How to Develop Teacher Workshops

Help teachers build their skills with workshops.

New innovations are continually made within the field of teaching. To ensure that they stay abreast of new ideas and theories, teachers commonly take part in educational workshops. By planning and implementing a teacher workshop, you can enable educators to hone their craft and become even more effective. A workshop for educators helps not only the teachers who take part in the workshop but also their students, who benefit from their teacher's enhanced skill and innovative teaching practice.

Instructions

1. Select a relevant topic. Your workshop will likely be most successful if you select a topic that is popular and that is directly applicable to classroom teaching. Explore current educational literature to find a topic that is popular and useful to contemporary educators.

2. Seek experts within the field to speak. Teachers are more likely to follow the advice of someone with proven expertise. Even if you are going to predominantly lead the workshop yourself, it is advisable to have an expert come and speak for at least a small portion of your workshop.

3. Search for sponsorship. A sponsor can help you defray the cost of your workshop. Contact area businesses and see if they will donate food or drinks. Speak to area teacher's unions or education related businesses, such as tutoring services, and inquire as to a monetary donation.

4. Set a workshop fee. The lower the fee the most likely teachers are to participate in the event. After taking your sponsors' contributions into account, divide the remaining cost of putting the workshop on by the number of intended participants.

5. Create a workshop schedule. Select a venue, and a start and stop time for the event. Prepare a detailed itinerary to distribute to workshop participants as they sign up for the event.

6. Register your workshop with the state department of education. Many teachers seek continuing education units or CEU's, as these credits can be used for license renewal. To offer CEU's, you must register your workshop with the state department of education. Contact the department of education within your state to get the requisite forms and properly register your event.

7. Advertise your workshop. Effective advertising will likely draw educators to the event. Prepare flyers, and post them in area schools or school board offices. Send out emails to teachers in which you describe the merits of the workshop, increasing teacher interest and motivating them to take part in the offered events.

References

• University of California Museum of Paleontology: Teacher Workshop Blueprint: Nuts and Bolts
• Learners: Developing Writers