Learn with the MTA and Earn PDPs

The MTA offers free professional development for members to earn up to 15 PDPs toward license renewal. These member-designed workshops cover different areas, including special education and English learners.

For more information, please email the Division of Training & Professional Learning at events@massteacher.org.

Fall 2023 PDP Workshops

This fall, the MTA’s Training and Professional Learning Division will be offering professional development workshops focused on special education, multilingual learners, pedagogy and more. All courses are free for MTA members.

Registration is scheduled to launch on Thursday, September 14, at 4 p.m., so set a reminder to ensure your spot.

If you have a multi-part workshop, you only need to register for the course once. You will be automatically registered for all for all parts of the course.

PDP Virtual Synchronous

October 11 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM Culturally Relevant Considerations for the Multilingual Learner

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Zoom meetings on October 11th and October 25th from 4:30-7:30 PM and asynchronous work completed by November 8th.

PARTICIPANTS MUST ATTEND ALL WORKSHOPS

MTA members may understand the importance of culturally responsive practices at school yet struggle to incorporate the idea into their practice-particularly for English learners. In this course, teachers will learn and implement a framework for culturally responsive teaching and the "how" of what this looks and sounds like in classrooms.

Using a case study model, educators will discuss problems of practice and construct new classroom practices reflectively. By the end of this course, MTA educators will articulate foundational concepts for culturally relevant pedagogy for ELs and create overarching goals for a more embedded culturally relevant teaching practice.

Language equity work is a key component of anti-oppressive education and is essential to meet the needs of all learners.

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of Sheltered English immersion/English as a Second Language during each 5-year Professional License Renewal cycle.

October 18 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM The Use of Force: Teaching Adolescents in the 21st Century

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This workshop will have three Zoom meetings on October 18th, 25th and November 1st from 4pm to 7pm.

All asynchronous work must be completed by November 30.

*PARTICIPANTS MUST ATTEND ALL WORKSHOPS*

This workshop introduces a shift away from traditionally oppressive, compliance-based and coercive teaching approaches to explore enlightened yet practical methods and mindsets for teaching in K-12 education. We will explore personal, theoretical, scholarly and practical issues that influence good teaching at all levels.

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of Pedagogy during each 5- year Professional License Renewal cycle.

October 18 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Multilingual Learning & Special Education Collaborative Practices

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This workshop will be synchronous with Zoom meetings held on 10/18 & 11/15 from 4pm-7pm. All assignments must be submitted by 11/29.

*PARTICIPANTS MUST ATTEND ALL WORKSHOPS*

This project-based course will provide educators with best practices and curated resources to support multilingual learners suspected of having or with disabilities. Using ecological perspectives, participants will analyze key aspects of educational contexts, culturally responsive teaching, and the intersectionality between English language development and special education considerations.

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of Sheltered English Immersion/English as a Second Language OR Special Education during each 5 year Professional License Renewal cycle.

October 26 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Wrestling with privacy: Making sense of surveillance technologies in education

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This workshop will be held synchronously with two Zoom meetings on October 26th and November 16th from 4pm to 7pm. All asynchronous work must be completed by November 30th.

Education is currently the primary target of surveillance capitalism, an economic system in which companies generate profits by collecting, analyzing, and sharing user data, often with the goal of more refined tracking, marketing, advertising, and AI development. Big tech companies offer economic incentives to educators and provide "free" or low-cost software and devices for classrooms.

We will also work with participants to demystify ChatGPT and other AI technologies that are changing the face of classroom learning and schoolwork.

Through the lens of critical media literacy, this workshop is intimately connected to anti-oppressive education through its illumination into the quantity and quality of data that are being taken from the most vulnerable, often without proactive consent by themselves, their families, their teachers, or their school administrators.

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of Technology during each 5-year Professional License Renewal cycle.

PDP Virtual Asynchronous

October 01 4:00 PM - 4:00 PM Understanding the Massachusetts Dyslexia Guidelines

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This workshop will be asynchronous with no Zoom meetings.

This asynchronous course will take a deep dive through the entire document from DESE. Participants will read each chapter, reflect on it and complete assignments reviewing additional relevant materials. The goal of this course is for teachers to come away with a deeper knowledge of what dyslexia is, how to identify it, and best practices for teaching all students, both with and without risk of dyslexia.

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of SPED each 5-year Professional License Renewal cycle.

October 09 4:00 PM - 4:00 PM Using Technology Building Multilingual Learner Family and School Partnerships

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This workshop will take place asynchronously on Google Classroom from October 9, 2023 to November 13, 2023. There are no required Zoom meetings.

This course will provide an examination of teaching strategies which teachers may integrate with online tools to support the success of students, especially students and families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds. This course explores effective techniques for incorporating web-based resources and emerging technologies into classroom lesson plans. Tools include Google apps, Chrome extensions, and other web-based tools. Topics examined will include parent perspectives, parent involvement and building district and parent/family relationships.

The ultimate goal of this course is for you to gain useful tools and information which you may seamlessly apply in your day-to-day duties as an educator. Using Google Classroom as an online class environment, it is our intent that you will find an objective and helpful platform to share your thoughts and ideas, while also receiving insight from other educators. Learning technology can be overwhelming at times therefore we are offering an in-person opportunity for this workshop.

The course consists of 3, 4 hour modules and an additional 3 hours for the final Capstone written project that allows you to create an Action Plan or Parent Workshop for the school year.

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of Sheltered English Immersion/English as a Second Language during each 5-year Professional License Renewal cycle.

November 01 4:00 PM - 4:00 PM Getting to Know Your Multilingual Learners: Strategies to Help Your Students Succeed

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The course is scheduled to commence on November 1st, and all asynchronous work must be completed by December 13th.

The course is designed for teachers who will be teaching English Learners (ELs). It provides an opportunity to review students' WIDA scores and explore the curriculum that they will be learning.

This will enable educators to come up with language acquisition strategies that will help their ELs grasp the content material successfully.

Teachers will be required to bring in lessons and curriculum materials that they can work on in class to begin tiering content for their incoming ELs. The content of this professional development (PD) program will include SEI strategies from the SEI Endorsement/RETELL course.

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of Sheltered English Immersion/English as a Second Language during each 5-year Professional License Renewal cycle.

November 01 4:00 PM - 4:00 PM Fine-Tuning Reading Instruction for Students with Dyslexia (K-5)

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The course will begin on November 1st and all work must be completed by December 12th.

This workshop will explore the effects of multi-sensory, explicit, and systematic instruction to improve phonemic awareness for students with learning difficulties.

A toolbox of approaches and strategies will be reviewed to enhance foundational literacy skills as well as encoding skills. Specifically, the focus will be on components of specialized instructional approaches for students who cannot access the content of the curriculum within the educational setting of focus. (K-5).

This program meets DESE requirements for 15 PDPs in the category of Special Education during each 5-year Professional License Renewal cycle.