TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Teacher Professional Development is the focus of collaboration by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, UC Santa Cruz Extension Center and the AEC. A 120 hour course of study resulting in a Certificate in Alternative Education is being developed for AEC teachers and will be offered by the UC Santa Cruz Extension Center in Silicon Valley as early as Spring 2007. Courses would be offered on alternating weekends and include Pedagogy for Alternative Education, weekends and include Pedagogy for Alternative Education, Motivation Using Creativity in the Alternative Education Classroom and Applied Theory in Alternative Education. An elective course will also be part of the coursework.

Interested districts and teachers can contact Paula Mitchell at (408) 453-6999 or via email at Paula_Mitchell@sccoe.org. Dawn Mitchell is also available to discuss the courses with those interested and can be reached at (408) 861-3820 or via email at dperry@ucsc-extension.edu. Dr. Herman Gill, UC Santa Cruz Extension professor, is involved in the design of the coursework.

TEACHER MINI-GRANTS

Teacher Mini-Grants were well-received last year and we will be offering these again this year. AEC will be sending out applications within the next month. We are adding a couple of requirements that will help us better disseminate the “products” and publicize the excellent work of Alternative Education Collaborative Teachers—our frontline heroines and heroes! Contact person: Linh Hua, AEC Research Assistant, (408) 247-1200 or via email at linh.hua@uwsv.org