We are fast approaching Winter Break which means half of our school year will be over.  As we approach the midpoint, it is important that you consider how many hours of unscheduled in-service you have earned.  Teachers who are required to complete six parent contact hours must complete eighteen hours of unscheduled in-service credit.  Classified employees and certified employees who do not have parent contact hours need to complete an additional 6 hours of staff development or assigned work outside of the regular contract day for a total of 24 hours.  Based on this requirement, it is recommended that you have at least nine to twelve hours of unscheduled in-service credit completed by the time you leave for Winter Break.  Many of our teachers have completed their unscheduled in-service time through summer institutes, building level study teams, SACs committee work, and other professional training outside of the regular contractual day.

If you need additional hours, the system has made available additional opportunities beyond our traditional workshops and study teams that include the following:

• Hundreds of Hours of Free on-line courses through the Annenberg Workshops and Courses and through the U. S. Dept. of Education
  
• Additional teacher-led workshops at Sarah Simpson Professional Development/Technology Center
• Additional opportunities for teachers to work within study teams they design
• Saturday workshops
  
• Additional free virtual workshops offered on-line through Middle Tennessee State University so you do not have to drive to attend

To find out more about how to complete an on-line workshop through Annenberg and the U. S. Dept. of Education, go to the Knox County Schools Website and click the Tab “Online Services” and select Teacher U/ERO.  Log on to Teacher U/ERO using your employee number and pin.  Click on “Course Catalog”,  find “Curriculum Category,” and fill in “Online Courses”.  Click on “Annenberg Workshop and Courses” or the “U. S.  Department of Education On-line Courses” for directions on accessing sessions at either of these sites.  Information about live and archived broadcasts from Middle Tennessee State University also can be found under “On-line Courses.”

We believe that Knox County Educators will make the best use of staff development hours when they have the opportunity to make decisions based on the instructional needs of their students.  It is our goal that more of each teacher’s staff development will be completed in small groups studying best practices, student work, or developing common assessments and lessons to improve instruction.  The best staff development is that which occurs regularly, is job embedded and is tied to what is going on in your school and classroom .  Unscheduled in-service must still occur outside the regular contract day and may not be earned on personal days, comp days or when a salary/stipend is paid to the participant.  If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me, Rodney Russell, at russellr@k12tn.net.