Expanded Skills Community of Practice

This community of practice (CoP) professional development opportunity will allow Florida teachers to collaboratively investigate a variety of resources to teach the Expanded Skills Standards to students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) on their caseload. It will be a forum to learn more about the Expanded Skills Standards, recommended curricula, how to utilize the standards in specially designed instruction, and how to progress monitor the skills taught. Through this study, the team will collaborate to make the RMTC-D/HH Expanded Skills Year-Long Course Map a robust interactive resource for Florida teachers when planning instruction for students who are DHH. In addition, teachers will create model lesson plans to be spotlighted for Florida teachers.

Upon completion of this COP, teachers will have a bank of lesson plans by standard on the course map.

Audience:

Teachers of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in the state of Florida.

*In order to teach the Expanded Skills course(s) you must have a Florida teacher certification in the area of Deaf or Hard of Hearing (K-12).

Dates and Times:

The first Thursday of each month from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. EST (7:00 - 8:00 a.m. CST), via Zoom, from September 2022 through April 2023. Participants will also network on a discussion board in between virtual meetings.

September 1, 2022
October 6, 2022
November 3, 2022
December 1, 2022
January 5, 2023
February 2, 2023
March 3, 2023
April 6, 2023

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to

use at least three (3) assessments to determine IEP goals to determine which Expanded Skills Standards to teach,
use at least three (3) resources and the Expanded Skills Standards to design lesson plans to deliver specially designed instruction for students who are D/HH, and
use at least three (3) resources to progress monitor student progress towards mastering IEP goals related to Expanded Skills Standards.

Trainers:

RMTC-D/HH staff

Prerequisites for successful participation:

A commitment to

meet consistently,
implement learned strategies in the classroom,
collaborate with colleagues, and
add to the team resource.

In addition, you must be comfortable with technology. You will be

participating in video conferences,
using message boards, and
using Google Docs to work on collaborative documents.

Follow-Up Activity:

Participants will complete at least one Expanded Skills lesson plan.

Inservice Points:

If participants wish to earn in-service credits towards the renewal of a Florida Educator’s Certificate, it is recommended that they contact the school district’s professional development office BEFORE beginning a course to verify the requirements that must be fulfilled. RMTC-D/HH will provide a certificate upon completion of the course and submission of any follow-up activity requirements. The suggested inservice points for this training is up to 20 points based upon attendance, creation of lesson plans, and participation in message boards.

RMTC-D/HH services are available to school personnel in Florida serving students who are deaf/hard of hearing from birth to the age of 22. RMTC-D/HH is funded by the State of Florida, Department of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services through federal assistance under IDEA Part B, IDEA Part B Trust and through a grant agreement with the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.