The second year of our “Lean Into Learning” professional development grant initiative was a huge success. Educators took on a variety of learning activities. We awarded $90,000 for educators from 15 districts and many more schools to attend conferences, visit schools across the nation, collaborate with neighboring districts, participate in online learning through Harvard Graduate School of Education, attend Stanford FabLearn 2017, and participate in a make and take Raspberry Pi workshop. Our community of innovative educators is ready to learn and grow in all kinds of unique and exciting ways. We understand that professional development can take many forms and are open to different ideas and initiatives.
Thirty four grants were awarded to educators from the following places:
- Parkway School District
- Ritenour School District
- Lindbergh School District
- Sunrise R-IX School District
- Mehlville School District
- Whitfield School
- Alton School District
- Ferguson Florissant School District
- Tower Grove Christian School
- University City School District
- Rockwood School District
- Louis Public Schools
- Webster Groves School District
- Fox C-6 School District
- Clayton School District
- Affton School District
If you don’t see your school or district, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and apply! Learning is fun and most expenses are covered in this exciting grant opportunity where you get to choose your own experience.
Looking for inspiration? Check out all these great professional development ideas from the 2016 Lean Into Learning recipients:
- iNACOL Conference, Orlando Florida
- Lewis and Clark Makerspace, Epic Elementary School Visits, Kansas City, MO
- National Gifted Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Writing Exchange for teachers between Fox C-6 and Sunrise R-IX School Districts
- Missouri Alternative Education Network, Lake Ozark, MO
- National Council for the Social Studies Conference, San Francisco, CA
- Vernier Summer Institute, Beaverton, Oregon
- Harvard Graduate School of Education online course taken by a small group of educators entitled: Visible Thinking: Building Understanding through Critical and Creative Thinking
- Long Elementary Collaborative Professional Development Day with some time spent at the CET
- Project Based Learning workshop at Education Plus, St. Louis, MO
- PBL 101 Conference, Buck Institute, Columbus, Ohio
- Collaborative Work Session at Ritenour School District professional development day featuring the following outstanding local educators: Adam Hamilton, JaNekka Hutchinson, Manuel Herrerra, Austin Houp, and Chris McGee
- Conference on Cultural Connections and Interrupted Learning at Ed Plus
- National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), Chicago, IL
- LEAP InnovatED Summit, Chicago, IL
- High Tech High School Visit, San Diego, CA
- Taylor County School Visit, Campbellsville, KY
- 0 Schools Visit, New Orleans, LA
- MO Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Convention, Lake Ozark, MO
- Project Lead the Way Summit, Orlando, FL
- MoreNet 2017 Conference, Lake Ozark, MO
- Learning Forward Conference, Orlando, FL
- American Association of School Librarians Conference, Phoenix, AZ
- FabLearn Conference at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
- Ed Tech Teacher Summit, Boston, MA
- Hosted local learning workshop where every participant received their own Raspberry Pi
The online application will open again on June 1, 2018. Professional development opportunities must be completed by December 31, 2018 and there is a $3000 limit. Apply early because funds ran out in September of 2017! ITEF is excited to support educators as learners. More information about this initiative can be found on our website. https://innovteched.wpengine.com/2017/04/05/lean-into-learning-2016/