Check out this quick overview video on how to utilize your earned Certificates of Completion. Remember, you can use these certificates to:

• Track Professional Development Hours
• Build a Skills Portfolio
• Create an Evidence of Learning Repository
• Earn Recognition Among Peers

Students have different levels of technology knowledge, and educators should not assume students' skill levels when integrating technology into their classrooms. Edutopia's blogger, Nicholas Provenzano, a high school English teacher offers 3 tips for providing PD to students in a recent blog post entitled Don't Forget Professional Development for Students.

The first time a student told me they didn’t have an email address and didn’t know how to attach files, it blew my mind. Shouldn’t all students know how to send email? Haven’t students been sending attachments for years? That revelation changed the way that I integrate technology into my classroom. I offer three tips on making student professional development a seamless part of your classroom.

1) Model

2) Explore

3) Delegate

Tech&Learning recently featured an article on how school districts are mixing up the way they deliver professional development.  Atomic Learning Customer Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools is featured in the article, sharing how they use Atomic Learning's training library and Custom Training feature:

For online training, MNPS relies on Atomic Learning. Teachers watch Atomic Learning’s videos to improve their tech skills, such as how to use Microsoft products. But the icing on the cake is Atomic’s custom solution, which lets Ray upload her own videos and track their usage. “When one of our five instructional technologists sees a promising practice in a class, we capture it and add to our video library,” she says. “So far, we’ve got 400 videos—on everything from logging in to the network to starting a PLN—and we’re constantly adding more. Many of the videos have lesson plans attached to them.”

A recent Education Week blog article shares 13 questions related to developing an effective personal learning community (PLC). Learning Forward's Executive Director, Stephanie Hirsh states:

Our definition of effective professional learning captures the foundation of the PLC strategy. I have converted the key components of the definition into questions that I invite you to take to your school leadership team, or to your grade or subject-level learning team, to make sure you have everything in place to get you the best results for this new school year.

Do you agree that all 13 of these questions are critical for any professional learning community? Are some more critical than others? Where will you focus this year? Answering these questions will help guide you to a higher performing PLC whose results you will be celebrating throughout the school year.

See the questions to help you develop your PLC here.

Have you heard about Atomic Learning's Atomic Catalyst—instructor-led PD—course centered around Atomic TechCore’s Lesson Wizard, where classroom lessons are created that empower students to achieve the rigor of the Common Core State Standards?

One participant shared:

Thank you for your help and expertise. Learning about the Common Core and all the resources out there online about them has given me confidence to speak up about the standards.

When participants are finished with the course, they gain a thorough understanding of how to create lessons that align to the Common Core Standards. During the course, they have guided practice designing 3 such lessons in a collaborative, facilitated environment.

Learn more about joining an upcoming session and register for the course starting on October 11th!

Using a show-and-tell method, Atomic Learning's Atomic Integrate solution allows teachers to see first-hand how to teach 21st century skills. From professional development to classroom integration, Atomic Integrate provides a variety of just-in-time resources to empower educators with tools and training to ensure student success. CEU and graduate credit options are also available.

The Teacher Assessment lets districts gauge technology skill levels and helps teachers develop personalized learning paths to incorporate 21st century skills into the classroom. Customers have found this to be a great asset to the Atomic Integrate solution.

Is your district struggling with developing a strategic plan to meet the requirements of the Common Core State Standards? Atomic TechCore, a suite of tools for school leaders to build their Common Core implementation roadmaps, is now available.

Atomic TechCore consists of a set of customizable planning and collaborative network tools that assist administrators in identifying the professional development and technology needed for their district to transform teaching to align to Common Core standards, and in communicating the resulting findings and implementation plans to those impacted within the district.

The Atomic TechCore solution includes:
•    Planning tool for school leaders
•    PD and lesson plans for teachers
•    Lesson assignments for students

A recent Web 2.0 Classroom blog post discussed one of the hottest topics at ISTE was flipping the classroom. Aside from that buzz, Steven Anderson shares the concept of flipping staff development in his article.

Anderson suggests using free social sites like Google Docs and Edmodo to start  your staff collaborating online. Atomic Learning has training for both of these (and more!) to train your staff efficiently and provide you more time for collaboration when you're face to face.

As Anderson says, "Try the Faculty Flip" today!

Atomic Learning provides special education teachers and paraprofessionals anytime, anywhere answers to questions about the assistive technology tools and devices students are using. Training tutorials also provide a tool to help keep general education teachers informed on the devices students need to be successful in the general ed setting.

Atomic Learning’s Assistive Technology Professional Development Solution provides over 5,000 online video tutorials on common assistive technology software and hardware. Just-in-time training on accessibility features build into Microsoft® Office, Apple® iPad™, Windows® and Mac operating systems is also included.

This new Atomic Catalyst instructor-led PD course is centered around Atomic TechCore’s Lesson Wizard, where classroom lessons are created that empower students to achieve the rigor of the Common Core State Standards.

Upon completion of the course, learners will:

• Unpack the Common Core State Standards identifying the knowledge and skills called for in the standards they need to teach.
• Identify classroom activities that will help develop an enduring understanding.
• Design 3 lessons that meet specific CCSS.
• Evaluate the process of transforming an existing lesson to meet CCSS and creating an original lesson that meets the standards.

Transforming Classroom Lessons to Teach Common Core Standards

$150.00 | July 16—Aug 27  | Weekly Webinar: Mondays, 6pm-7pm CST

Complete with a custom training tool that allows for uploading and sharing of training specific to a district or school, as well as a comprehensive reporting system that tracks individual activity, Atomic Learning expands training opportunities and simplifies the delivery of professional development.

Atomic Learning’s PD resources can be used as basis for PD sessions and collaborative project work by PLC’s which give PD Directors flexibility and provide variety to participants. Sheri, a District Instructional Technology Specialist at Spring Branch ISD says:

Teachers do not have time to drive across town after school or on Saturdays to sit in a face-to-face skills training class that is totally disconnected to what they are teaching in class. By using Atomic Learning, teachers can access the support and/or training in the context of what they are about to do with their students. Atomic Learning is there when and where the teacher needs it.”

Atomic Learning has recently added new content to its training library. Included in this release are Illustrator CS5 Advanced Training for Mac users as well as 2 new workshops on avoiding plagiarism and internet safety.

Check out all of the new training outlined below.

Training:

Atomic Learning strives to bring you the most up-to-date training resources on the hottest topics. Our new "What's Hot" page shows our latest releases, popular favorites and other new and noteworthy items.

Visit this page often for regular updates on the latest training and resources from Atomic Learning.  In addition, you'll find AL's Favorites, a sample of some of our popular and recommended training and resources. Check out What's Hot now!

Atomic Learning introduces Atomic Catalyst, instructor-led PD courses. Atomic Catalyst courses provide educators the flexible fit of an online course paired with the peer connection of traditional professional development sessions.

An article we found on eSchoolNews from awhile back hasn't lost its luster. If you're planning a 1:1 initiative at your school, you may want to take note. By simply adding new technology to your school the program may not be effective, but when paired with teacher PD on the technology—it's a win-win for all.

"...a big mistake that both researchers and educators make in talking about 1-to-1 computing programs is assuming that by adding computers to the classroom, nothing else has to change."

Read More.

If you'd like to learn more about iPad and laptop programs, check out these free ebooks we've developed to help guide you:

Repurposing Funds to Shift Curriculum

Check out this video taken live at the TCEA Conference in Austin, TX where Scott from SEG Assessment shares how the use of Atomic Learning for teacher tech integration training impacts student achievement through the research he and his colleagues collected over the 2010-11 school year. To see the full research study results, download the report.