What Constitutes Good PD?

We can all agree that professional development is essential in any profession, especially education.  It is an opportunity to become better at what we do as well as gain knowledge on new pedagogical techniques, learning theories, leadership strategies, technologies, and federal/state mandates.  With budgets being continuously slashed across the country, districts are beginning to tighten their belts.  When this happens the first line item to get cut is professional development.  This has resulted in fewer and fewer opportunities for educators to attend out of district learning opportunities as there is no funding to support travel, registration fees, and expenses.  

Image credit: http://theevolutionofeducation.blogspot.com/2011/07/people-development-is-key-to.html

Professional development has now become the sole burden of school districts for better or worse.  It has become a tug of war, in a sense, as districts use this valuable time, which equates to only a day or two in many cases, to focus on organizational needs.  On the other hand, individual educators have specific needs and passions that they want to explore.  They want the freedom to chart their own learning course while receiving support from the organization to do so.  Quality professional development rests on the ability of the organization to not only meet their needs but also that of its constituents. 

Something has to give though.  The pieces of training that many educators are now forced to attend are usually driven by whatever the federal and state governments have mandated.  The key word here is forced.  Educators now have to attend mandate-driven workshops on new standards, teacher/principal evaluation changes, and using data.  Now, I am not saying that these things are not important, but it is hard as a professional to develop a love for learning when one has to succumb to daylong training with absolutely no authenticity.  Many more questions than answers materialize.  Will this help my students learn and achieve? Is this yet another flavor-of-the-month initiative? Is this a wise use of our time?

When the organization dominates the planning, agenda, and implementation of mandate-driven professional development, the end result is often catastrophic.  The most important element of PD is missing – the needs, desires, and passions of the learner.  Even in the absence of mandates, organizations seem to be out of touch with their stakeholders as session after session becomes death by PowerPoint and stacks of paper handouts. The dominating structure fulfills the goal of pumping as much information as possible into our heads, yet fails to inspire change.  

Effective professional development is:

• Meaningful
• Relevant
• Allowing educators to choose what they what to learn about
• Accommodating to different learning styles
• Providing time to apply what has been learned
• Focused on one initiative as opposed to many simultaneously
• Organized in a way that time to apply what has been learned is provided
• Convenient in the sense that learning can take place at any time from anywhere
• Cost-effective
• Embedded into the school day if possible
• Accessed through available technology
• Resulting in observable outcomes related to changes in professional practice and student achievement

The list above includes some lofty, but necessary, expectations of professional development today.  So where do we begin?  Below are some effective strategies, ideas, and learning opportunities that will provide you and your school the means to invigorate professional development to get real results. Each is hyperlinked to additional information.

• Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s)
• Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s)
• Professional Growth Periods (PGP’s)
• Edcamps (For an introduction to Edcamp click HERE)

In this day and age, we must take control of our own learning if organizations are not providing and/or supporting meaningful PD opportunities.  The three pathways above provide practical, cost-effective, and accessible means to improve professional practice. Nothing is more important than our own learning if we are to not only meet the demands of the profession, but also the needs of our students. Great teachers do not wait for PD days!

So what did I miss?  What are some other issues with professional development? Can you provide other innovative and effective PD options?

Defining Student Engagement

In my District I am part of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) with other administrators.  The focus of our PLC is the Classroom Walkthrough practice as a tool to improve student achievement.  During our professional day in October we decided to collect data on whether or not student-centered learning was taking place and present our finding to our respective staffs in January.  As a group we decided to zero in on whether or not students were engaged in order to determine if student-centered learning was taking place using the following criteria/definitions:

• Actively engaged in individual practice
• Not note taking or viewing a video unless connected to an accompanying activity
• Cooperative learning/Group work
• Instruction expects students to be participants
• Students should be engaged in an inquiry or discovery based activity
• Common question asked to students - Can you tell me what you’re learning about in this lesson?

Defining what constitutes student engagement can be extremely tricky and quite arbitrary at best.  How would you define or describe whether or not students are engaged during a lesson?  What should administrators look for?  I would like to expand or alter the list above based on your feedback.  

If you would like to learn more about PLC's check out AllThingsPLC.

New Year, New Adventures

Each September I am excited like most educators to get back to business doing everything I can to help students succeed.  Don't get me wrong, the summer months are invaluable to me as I spend my time immersed in the flow of information that my social networks provide, developing action plans, analyzing data, and hiring staff.  Many of the initiatives that I am about to pursue either came directly or indirectly from my Personal Learning Network (PLN).  With this being said, there is just something magical and invigorating about having students in the building.

Many of the initiatives I am about to briefly discuss are not new to the field of education, but they are to NMHS.  So what's on the horizon at my school? Here is a quick synopsis:

1. Professional Learning Communities (PLC's): The district will be moving to this research-based model as our main means of professional development.  The more I learn about the power of PLC's the more excited I get!  One great resource I discovered is All Things PLC.  If you are not familiar with this site check it out.  PLC's are fantastic for professional growth as they empower educators to work collaboratively on areas that they are interested in and are entirely focused on improving student achievement.  My challenge is deciding what PLC I want to pursue!

2. Classroom Walkthoughs:  This is something I have been researching since last winter and my PLN has provided me with numerous resources to get started.   By regularly performing 3-5 minute walkthroughs I will now have more of a presence in classrooms.  More importantly, I will now be able to further assist my teachers in their quest to become better educators.  The data that I will collect and share with them will serve as a catalyst for their improvement in the areas of teaching and learning.  In doing my research I discovered some common pitfalls with the classroom walkthrough process that I must avoid.  These include not sharing the results with the teachers, using the data as part of their evaluation, and not allowing them to have input into the specific form to be used.  I purchased iPads for each of my administrators to collect the walkthrough data and then we demoed multiple programs to see which was the best fit for us.  My administrative team settled on a program by Teachscape to collect, analyze, and disseminate the information collected.  What is great about their tool is that it is research-based, customizable to our needs, and has a free app for the iPad.  There is also a web-based component available to the teachers that contains resource libraries and discussion forums that I plan to use not only with the classroom walkthrough data, but also our PLC's.  A training session for all staff is planned on 9/20/10. For more information on classroom walkthroughs visit this site.

3. Tri-State Educational Technology Conference (TSETC): I have previously blogged about this event, but am compelled to mention it again.  This is going to be a great opportunity for my staff to truly experience the power inherent in educational technology when combined with pedagogy.  I am proud to be able to co-organize a FREE event with Schoology that has already attracted over 200 innovative, passionate educators and presenters from various parts of the country.  I was informed yesterday that some exceptional educators from Germany and Canada will be presenting via Skype.  The conference will be held on Saturday October 2, 2010.  If you can make it, register now!

4. Expansion of Mobile Learning Devices:  Since I played a prominent role in our current cell phone banning policy isn't it ironic that I am now the one trying to develop innovative ways to integrate them into instruction?  I am in the early stages of research in this area so stay tuned.  Initially I would like to see some pilot classes begin to use Poll Everywhere to increase student engagement.  In another mobile device area I recently submitted a grant for a mobile iPad learning lab.  My fingers are now crossed!  If my school is awarded this grant I will be sure to blog about the innovative possibilities that this will bring to my students and staff.

There you have it, my new adventures for the 2010-2011 school year.  If you can add any resources or tips under each of these initiatives please do so in the comments section.