CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
.png)
Effective professional development
Professional development is a term used in education to describe the improvement of skills possessed by the teacher. However, in recent years, more and more districts are steering away from the term "development" because it indicated an ending point as if a teacher could be fully developed. Professional learning is a more accurate term that describes the overall goal of this type of investment. Much like students, teachers are on a never-ending process to grow in their knowledge and skillset, ever pursuing improvement in order to impact the students they teach.
As educators, we know that learning never ends. In a way, this simple replacement of terms also removes an underlying misconception that teachers must be perfect. Learning also indicates that failure and mistakes must occur. As teachers pursue professional growth and new innovative teaching strategies, it is important that they feel released to risk and to fail.
In order for a professional learning experience to be effective, specific characteristics must be present for any sort of lasting impact to be made in the classroom. In creating a new alternative professional learning plan, every aspect has been aligned to these principles. Let the learning begin.
A Call to Action
The story behind the story
I remember when I walked into my classroom as a full-time teacher for the first time. I was hired at a small charter school right on the tail end of the Great Recession. I could not believe how fortunate I was able to get a job as a teacher with no experience during the chaos of budget cuts and layoffs. But, as you can imagine, with depleted resources, I was not only given one hundred young minds to mold but also a toilet brush to clean the downstairs boys' bathroom and a hairnet to serve hot meals during lunch duty. This also meant that the only resources that were available to me were the state standards (TEKS) and an old geography textbook. I can tell you I learned a lot that year, though none of the lessons would be classified as professional development.
Fast forward ten years later, I have been working in education for a decade and have experienced many highs and lows. As a "big picture thinker," I usually find myself reflecting and scheming on how to improve this profession for all of the parties involved: students, teachers, administrators, and the community. One theme that consistently came to mind over the years was the well-being of teachers. I believe that if a school wants to be successful, the teachers must be taken care of and invested in, especially when it comes to their learning and growth. I remember so many times in those early years wanting to develop my skills, mainly to just correct everything that I didn't know I was doing wrong. But I never could figure out the right questions to ask and the way I should ask for help. Professional development, as it currently is implemented, will not reach those teachers facing similar circumstances. Teachers who know they want to grow, but do not benefit from our current model. As an Innovation & Learning Specialist, I am scheduled to have one hour with blocks of teachers every six weeks. These single sessions are composed of content that I select and, while they are highly engaging and interactive, I have yet to see any real benefit or effectiveness in the classroom. There must be a better way.
The professional learning experience that I am proposing will take our current model and replace it with one-on-one interactions or with small groups of the same content. In these personalized meetings, the teacher will drive the conversation, reflecting on their current reality and identifying an area in which they wish to develop. After locating helpful resources, I will participate with that teacher in the classroom, co-teaching or modeling the selected instructional strategy and then taking time to reflect on the experience as we continue to implement the desired changes. This call to action is directed towards those teachers, the agents of change, inviting them to leave behind the outdated method of professional development and enter into a teacher-driven learning experience that will allow them to take charge of their own growth.
The making of this story
To make this video, I used a combination of a few different applications. I am very familiar with iMovie and am accustomed to using its features to pull all the various pieces together to finalize a project. I knew that I wanted to have a slow buildup to the climax of the video, where I would unveil the key characteristics of this new professional learning experience. The application Quik provided an upbeat soundtrack that did just that, as well as providing catchy transitions and bold text overlay. I also utilized Keynote to create the text set on a black background. This visual was important to me to incorporate because it highlights the direct contradictions between the outdated method of PD this new professional learning idea that I am promoting. Since the audience for this video is the teachers that I work with every day, I wanted to highlight them and, in a way, make this idea of personalized PD even more possible by making them a part of it. The visuals, including video clips, photo stills, and texts, are all meant to provide a digital background for the story - the story of who teachers are and the promise to invest in them with the same amount of effort and diligence that they use to invest in their students.
Planning Alternative PL
Let's Go big
if we're going to change...
As I began to plan an alternative professional learning experience for my teaching staff, I became captivated by the idea of personalized, differentiated development that is tailored not only to each teacher's individual needs but individual goals and desired for their own growth. That captivation quickly became an obsession, and that obsession spawned what I hope will be a revolutionary approach to the way we support teachers at my school.
Currently, as an Innovation & Learning Specialist, I am scheduled to meet with block teams (4 teachers at a time, one from each core content area) about once every six weeks during their conference period. Now, I meet with teachers on an individual basis almost every day, but my assigned "professional development" time places these teachers into groups of four different content areas, and most of the time, these teachers vary greatly in their teaching style and fluency with technology. Needless to say, creating a learning experience that is impactful is a challenge.
But what if this time was reallocated in a completely different way? What if I&L PD wasn't mandatory once a six weeks during your conference period? It is not the time for a reformation, but rather a revolution.
My alternative professional learning proposal is to give those 6 required hours of time back to the teachers and approach professional development on a purely teacher-led, individual basis. Teachers will first engage by performing a self-assessment of their teaching ability (strengths and weaknesses) and classroom experience. From there, teachers will work with me to identify a specific area in which they would like to improve. This could range from basic classroom management to instructional strategies, even to innovative teaching methods, such as blended learning or PBL. Teachers would then begin a coaching cycle where they receive support in identifying a goal, researching methods to meet that goal, forming an action plan, modeling/co-teaching while implementing the plan, observing colleagues and providing feedback on their progress, and reflecting on the overall process. This alternative professional learning experience has the framework to be successful due to its utilization of the 5 key principles of effective professional development:
DURATION
Each coaching cycle will take around 3-4 weeks to complete (from initial observation to final post-conference), where the teacher then has the opportunity to enroll in another cycle, setting a different learning goal. This is almost the opposite of a typical one-stop, sit-and-get PD session.
Fostering
Teacher
Collaboration
Participants will be encouraged to progress through the PL with their PLC or content team. For example, the entire sixth-grade science department may enter a coaching cycle. Together, they can select a common learning goal. Since each content team uses a shared curriculum, common assessments, and plan as a group, it will be an easy transition to support one another when improving instructional practices. This group can then select the same tool or resource to implement so they can share the knowledge and experience they gain when trying to implement. Groups will observe one another, provide feedback, and have the opportunity to ask one another questions as they reflect throughout the process.
Fostering
Self-Directed
Learning
The primary reason I developed this particular PL plan was to give ownership and choice to the teacher when it came to their development as professionals. This approach is the very essence of self-directed learning. The entire process seeks to foster such an environment, where teacher-learners are in charge and use the PL facilitator as a resource for guidance and support. Each aspect, from selecting their own learning topics, to creating their own goals, choosing an instructional/technology tool, and even how they utilize the network of resources available, was designed to create PD that was meaningful and applicable for each individual teacher.
Beginning with the end in mind
The overall goal for this massive overhaul in professional development is that teachers would improve their classroom environment and instruction by creating an effective learning experience that produces lasting impact and addresses specific teacher needs. By providing teachers with choice and establishing an expectation of teacher ownership, participants will be able to spend PD time focused on topics and skills teachers know will improve their instructional practice. The purpose of this goal is also a means to a larger focus that all of us educators share: student learning. By effectively developing teacher skills, the aim is that the students themselves would become self-directed learners, experiencing a deeper level of learners, while developing their own 21st-century skills which will prepare them for life beyond the classroom.
Additional Resources
Alternative PL Reflection
Resources for teachers
Self-assessment survey
Observation forms
post-observation conference resources
Innovative Technology integration resources
classroom management resources
Goal setting template
instructional strategies resources
.png)
