We love working with our district champion partners to help grow their training and PD capacity! We believe that training that comes from a local in-district trainer / instructional coach is almost always the best way to approach staff professional development. They will have a much better idea of local needs and contexts, will be readily available for continued support regarding ongoing staff needs and will have most likely already have a great rapport with training participants.

ORSN has a multitude of different options when it comes to train the trainer opportunities, ranging from a very light touch to a more direct and ongoing relationship with regular connections and technical assistance. Some train the trainer examples:

• A lighter touch: A district champion or champions have access to all required materials they have requested on ORSNPD.org and are able to login and access them as needed. They have direct access to our ORSN team, and we can jump in to help and support their work when needed. Otherwise, as the local training and PD experts, they pretty much take charge of all aspects of training and simply use our evidence and research-based resources.

• A middle-ground approach: An ORSN team member and / or ORSN Regional Consultant works with your district champion(s) to organize and setup a scope and sequence of PD and / or PLC dates and times to incorporate our microPDs and wrap-around resources into training opportunities. The ORSN team is on standby to offer continued technical assistance and support when asked. We likely setup quarterly check-ins to debrief training and offer support as needed.

• A more direct on-going connection: An ORSN team member and trainer works with you and potentially collaborates on the first training, PD sessions and / or PLCs. We can even co-lead the training the first couple of sessions and show you how we approach training and how we use our materials. We debrief afterwards and talk about the sessions. Eventually, when our district partners are ready, they take over training and we continue to offer support and technical assistance the remainder of the school year.

District champions will have access to the ORSNPD.org secure website where they will have a curated space developed specifically for their training needs. MicroPDs will be accessed through this space for training, and trainers will also have access to template documents that can all be updated and modified to meet the needs of the trainer. All of these resources are available in English and Spanish. These additional document resources include:

• A template training / PD agenda with included learning objectives and discussion questions
• A template slide deck that can be updated and modified with any additional district or school specific information that may be supplemental to the microPD content
• Additional discussion questions, scenarios and case-studies for use by the trainer(s) for deeper discussions
• A resource guide meant to be used by PD / PLC participants during training where they add their own ideas for goal setting and application ideas related to the microPD content, learning objectives, and additional web-based resources for doing individual deeper dives on the specific content in question.

If your team is interested in following up with ORSN staff about discussing train the trainer opportunities, please click HERE.

Our ORSN team has facilitated hundreds and hundreds of virtual PLC sessions with schools and districts across Oregon. If your school or district team does not have the capacity to deliver high quality ongoing training on your own and are interested in discussing year-long virtual PLCs for your staff, run by our expert facilitators please get in touch with us HERE. We can work with your school and / or district champions to determine your content interests and training needs and we can collaborate with you on how to best accommodate them.

NEW for the 2023-24 school year: We do have some limited opportunities to do in-person PLCs in Oregon and through our national network of Regional Consultants. Adding Regional Consultants is a new process for us heading into the upcoming school year, and we are starting slowly with a limited number of consultant trainers, so the geographic availability will be limited. If interested, please get in touch with us HERE to inquire about potential availability.

Virtual PLCs: Our ORSN-facilitated virtual PLCs can be delivered in myriad ways (we prefer Zoom) and we work diligently to meet the needs and schedule demands of your school staff. Some PLC options include:

• ORSN-led virtual PLCs, which can accommodate up to 60 participants at one time. We use expert ORSN facilitators to join our live virtual PLCs so they can help run smaller break out rooms for more in-depth discussions. Discussions revolve around deeper dives into content, goal setting, ideas on application of gained knowledge, etc.

• Splitting larger groups up into two or more tracks for training. Multiple tracks are often split up by grade level (e.g. elementary and mid-high), experience level (e.g. new staff and more veteran staff) and specific professional responsibility areas (e.g. SPED, ELL, etc.).

