Week In Review: 2008-MAY-05 Published 2008-05-09 under professional+development, week+in+review

This begins the first of a series of posts where I showcase issues, ideas, opportunities, and solutions that have come across my (virtual) desk during the week. The source of these posts will be news articles, blog posts, email messages, and coffee house conversations. Obviously, there will be a ton of things to choose from each week, but I hope to narrow it down to just a few that either focus around a theme or represent the most interesting.

This week, the focus is on professional growth opportunities. The first comes from Steve Hargadon who tells us about the first ever live Flat Classrooms workshop from the teachers behind the Flat Classroom Project. Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis are well known for their expertise and experience working in a Teaching 2.0 environment. The workshop will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, July 8 & 9. For more information, checkout www.flatclassrooms.com/Workshops

The second opportunity comes from CUE. There has been some confusion about the future of Google Teacher Academy, or more precisely, who would be taking on the training and when/where would there be more opportunities to become a Google Certified Teacher. But the Academy is back and is being co-presented by CUE. Google's FREE training program is an great chance to gain hands-on experience with Google's many tools for educators. The Academy is taking place on Wed, June 25, 2008 at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Applications are due on May 28, 2008. For more information, checkout www.google.com/educators/gta.html

The last opportunity is really more for your kids. If you are interested in film and film making, then the American Film Institute (AFI) is a great source for learning how to become a film maker. The institute has a strong education component and includes workshops for educators and a recently launched site for hosting videos. They also run "challenges" for high-school aged film makers. The current challenge is the Hometown Claim to Fame film contest where participants submit a short (e.g. 5min) documentary about a local legend or what your town is known most for. The winner receives an awesome video camera package! As this is the first challenge (and response has been slow so far), your chances of winning might be quite good. Contest Rules

Tech Tags: professional+development week+in+review flat+classroom google gta afi