Welcome to the SOMEA Professional Development Committee online! Our goal is for this page to serve as your portal to professional development in the district, the state and beyond. We will strive to provide you with up-to-date links to professional development opportunities and access to online resources that can help us be the best educators we can be.
- NEW WORKSHOPS:
Upcoming NJEA workshops as listed here:
http://www.njea.org/teaching-and-learning/professional-development-main/pd-conferences
http://www.njea.org/teaching-and-learning/professional-development-main/pdo-showcase
- PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS:
SOMEA “RIF” Workshop-March 11, 2013
CHS FOR A Day 2013-March 16, 2013
Dealing with Difficult People Workshop-December 10, 2012
Electronic Communication & Social Network Safety Dinner/Workshop WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2012
Share the Keys Drivers Education Night-November 15, 2012
Evaluation/Rebuttal Workshop-November 26, 2012
Division of Youth & Family Service (DYFS) Workshop-October 29, 2012 (Postponed)
Social Media Workshop-October 10, 2012
WORKMENS’ COMPENSATION-January 10, 2013
Stress Reduction Workshop-January 14, 2013
We encourage you to explore this section of our site to learn about resources offered by the Montclair State University Network for Educational Renewal, Kean University’s Center for Innovative Education, and the Center for Effective School Practices at Rutgers University.
The opportunity to earn professional learning hours is now available to us online through NJEA’s online professional development courses and through PD360, an online professional development tool where educators can access hundreds of indexed and searchable video segments on specific strategies to increase student achievement.
Your 100 professional development hours (earned during a five-year cycle) are now part of your “PDP,” Professional Development Plan (formally known as your PIP). Read about this change and other professional development requirement issues in the New Jersey Department of Education’s Frequently Asked Questions of the Professional Development Program.
In addition to having a district (Local) Professional Development Committee (LPDC), each building now has its own School-based Professional Development Committee (SPDC) comprised of teachers and administrators. The SPDCs are responsible for promoting and managing Professional Learning Communities in each school. This new requirement is part of New Jersey’s Professional Development Initiative for Teachers.
What is a professional learning community (PLC)? A PLC is a team (or group of teams) of educators working together using processes of inquiry, problem solving, and reflection upon their practice to promote student learning. For more information, read A Common Language for Professional Learning Communities.