Tip:
I have used incentives in the past to motivate attendance and that works. Initially. However, it does not work in the long run. I find the ones most willing to utilize technology and attend additional training have come to an awareness of its value and usefulness.
Things that help are:
- Making time for workshops convenient.
- Providing food (even just different candies, munchies, and drinks are always effective).
- When possible, providing incentives that tie to the classroom.
- Make what is presented relevant to curriculum. They must see how it will improve their teaching.
Specific incentives that worked for our district:
- $150.00 of high quality books for the classroom.
- Keeping the themes light and the pace fast and interesting.
- Having more than one presenter and changing who was presenting. Keep the session interactive with a lot of opportunities for individual and group collaboration.
For technology maybe classroom incentives need to be offering a variety of software programs that might help curriculum and appeal to various grade levels. If the workshops are strong enough, word gets out!
Submitted by:Cheryl Vitali
Resource Specialist
Alta Elementary School
Reed, California
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