4:00 pm ET, is entitled "Building Literacy Skills and Teaching about the Civil Rights Movement with Primary Sources."

The Library of Congress is also offering "Free Primary Sources from the World Digital Library," which should be very helpful for English and social studies teachers, on February 24 at 4:00 pm ET.

This last suggestion isn't a webinar, but it is an excellent resource for English teachers. PBS's second season of Shakespeare Uncovered is now airing, and like the first season, it promises to provide an entertaining and insightful look at some of the bard's works. My local PBS station airs these on Friday nights, which is perfect for a homebody like me. However, you watch previews and full episodes (after they air) as well as access other resources here.