Professional+Development+Writing+Style+Guide

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=**Style Guide for Writing and Editing OIT Professional Development**=

Each Class will consist of four one-hour Sessions. Each Session will have three main deliverables: 1) the Facilitator Agenda, 2) the Participant Agenda, and 3) the PowerPoint Visual. There may also be Additional Resources that are associated with a particular class.

The “Facilitator” is the leader of the OIT class, and the “Participant” is the educator being trained in an OIT training session. These two terms are used to keep them distinct from “Teacher” and “Student,” which are used in the traditional sense of adults instructing children in the classroom.

The Facilitator Agenda is used by the Facilitator to prepare for the session. It is not used during the session itself, but will be made available to the participant after the session if he or she wishes to review it. The Participant Agenda will be used by the participant during the workshop itself. It contains instructions and links that the Facilitator will use to guide the participants through the session. The PowerPoint Visual is a presentation that the Facilitator will project on a screen during the session, and may use to demonstrate concepts or provide more information.

In all deliverables, please check for any errors and inconsistencies. The three main deliverables all describe the same one-hour session, and so they must align exactly (titles, focusing questions, discussion questions, instructions to participants, etc.).

The Facilitator Agenda is the one that contains the content of the workshop, and therefore has the most detail. The Participant Agenda and PowerPoint Visual are used during the session itself, and therefore only have as much detail as is practical. For this reason, some additional guidelines for the Facilitator Agenda are provided here.


 * __The Facilitator Agenda__**

Facilitator Agendas should all conform to the new template and written in Arial 10. Adhere to the section descriptions that are included at the bottom of the template document as follows:


 * TEMPLATE DESCRIPTION**


 * Each session contains the following components and can be conducted in 45–60 minutes:****

This is a concise summary of the session, and how it fits into the training series as a whole.
 * Session Overview**

These are the specific questions that guide the session. The purpose of the session is to address these questions.
 * Focusing Questions**

This is a list of all materials that the facilitator must make sure are present at the training site, including technology resources.
 * Materials**

All handouts can be found linked from the Resources section of the participant agenda. Participants will be able to access these materials online during the session, but the facilitator should review them ahead of time, and any instructional support charts should be posted in the room before the session begins.
 * Resources**

The facilitator explains to the participants what will be covered in this session, how it fits into the training series as a whole, and how it may be incorporated into their reflective practice.
 * Framing the Session**

This is a short period of facilitator-led instruction designed to prepare the participants for their work time. The facilitator might demonstrate a specific use of technology in an authentic curricular context, selected participants might be invited to share relevant experiences, or the group as a whole might contribute to a shared brainstorming list. The facilitator should be careful to avoid giving a lengthy lecture or straying too far from the focusing questions.
 * Teaching**

Sometimes it is helpful for the facilitator to walk the participants through a process step by step. This gives the participants the hands-on experience of work time before losing the scaffolding of facilitator-led instruction.
 * Guided Practice**

The facilitator gives instructions to the participants for their work time, and lets them know what they will be expected to share at the end of the session.
 * Getting Started**

Participants are given time to practice the specific process they have seen demonstrated. They may be working independently, with a partner, or in small groups.
 * Participant Activity**

As participants work, the facilitator moves around the room holding short conferences to help guide the work and make it more productive. The facilitator should be at eye level with participants during each conference. These conversations need not be especially private; the facilitator may invite someone sitting nearby to listen in. If common needs among the group emerge, they can either be addressed immediately or during the sharing time.
 * Facilitator Conferring**

Participants gather at the end of the session to demonstrate what they have done, discuss experiences they have had, and reflect on what they have learned. This is an opportunity to return to the focusing questions that began the session, and discuss what has been accomplished in the interval.
 * Share**

This section acknowledges those who contributed to the creation of this session.
 * Acknowledgements**


 * __General Style Points__**


 * Use Arial 10
 * “Internet” is capped.
 * “Web site” (two words, initial cap).
 * Only one space after a period, between sentences. {Note: If authors forget, do not worry because we can easily run a Search-and-Replace.}
 * “Healthcare” as an adjective should be one word, no hyphen.
 * “E-mail” should be hyphenated.
 * Be careful not to split infinitives.
 * Do not say “click on the button/folder/icon” but rather “click the button/folder/icon.”
 * Please use active voice whenever possible. Avoid beginning sentences with “There is” or “There are.”
 * Lists of three or more items should be bulleted. Bullet points are capitalized with a period.