The Secret to Successful PD

The Secret to Successful PD:

4 Tips to Personalize YOUR Learning

Professional Development (PD) is not something done to us.  PD should be personalized and perpetual.  The power of your learning is NOT in a presenter’s hands; it’s in a new paradigm.

For too long we've settled for PD branding irons! We show up at state, district and site PD meetings hoping that the time is valuable and responsive to our needs.  We receive the information and mosey back to our schools intent on changing the world in isolation.  It’s time to step away from the branding iron! 

Educators need the equivalent of personalized PD tattoo parlors that are open 24-7!  Learning is a personal endeavor that should be filled with passion and continuous growth.  Each and every educator needs to be empowered to seek meaningful learning experiences that are personalized...just like a tattoo.

4 Tips to Personalizing your Learning: 

1. Get connected.  Build your PLN.  Twitter is a fantastic start.  Believe it or not, there are some amazingly talented and generous "sharers" outside your district, state and country's borders!  Tap into this potential and your students will benefit.

2. Own your learning.  Start by identifying one or two areas you want to grow in and pursue those relentlessly.  Engage your colleagues, administration, state associations, and workshop organizers.  Tell them what you need.  Challenge them to support your learning in a digitally connected age.  Challenge yourself to add a “digital leadership lens” to your repertoire.

3. Share. Teachers are some of the most humble people I know.  They do amazing things in their classrooms every day (believe me...I see it first-hand).  We need to move towards an ethos of sharing, whereas we are celebrating the unique talents and innovative practices of the teachers in our buildings.  For the benefit of students everywhere we need to invest in a culture of collaboration!

4. Stay connected.  Don't let the initial weirdness of Twitter scare you away.  It's lonely at first.  When you look at your initial “follower count” don’t be fooled.  That’s just a number…the power is in the connections and conversations held outside 140 characters.  Try commenting on blogs, conversing via Voxer, or tuning into educational Podcasts.  Sign-up and start a professional Twitter account today, and make it a daily habit to read one blog, comment to a colleague, and share one idea/resource online each week.  Twitter is a phenomenal springboard to collegial connections. 

Over time you will build a super-charged PLN that revitalizes your practice and directly benefits kids.  A 21^st century pedagogy will require educators to think in new ways.  I was recently reminded of a quote that really resonated:

“If you think change is hard…you will like the feeling of irrelevance even less.”

Your PD tattoo awaits.  Seek it with passion and persistence!  Make learning personal.

Photo Credits:

Howlingduckranch.wordpress.com

Swindontowncentre.co.uk

Is the Water any Good?!

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

We’ve all heard it before, but implicit in the adage is the underlying assumption that the water is good.  In the case of Professional Development (PD) this is not always true!

I have been guilty of serving-up PD that didn’t hit the mark.  It's in humble reverence for the amazing educators in our school that I share my "epic fail."

I was recently reminded of the most basic PD principle; if something is content-heavy or complicated make sure the path and process are light.

 

We are in the midst of a two month “Flipped Faculty Meeting” series.  The content delves into some intensive reading research and learning about culturally responsive teaching.  It is scholarly and involved.  This complex content is paired with an online learning approach that utilizes our school’s Moodle platform along with some faculty online forum postings.  The online forum process is also new to many staff members.  Both the content and the process are complex.  How did I miss it?!

Fortunately I’m surrounded by an amazing team of teachers that communicate their professional needs in an open and trusting manner.  (Best of all....they are gifted. They truly "get" the importance of relationships and are doing inspiring work with technology integration.)  A leader on staff met with me to solution-seek a means to moving forward on our PD plans so that each and every staff member was learning in a manner that was responsive to their needs.  When collaboration along these lines occurs our kids are the winners!

I’m hoping the short story above highlighted two things:

•  Planning PD for the digitally connected age requires leaders to be more purposeful than ever before.  We cannot assume that an entire staff or building has the same exact needs.  Nor can we project our own readiness-level with regard to a content area, tech/tool, etc. on anyone else.

• Listen to your people.  Put the power of their learning in their hands and support them in an unswerving and wildly passionate manner.  By collaborating with the all-stars on staff you can successfully plan PD that offers multiple pathways to collective growth.

Remember…we can’t always assume that the “water” is inherently good.  Be reflective and critically evaluate the process you’re using to move to new frontiers.  Here’s to wishing you the best of luck in moving forward.   

Photo Credits:

www.bubblews.com

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=664578