Greetings from NCCAT! I wanted to let you know about some current NCCAT efforts and what is ahead.

First, we are extremely thankful for your support and the General Assembly action to return NCCAT to recurring status in the state budget. It is a vital step in NCCAT moving forward and continuing to provide high-quality professional development for the teachers of North Carolina.

NCCAT is proud to announce another option for teachers who are seeking new skills and understanding. As an extension of our face-to-face programming and our current focus on Digital Learning and Early Grades Literacy, NCCAT will be rolling out a series of self-contained mini-courses that are designed to be immediately helpful for teachers who are seeking new knowledge. These courses will be hosted on the NCCAT Online Learning Portal and are open to any North Carolina public or public charter school teachers at no cost to you or your school.

This program offers educators the remarkable opportunity to meet in a residential setting devoid of distraction to create and advance departmental, school, and district-wide projects. These projects might consist of new programming, research, planning, or curricula. Teachers, administrators, central office personnel, or district coordinators are encouraged to form a team. Contact us today to find out more.

Upcoming Research and Development Teams Offerings

We're excited about a new way to connect with teachers that started this week in NCCAT in Cullowhee. At NCCAT we know that the beginning of the year is one of the worst times to be out of your classroom for an entire week. Yet this is also the best time to implement new instructional and managerial strategies. In an effort to provide just-in-time professional development opportunities that create minimal scheduling stress for as many teachers as possible, we are offering a complement of one-day sessions:

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will sponsor the fifth annual Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement (CCSA) on March 30-April 1, 2015 in Greensboro. The CCSA reflects the Agency’s efforts to accommodate some of the economic challenges experienced by schools and communities by providing a multi-faceted professional development opportunity for educators and education stakeholders. This conference is designed to consolidate several conferences into one by merging the Accountability, Safe Schools, and Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps conferences.

NCCAT will be hosting "Legal Information for Teachers" Sept. 19-21 in Cullowhee. The conference will examine law that supports and protects students and teachers, and explore avenues for avoiding and resolves conflict between teachers, parents, students, administrators, and school staff. Administrators are welcome and encouraged to apply and to bring a team from their school(s).

Topic will include:

Ethics, Morals and Laws

Teacher Employment Issues

Cyberlaw/Cloud Computing/Cell Phones

Teacher Ethics

Technology and Social Media

By Ernest H. Johnson, Ph.D.

From NCCAT Director of Programming Dr. Jonathan Wade - An example of gamification in Higher Education. Ivanhoe is a Wordpress blog based "game" that can be customized for multiple subject matter areas. If any of you are "game" to try, I'd love to hear about it.

Click here for the link to the blog.

Let us know if you are game for gamification with a comment below!

The Literacy Programs at NCCAT are a perfect opportunity for school teams (including administrators and counselors) to cultivate their plans for addressing reading problems at their school. Our approach is unique in that you will have time to work collaboratively with our program faculty to develop strategies to implement reading programs in your school. We also cover successful strategies for engaging parents and suggest ways to locate funds (MONEY) and reading resources for your classroom.