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

Teach me to teach better - some ideas for better PD

Widely agreed upon by all tweeps was the idea that professional development (PD) needed to be a learning experience that allowed teachers to do rather than just listen passively.

Too often, PD is treated like a college lecture, the complete opposite of what we are asked to do as teachers with our students. The most successful sessions that folks remembered were those where choice was involved and the opportunity to learn something new and practice it were provided.

Turns out teachers do want to learn and be inspired, but enough bad experiences with PD have put them off in a way that is sometimes hard to get them back.

We all just want materials that we can take back into our classroom the very next day. If the ideas are too esoteric, they won’t translate the way they need to


Not too ironically, teachers are a lot like the students we teach. We want to be a part of what is going on so that we can have some ownership in what we learn AND we are not all the same. Since our needs are wildly different, one size can’t fit all.

Here is some of what I’ve learned:

• PD can be flipped the same way a classroom can be – as per Sharon Plante
• PD should include a way to get teachers involved, hands on activities
• PD should provide choice – perhaps allowing teachers to take part in a G-survey and then allow that to drive sessions
• PD should be differentiated and meaningful to everyone
• PD should be planned with teachers – organized with purpose and in advance
• PD should be led by teachers sometimes
• Guest speakers should sometimes be brought in for PD: Folks like Alan November from November Learning or Dave Burgess, author of Teach like a Pirate
• PD should include the opportunity to learn new technologies and the time to play with them and brainstorm ways to use them effectively
• PD should be collaborative with our colleagues – a conversation, something worthwhile that engages us
• PD should offer variety – like an edcamp  - teachers should be able to choose on the day
• PD can happen in the back channel and we should be aware of what is happening that isn’t in front of us
• PD should encourage open minds and inspire further learning – it doesn’t have to happen in the meeting – Twitter Chats are really useful PD
• PD should offer and allow time for reflection of learning – make it important
• Blogging about PD is one way to reflect on what is learned and how it will be used

Professional Development is integral part of how we improve as educators. We want to be treated as our students do, with respect and professionalism.

What was your most memorable PD experiences and why? Do they fit into any of the above categories? Please share