At the tail end of last year, we began offering site-based cohorts for staff to work through the Foundational iPad materials and earn their badges to become recognized as Apple Teachers. Our first cohort met after school to work through introducing each badge area, and we had 15 teachers complete all six badges and become recognized as Apple Teachers.
This year, we were able to spread our program to create cohorts for our K-12 Online School, as well as a middle school and our district's high school that supports students who are new to the country and learning English.
We meet seven times after school. Our first meeting is to support teachers with the logistics of signing into the Apple Education Learning Center, installing updates and apps on their iPad, and downloading the Apple Teacher Learning Journal that we customized for each cohort. For the other six meeting times, as a way to introduce the features of each app, we co-create a project that participants can use in their classrooms or for instruction right away.
These cohorts have been going great; teachers not only build their skills with iPad and iWork apps, but also develop a closer camaraderie to support each other as they incorporate what they learn during the cohort meetings into their teaching practice.
In February, we finished our first cohort of the year and wanted to do something fun to celebrate the staff’s achievements. I designed a simple card from a Pages template to send to staff featuring the image from the cover of the Apple Teacher Journal. I added a short note and an #AppleTeacher sticker our Leadership Executive gave us.
When all three cohorts are finished, our Apple Professional Learning Specialist is helping to coordinate a special Today at Apple session at a nearby Apple Store as another fun celebration and to facilitate connections between staff in the different building cohorts.
I wanted to share the ways we celebrate our staff who are recognized as Apple Teachers and see if there are other ways you support and celebrate your staff as they begin their Apple Journey.
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All Comments
Love these congrats cards! A few years ago I made a certificate template and displayed them in frames. I've been thinking about updating these to spark interest and enthusiasm again. Our teachers here like the stickers too, they have them on their doors and devices.
Amanda,
I love this so much! Kudos to yall for finding a way to work with your teachers to build their skills...AND Kudos to those teachers who took the time to work on that craft! I am happy that you have built these relationships to continue working with your cohorts.
Thank you for sharing. I searched last year and only found a few resources on celebrating Apple Teacher compeletion.
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Posted on March 01, 2024
I love your approach Amanda for your Apple Teacher “Teachers”! Little things like the card, sticker and visit to the Apple Store goes along way to encourage and say thanks. Such good ideas!