• Adding in PLC days and times where the first meeting in a given month is for new content (new microPDs shown, etc.) and discussions center around skill acquisition and ideas for goal setting on application in their professional settings. The second meeting in that given month focuses on the same learning content, but instead focuses lengthier discussion on review of skill application, addressing challenges in application and tips and tricks from peers who were successfully able to apply the newly learned content into their work settings.

• Collaborating with some school partners in a year-long PLC process can also look like our team delivering new content virtually once or twice a month, and follow up review sessions are delivered in person by district and / or school instructional coaches and other qualified staff. Again, we can flex around what works best for your staff!

If your team is interested in following up with ORSN staff about discussing virtual PLC opportunities, please click HERE.

The ORSNPD.org website also has the ability to turn all of our microPD content into asynchronous learning opportunities. Alone, asynchronous learning is not our favorite way to approach professional development, but we also believe it is better than no training at all. Our ORSN team can also work with your district champions to create a PD system where asynchronous learning opportunities are blended into in-person training and / or virtual PLCs.

Our asynchronous learning opportunities take our microPDs and turn them into learning modules that incorporate numerous formative assessment check-in questions throughout each module. Participants receive constructive feedback when they answer questions incorrectly, and always have the opportunity to take another shot at a missed question. Our system tracks progress so they can apply their learning to their own schedule and needs.

Our team can work with your district and / or school leadership to determine which microPD content is right for your training needs. In addition to a custom asynchronous learning approach, starting in the 2023-24 school year we'll also be offering the following two asynchronous learning essentials certificate programs:

New Substitute Teacher Essentials Certificate Program ('Sub Essentials'):

    Our Sub Essentials program is geared towards new substitute teachers who are just entering into service in your district and schools. Many states, Oregon included, are allowing adults with little to no teaching experience and / or education to substitute teach in schools across the country. Much of this is due to a national substitute teacher shortage (see HERE, HERE and HERE). This is problematic and challenging for many reasons. Our Sub Essentials certificate program is meant to give brand new substitute teachers with little to no experience working with students a baseline foundation to help kick start their work in schools!

Our Sub Essentials training will give your staff a base set of tools for their toolkit to be able to successfully start working in your district and be successful with students in the classrooms they are working in. This training is 100% asynchronous, with participants completing it in approximately seven to eight hours depending on their own set pace. In both cases of each of our certificate programs, they are meant to be able to be completed within one working school day. Upon completion, appropriate staff and the participant will be notified, with a certificate of completion being sent to both. 

Please contact us HERE for more details, as we can work with you to customize and extend the current Sub Essentials offering. Training topics include, but are not limited to:

• The roles and responsibilities for substitute teachers and appropriate communication and collaboration with other school staff
• Professional standards and ethics
• Instructional Support Strategies
• Positive Relationship Building
• Trauma Informed Care and Helping Students Regulate

New Classified Staff Essentials Certificate Program ('Classified Essentials'):

    Similar to our Sub Essentials certificate program, the Classified Essentials program is geared towards new Educational Assistants (e.g. paraprofessionals, instructional aides, classroom aides, etc.) who are new to working with students and new to entering into service in your district and schools. Many schools across the country are facing similar challenges in hiring classroom support staff (see HERE, HERE and HERE).

Slightly different to the Sub Essentials program, Classified Essentials is meant to give brand classified staff with little to no experience working with students a baseline foundation to understand their unique role in supporting students, many with particular needs, and the certified teachers that they will be working with. 

This training is also 100% asynchronous, with participants also completing it in approximately seven to eight hours depending on their own set pace. In both cases of each of our certificate programs, they are meant to be able to be completed within one working school day. Upon completion, appropriate staff and the participant will be notified, with a certificate of completion being sent to both. Training topics include, but are not limited to:

• Classified staff roles and responsibilities and team communication
• Active Supervision
• Supporting Accommodations & Modifications
• Professional standards and ethics
• Student Regulation and Co-Regulation
• Staff Wellness
• Positive Relationship Building
• Instructional Strategies

If your team is interested in following up with ORSN staff about discussing virtual PLC opportunities, please click HERE.