Grand Prairie Independent School District (GPISD), the 17th largest district in Texas, and Discovery Education announced today an extension of its partnership that will bring professional development to educators across the district. On August 15 and 16, nearly 90 members from the Discovery Education team will conduct professional development sessions to support Grand Prairie’s 2,400 educators in utilizing digital resources and instructional practices.
Focused on instructional strategies that result in sustainable improvements in student engagement and achievement, Discovery Education’s professional development providers have designed customized professional learning opportunities for Grand Prairie to enhance teaching. With topics such as “Engaging Students with Multi-Media” and “Read, Write and Think Like a Scientist,” Discovery Education has partnered with the district to identify their goals and develop a customized learning plan that supports its ongoing digital transition.
Preparing educators for the district’s deeper, long-term digital conversion plan, Discovery Education trainers will provide at least four full days of professional development throughout the 2013-2014 school year for every GPISD teacher and principal. These learning experiences will showcase creative ways to motivate students and invigorate curriculum using the latest innovations in teaching and learning. Participants will see and experience model classrooms that incorporate the use of digital learning centers and lessons tied to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
As long time users of Discovery Education Streaming, a supplemental service that provides rich multimedia content, Grand Prairie is continuing to incorporate new digital resources into instruction.
“We use Discovery Education's digital content every day in our classrooms,” said Maura Ayers and Eileen Little, teachers at GPISD. “This professional development will help us integrate this great resource even further into our instruction, ultimately benefiting our students with more engaging and dynamic lessons.”
As part of the partnership between GPISD and Discovery Education, educators will also receive continued professional development support through the Discovery Educator Network (DEN), a community of educators passionate about teaching with digital media, sharing resources, collaborating and networking. The DEN gives educators access to a wide range of technology training resources, a library of teacher-generated projects and tools, and in-person and online activities.
The partnership will also include support for educators as they integrate resources to help engage students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subject areas through Discovery Education STEM Camp. A series of standards-aligned STEM curricula available at no cost, Discovery Education STEM Camp will provide an opportunity toengage students in STEM through hands-on and virtual labs, engineering challenges, digital investigations, videos and career connections.
