Developing Effective Professional Learning

 (Who needs it otherwise?)

Thinking it Out

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The WHY

 

As a high school teacher, parent, employee, and community member, I am aware of the need for our students to be prepared for life after college. The question is: Have we prepared them? Are they digitally aware and ready to present themselves with confidence? Are we, as educators, equipped to meet their needs? Who is preparing us?

 

 

 

Going from a the early childhood sector to working in High school, I noticed a lack of awareness for the future that lies ahead. There is a need for students to graduate with more than just a diploma. They need skills, the ability to use resources, to glean information, and awareness of the value that they bring to the workforce, college arena, or path of their choice. While helping with a local Vacation Bible School, I encountered a young man wearing one of our school shirts from several years back. We struck up a conversation and he let me know that he was unemployed and “collecting a check”. He left school unprepared. Why? I’m not sure. His poor reading and language skills made me wonder what had happened. My thoughts of that student make me very aware that while we meet the needs of most students, many do not have support at home. I want to change that! (What teacher doesn’t?)

 

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Change for students starts with teachers. How are teachers being equipped for 2022? At a time when Google is a touch away, the teacher role has morphed into that of a facilitator. There is an ever-changing, growing need for relevant, meaningful Professional Development for educators. Unfortunately, as pointed out by (Gulamhussein, 2013), most Professional Development is not applied and often not relevant.

 

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It has been noted by researchers, teachers I know, and DLL classmates, that very little is gained in many Professional Learning meetings attended. PL is not specific to each teacher, often blasted in large quantities, does not allow teachers time to apply it, and is not supported throughout the year. The method used to instruct teachers is vastly different than what research shows is effective.

 

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The WHAT - Visual Presentation slideshow with voice-over.

 

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The HOW - I chose to create my presentation using graphics, images, and text with my voice audible in the background. I created my slide presentation in Keynote (not realizing the struggle I would have late to convert it) and worked to get my voice and timing together on slide transitions. Had to end up exporting as a movie and then uploading to YouTube to get it on my ePortfolio.

 

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NOTE: Later was notified that there was an echo, and the sound was distorted AFTER loading it onto my ePortfolio. I had to seek help from a technology expert and found that my sound was doubled. After deleting the sound buttons from each slide, it worked fine! Another lesson in learning to ask for help... JUST DO IT!

 

 

 

 

Alternative (Valuable) Professional Learning

 

 

What do educators need to be successful in this new age?

 

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An alternate, valuable learning experience based on what each individual needs is a step towards success. To create a successful Professional Learning experience, educator needs must be identified. A “Needs Assessment” or survey could be sent to teachers during the school year, to inquire as to what they need to learn. As an educator, I find it annoying and mostly pointless, to get an email survey about needs for PL in the summer. Who is thinking about PL in the summer? To be in an “educational state of mind” when school starts, most educators have put the past year behind them and are trying to rejuvenate. As pointed out, our working memory doesn’t retain information that well (Phillips, 2104). Imagine being asked about PL when we are not even working, and our mind is on vacation! Timing is important.

 

Traditional methods of PL leave teachers feeling trapped and like time is being wasted. On the other hand, valuable PL captivates the educators and leaves them inspired! We must realize that while both hold their audience captive, it is for different reasons.

 

In order to meet the needs of educators, these 5 principles of professional learning should be implemented (Gulamhussein, 2013):

 

The duration of professional development must be significant and ongoing to allow time for teachers to learn a new strategy and grapple with the implementation problem. At Hallsville High School, teachers have many different needs that should be met. PL should be spread out over time, with application time built in for each new skill learned. Just getting the information is not enough. It must be processed, used, and connected to something relevant to be retained.

 

There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice. To effectively implement new learning, teachers need to feel supported. Setting each teacher up with a mentor and fellow teachers to collaborate with as needed. Weekly progress checks by the mentor will help build a rapport and allow for the teacher to work through any challenges together. In her TEDtalk, Kristin Daniels points out that teachers need someone to be present in the classroom when implementing something new. She shares how a school that got a sub for the teachers once a month to allow PL was far more successful, and able to meet the needs of teachers at different levels of technology awareness. (Daniels, 2013) 

 

Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice. I firmly believe that a hand on approach is best. Research shows that actively engaging learners helps move information to the long-term memory. An example that comes to mind is learning about Nearpod. It is one thing to listen to a lecture about it, but far more beneficial to be involved as a student interacting. Using Nearpod to create a lesson for your own students, takes learning to the next level.

 

Modeling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers understand a new practice. Something that I have learned from being a student, and a teacher, is that an example can make all the difference in understanding. I do, you do, we do, is the plan we used for teaching 4th graders. We need to hold to that when instructing teachers.

 

The content presented to teachers shouldn’t be generic, but instead specific to the discipline (for middle school and high school teachers) or grade-level (for elementary school teachers). As a high school sign language teacher, I have never had PL geared towards my subject. How disappointing is that to ponder? I know that I would be thrilled to get information that I deem valuable to use with my students.

 

To wrap things up, it seems that time and money are already available and being used for PL. To bring valuable learning to our campus the traditional PL methods need to be tossed. It is a new era of online learning. Teachers need to be taught with the same respect, individualization, and time allowance shown to our students. We don’t expect our students to just “know it”, we must guide them as we make the information available. Let’s do the same for our educators in 2021! This is your call to action.

 

 

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TEACH OUR TEACHERS SO OUR STUDENTS CAN LEARN

 

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5 Key Principles of

Effective Professional

Learning

by Duarte

 

 

The duration of professional learning must be significant and ongoing to allow time for teachers to learn a new strategy and grapple with the implementation problem. Ongoing support.

 

There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice.

 

Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice.

 

Modeling has been found to be highly effective in helping teachers understand a new practice.

 

The content presented to teachers shouldn’t be generic, but instead specific to the discipline (for middle school and high school teachers) or grade-level (for elementary school teachers).

 

See these 5 principles incorporated into my PL Timeline.

 

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RESOURCES

Daniels, K. (Director). (2013), November 6). Empowering the teacher technophobe:                        

Kristin. Daniels at TEDxBurnsvilleED [Video file]. Retrieved from                                                   https://youtube/puiNcIFJTCU

 

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Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an           

 Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from

 

 

Harapnuik, D. (2019, May). How to Create Your ePortfolio. It’s About the Learning.                              http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6065

 

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Phillips, D. (2014, April 14). How to avoid death By PowerPoint | David JP Phillips|                               TEDxStockholmSalon. Youtube. https://youtu.be/Iwpi1Lm6dFo

 

©2022

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