I was recently on a long drive, where I had some time to think and reflect on the school year. One thing you may not know about me is I am never happy with the status quo. I am constantly trying to improve my practices to instill positive change with staff and students. As I continued winding through the country I started to reflect about how professional development is delivered and how in so many ways it doesn’t reach the needs. As fate would have it I came across a blog post from Tracy Clark @tracyclark08 called “10 Things Your Professional Learning Partner Should Want to Tell You” It really struck home!
Tracy outlines so well how I have been feeling. She talks about ten key points all professional development should have. Here is her list:
1. We want professional learning to look like what we hope to see in our classrooms.
2. We want to give educators voice and choice when it comes to their learning.
3. The details really do matter.
4. We want the administrators to stay and be a part of the learning.
5. We want to show this is more than theory
6. We would rather build capacity than dependence.
7. We want your honest opinion
8. We want learning to be about creation not consumption.
9. We want to play the long game when it comes to involvement and impact.
10. We want to try new things.
I strongly encourage you to take a look and read Tracy’s post. We need more educators and PD providers to understand these needs. After all it is your professional development and it has to be meaningful to you!
Tracy outlines so well how I have been feeling. She talks about ten key points all professional development should have. Here is her list:
1. We want professional learning to look like what we hope to see in our classrooms.
2. We want to give educators voice and choice when it comes to their learning.
3. The details really do matter.
4. We want the administrators to stay and be a part of the learning.
5. We want to show this is more than theory
6. We would rather build capacity than dependence.
7. We want your honest opinion
8. We want learning to be about creation not consumption.
9. We want to play the long game when it comes to involvement and impact.
10. We want to try new things.
I strongly encourage you to take a look and read Tracy’s post. We need more educators and PD providers to understand these needs. After all it is your professional development and it has to be meaningful to you!
