New York CTE Professional Learning Resource CTE teachers and administrators in New York have a new professional learning tool CTE Learn. The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) has created a set of online professional learning tools and content now available in New York. Whether you are looking for engaging professional development or a more convenient way to obtain continuing education credits and advance your career, these online courses will be helpful. This resource…

Professional learning takes many forms; four different types are shown in the four quadrants in the right figure. Two variables define the quadrant, which primarily benefits (individual person or school) and structure ( formal or informal). The four types created from these variables are training, course, workshop, and collaboration. All are valid and useful to educators.

An example of training is when a school adopts new data software or adopts a security plan. Everyone needs…

Efforts to teach soft skills frequently lead to teacher frustration and disappointment. This is not because these critical aptitudes can’t be developed, but because the “teaching” approach used often mimics teaching content knowledge. 

Soft skills - or as I prefer to call them, Life/Career abilities are the behaviors, mindsets and character traits that contribute to students’ life readiness. Life/Career abilities is a positive label to…