So I have had my website up for about a month and I just wasn't getting around to putting a blog post together, so I decided that I just needed to do it and I sat down and put this together. It took me a while of working on this off and on and it could be better developed, but it is what it is. I am thinking that I may try to aim for a blog post per month rather than over extend myself any more. If I get more than that, it will be a celebration. Please share any thoughts that you may have in the comments as I work to develop my "voice." Enjoy? It doesn't matter what field you work in, professional development is an essential part of any career. In education, there are generally requirements for how many credit hours teachers must accrue over a period of time. In order to stack up a significant number of credits you need to spend significant amounts of your time at conferences, seminars, training sessions, etc. Many of these are not close to home so you can factor in some additional travel time. While I am able to earn those precious PD credits, I usually leave wishing I had gotten more out of the experience. I have heard people say that "as long as you leave with one thing that you can bring back, it is a successful event." One thing? As teachers, our time is limited and we like to get the most out of that precious commodity as possible. As teachers we strive to engage our students and make learning authentic. Why should our own learning be any different? Why does our professional development so often involve being talked at? There has to be a way to share meaningful ideas and gain relevant insights in a more concentrated form. So what does that look like? Talking About Teaching (TAT)
About a year ago, a colleague (@SPEHottle) thought to herself that it would be great to simply have conversations with other like-minded teachers in different disciplines about what they do on a daily basis to create a fantastic learning experience for their students. Not like anyone wanted another meeting, but she initiated "Talking About Teaching (TAT)" as an opportunity for anyone interested to get together for about 45 minutes before school a few times a semester to talk about relevant topics for teachers: evaluating group work; preventing plagiarism; using social media; authentic assessments; work / life balance; promoting academic integrity; useful apps and tech; student motivation. These sessions started out small with only a handful of teachers attending, but it has grown to include about twenty on a consistent basis. We even have a couple of administrators at each time who are genuinely interested in what we do every day. Different people suggest possible topics and one is selected. You can contribute a lot or just listen in. Regardless, each time there is authentic communication about things that work (or don't), discussion of collaborative opportunities and reflections on our genuine love for our profession. Forty-five minutes and I come away with at least one valuable "nugget" (though usually more) to take with me to my own classroom. Twitter Chats While not the origin by any means, the TAT concept branched out to include Twitter. What if we could have similar conversations outside of school time? I had been on Twitter for quite a while, but never used it very much. While we generally have fewer teachers participating, we have been able to engage in some great conversations and inspire possibilities in the classroom. Some of our topics have included: alternative assessments; active learning; interdisciplinary lessons; and inspiration. Since we started these discussions, I have become much more involved on Twitter, slowly expanding my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and participating in Twitter chats with educators all over the world. These opportunities allow for good reflection, reassurance that you are on the right track and ideas to incorporate in the classroom. Lunch Table When it comes time for lunch, many teachers close their classroom door and eat their lunch. I have learned to take this time to walk away from my room for a while to breathe and reset my brain for the remainder of the school day. One day each week, however, we have lunch duty. This is when you have to supervise the lunch room while you eat your lunch. At our school this is a group consisting of members of different departments. Inevitably we end up talking about what is going on in our classrooms and, on multiple occasions, I have started discussions of technology integration and student reflection, among other topics, and continued the thinking and discussion for quite some time after. Teaching and learning isn't as subject specific as we sometimes think (like our students). Many thanks are owed to the insights provided by a Maths (@focused_reverie) and English (@MrMarcusTPrep) teacher in particular. The professionals around us, and those we are connected to, can provide the best educational opportunities on a near daily basis. Larger scale, professional sharing opportunities, such as @EdcampUSA, are starting to become more common, but we need more! If only there were a way to equate legitimate value (instead of time spent) into a significant number of professional development credits.
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