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Home : 2005 : June : 7

RF
By Rebecca

We are an RF school. We have to have 90 hours of PD plus the hours with our cadre. We have to attend the Reading Academy for 2 1/2 days this summer. Last year it was more like 4 1/2 days so we are thankful for the shorter
time this year!
Yes, the 90 hours seems a lot! We have a short day every week where students go home at 1:00 and teachers stay until 4:15 anyway. So our LL schedules many of our PD hours then. Also, there are other opportunities to get the hours. The first year, it seemed like a lot but it isn't that bad now. Change is always hard!
We have been excited with what RF has provided

for our school! And we have seen the improvement our students have made. I'm thankful for our 90 min. reading block because we can get so much done with whole group and small groups. I have really learned a lot of strategies to make me better at teaching reading! Our school is in the low socioeconomic area of our town, so many of our kids have little of anything, especially literature rich homes or much experience to bring to the table. It is so awesome to see them love learning! That makes my job even more rewarding!

Yes, I have to agree that we were concerned as we wrote our grant and a little overwhelmed. However, our LL is wonderful and has made it such a positive experience for us all. She has really tried hard to make the PD meaningful and useful for our classrooms. We decide as a staff what we would like to have in the way of PD. We also get paid a nice stipend for the hours put it. We look forward to the wonderful teaching goodies that she has bought over the summer for making our teaching even better for our kids.

Hang in there. Don't get too overwhelmed yet!