A few years ago our district changed to an online attendance system, so two times a day teachers were expected to log in, do online attendance and then submit and go on with their day. No problem right?
Nope.
Don’t get me wrong, the district sent out emails, they sent out videos, they gave warning and prepared everyone as best they could. But here’s the thing, working in the schools, I watched as many, many teachers struggled. Some normally never turned on their district laptops let alone logged into a system. So where did we go wrong?
I'm realizing that many teachers I worked with had a superficial understanding of their laptop. Most could log on, search the web, get their email and yes, do attendance, but how many of them used amazing online resources and websites like Padlet, like virtual visual timers, like Prodigy!?
Fast forward, and there I am, standing in the library putting on my first professional development day workshop...and again a year later, and again for the district a year after that.
There was a hole missing in the form of someone needing to sit down and walk through the finer points of technology. I filled it based off of brief but vital conversations.
(so in other words, computer "talk")
- teach the basics, learn the basics.
- Find the need talk to eachother, talk to just the primary, just the intermediates, high school etc. What do they need? Where can they go?
- are your staff's voices heard?
- are choices given?
- set times to learn new things! Use a prep block to view a colleagues lesson, use a pro d day and teach something you are confident in!
- create mentorships - our district has an amazing mentorship program that I have utilized many times! You get paired with a mentor teacher that has similiar style or teaches a program you want to learn and then they are there to help and guide you.
- KEEP GOING - KEEP LEARNING
- book clubs: start one, attend one!
- self pro d - do a personal inquiry!
- BCTF TIP (inquiry program)
- create professional learning conversations/clubs/meetings
- keep assessing, keeping giving feedback, create opportunities to get feedback.
To get started on some of these great learning opportunities, start by giving yourself a goal. TeacherVision has some excellent words on setting goals, "In order for goals to be most effective, they need to be specific. Specific goals give you a clear objective and can be more easily chunked into steps. While setting goals independently is perfectly fine, consider involving a colleague or partner who can hold you accountable in the process."
(https://thriveglobal.com/stories/5-goal-setting-steps-to-achieve-your-dream-goals/)
Another great way to learn and share is to have a pineapple at your door!
"An open door policy means that your door is always open for other teachers to come in and observe what you are doing. However, just opening your door during the day is not enough to express to your colleagues that you are ready for feedback and support. Make it explicitly clear that they are welcome to step in and observe at any time, and that you are open to any feedback that they can provide."
As I was researching some professional development ideas, I came across this interesting article about professional development being more effective if we differentiated it by "gauging teachers'
readiness, utilizing their interests, involving them in the process, and
providing continual assessment opportunities."
"Why Don’t We Differentiate Professional Development?"
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| Click me! |
In summary, we, as educators and teacher-librarians can share what we’ve learned, we can make time to learn more, and we can continue to create conversation around learning. Our best tools are ourselves and we need to keep pushing ourselves to collaborate and keep learning.
Sources:
"Our Favorite Ways To Grow As A Teacher". Teachervision,
2020,
https://www.teachervision.com/blog/morning-announcements/our-favorite-ways-to-grow-as-a-teacher?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=984179632_44306000_181116.
"Why Don’T We Differentiate Professional Development?". Edutopia, 2016, https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-dont-we-differentiate-pd-pauline-zdonek.
Luisa T.
ReplyDeleteYes! Our best tools are ourselves- I could not agree more. Whether we take the initiative to ask a colleague for help with something, or watch a YouTube video to learn, we, ourselves need to do the pushing.
I liked your online attendance example, to showcase that yes, teachers may struggle with even simple tech asks. We often need to bring it back to basics and remember that not everyone (me!) learns new tech skills quickly. The idea of differentiated professional development is great, if not even vital. I have been to professional days where I have heard teachers complain that the topics were not pertinent to them. But it should be noted that professional day plans need to pass through SCC and then a staff meeting before the day, which should give teachers who find the topics uninteresting, time to create a self-directed pro d plan for that day.
Luisa T.
I also agree about the importance of differentiation for Professional Development, for technology more than almost anything else this is the way to go! I have found that often teachers (including myself!) can't process specific information unless they are about to implement it in their classrooms or in their personal lives. There is also a lot to be said to ask teachers what types of programs they prefer instead of imposing new systems on them and expecting full buy in. Jaya
ReplyDeleteYou share some good ideas and strategies to support other teachers here. I appreciate the list of tips you share as well as your example about online attendance change. I agree that there can be a disconnect between where the perception of people’s capacity is and where it actually is. I also agree that the best way to fill this hole is by having honest discourse, asking the right questions, and meeting people where they are at. You have some formatting issues with this post that make it a bit hard to follow in parts. If you are crafting your comments in a document and then pasting them into Blogger, you may want to try pasting as plain text.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback! I'm not sure what happened with the formatting as I generally preview the posts before posting. I'll double check my settings!
DeleteGreat post! I completely agree we really are our best learning tools. Professional learning conversations are a great way to get people excited about learning. A teacher at my school wants to create a Freshgrade after school club where we can learn from each other. The switch to online teaching in April was a big switch for some. Good to be prepared if it happens again.
ReplyDeleteIt's fantastic when someone recognizes a need and then is willing to sit,collaborate and learn from others! It's so useful!
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