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KSDE AEOP Members Benefit from Webinars

From the Fall Issue of Kaleidoscope, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3 - Kansas Association of Education Office Professionals Newsletter by Gwen Kramer, KSDE AEOP President.

What can we do to make professional development more meaningful, helpful, and beneficial for
local members? That is the question local members of the Kansas State Department of
Education (KSDE) AEOP charged officers with trying to figure out. Not all members are able to
attend the state or national conferences where professional development happens. Some of
the reasons that prevent members from attending conferences are cost, interference with family
time, and time away from work when conferences are scheduled.

Searching the internet was one method used to find professional development relevant to the
needs of the state department and assistants in general. Joan Burge webinars kept popping up
for training of assistants. After viewing some of the series, it was decided to use them for local
professional development training. The webinars are FREE of charge and 26 weeks in length.
There is a blog connected with the trainings to make comments and ask questions which is a
great way to expand your professional network.

A process was set up to help members get the most out of the trainings. KSDE AEOP is
allowed to hold business meetings each month during the work day for an hour. The officers
decided to cut the business portion of the meeting to 30 minutes which hopefully makes it a
more efficient use of time. For the remaining 30 minutes, discussion time was set aside for the
webinars. Viewing of the webinars is up to each individual and can be done during work hours.
The average length of a webinar is 7-10 minutes. The time for each webinar is listed so time for
viewing can be planned. There are 26 weeks in the Joan Burge free webinar series. The
officers divided it out for the year and decided it would take 7 to 8 months to complete the
series if we did at least 4 per month. To receive credit for an agency professional development
certificate, each participating member is required to bring a comment or question about each
webinar to share with the group. Due to the timeframe allotted, not all questions and comments
can be discussed. For the benefit of all, the comments and questions will be compiled into a
document to be shared at the end of the training.

Joan Burge webinar trainings focus on soft skills to be used in the assistant workforce. Joan
assigns exercises to try with your boss or immediate supervisor at the end of each webinar. A
different perspective is sometimes refreshing to the tasks we tackle every day.

Positive feedback from the webinars has been experienced by KSDE AEOP members to date.
If more information is needed, visit www.officedynamics.com and consider joining the Joan
Burge 26 weeks of free webinars.

Webinar Schedule