If you think you know your job inside and out, take a professional development workshop.

Jeanne Schlecht did. She found out through the Skills for Organizing Learning workshop an easier way to find course conflicts when she is developing the master schedule for Elmira High.

"After 19 years as a control clerk, not only did I learn a new charting technique, I also learned different ways to present the information to the staff," said Schlecht, president of the Elmira Instructional Support Educational Association.

She is among dozens of support staffers across the state who have been trained by NYSUT's Education & Learning Trust to provide workshops for other support staff.

The education and training opportunities for School-Related Professionals are designed to improve overall job performance as well as enhance their skills.

Nancy Juliano of the Syracuse Teachers Association recalls when NYSUT, her statewide union, started providing these workshops.

"It was frustrating, since most of us work in educational settings, to have our professional development needs overlooked," Juliano said. Responding to concerns that districts were not providing training, NYSUT has developed workshops and trained support staffers to provide them.

The Education & Learning Trust now offers 23 workshops, ranging from strategies for struggling readers to managing student behavior. A two-hour workshop on infection control meets state health and education department requirements for infection control and barrier precaution training.

Already trained to offer 11 of the 23 total workshops, Juliano was trained in a new workshop on different learning styles.

A teaching assistant in the Syracuse schools, she thinks the new workshop will make a difference for student learning.

The workshop is based on researcher Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theories. Besides learning about the eight intelligences, participants create strategies for the classroom and other work settings.

Courses are also available to help teaching assistants meet certification requirements. Contact ELT at (800) 528-6208 or at ELTmail@nysutmail.org for more information.

— Betsy Sandberg