Professional Development
No one sets out to become mediocre...but some teachers end up there anyway...
Last week it was my privilege to lead a professional development workshop for a group of teachers at Heritage Christian Academy in Kansas City. What a joyful, positive group that was! It was truly a delight to get to spend the day with them.
I’ve attended my fair share of faculty meetings and professional development workshops over the years…and I know that they range in quality, and applicability. Whenever I’m preparing for leading this kind of session, this snarky graphic always come swimming to mind…
Recognizing how often teachers feel like professional development meetings aren’t something they look forward to…I put a lot of pressure on myself to make the these kinds of learning opportunities REAL learning opportunities for the participants. I try to model the strategies and practices I’m encouraging them to use. We do a lot of reflection and making connections throughout the sessions. And I try to always build in some time for practical application, if at all possible. For example, this was a full-day session, so we spent the morning learning lots of things, and then in the afternoon, participants had a chunk of time to put it into practice by working on real work that allowed them to apply the things we were working through to actual lessons, assessments, and classroom protocols. Towards the end of the day, we had “stand and deliver” time where they reported out what they worked on to small groups of peers for some feedback and celebration.
Is this perfect? Nope. But I’d like to think it’s a step in the right direction. And the feedback I received from participants in this particular PD day was that this approach was welcome: they loved the time to actually work on real work connected to their learning, and the fact that we made time for it as part of the learning. I think that’s key for effective professional development! And it makes it more likely that the educators actually take away valuable things that will impact their practices, because they aren’t left to do the application work “on their own time.” (Which teachers have precious little of, yeah?)
It was a delightful day—for me, and for them too, by all evidence.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned after offering nearly 100 professional development workshops over the past 15 years: most teachers want to do well, and almost all of us want to keep learning, growing, and developing in our craft. We might not love the topic of a particular inservice, or we might feel like the presenter isn’t practicing good pedagogy in their session, or we might find a real mismatch between what we need, and what we get. These are all real concerns, and it’s something I’m very, very aware of when I present sessions like these: the point of professional development is development.
Real talk: I don’t think any teacher sets out at the beginning of their career with a mindset of, “I’m going to be the most mediocre teacher I can be!” But, sadly, some of us end up there. And I wonder sometimes if bad professional development experiences are partly to blame? If all we experience is a mismatch between what we need and what we get, maybe it’s no wonder that we start to get a little jaded, or start to feel like, “There is nothing more for me to learn from these kinds of sessions.”
We all can develop. We all can get better. Teaching is a process of becoming, and we are always becoming, and never arriving.
So here’s my challenge to you, dear colleagues: next time you are in a professional development meeting that seems less than what you need or what you want, approach it with a little curiosity. Take it as as a personal challenge to say, “I know I can get better at my craft…what can I take from this session that is going to help move from where I am today towards mastery?”
Isn’t that what we ask our students to do every day too?
(And, hey…if you’d like me to come and lead a PD session at your school…reach out. I absolutely love doing these kinds of things, and I have a pretty wide variety of things I’m excited to share. You can find more information here: Dr. Dave: Speaking and Presenting.)
Dave’s Faves
Here are three fabulous things I enjoyed recently, and think you might enjoy as well.
Dave’s Fave #1: Kansas City Barbecue
Since I was in Kansas City…of course I had to get some barbecue. All the smoked meats…so good…
Dave’s Fave #2: Visiting Family!
Got to spend a little time with my brother Tim and sister-in-law Jen. Always good to be able to hang out with them! (And enjoy some smoked meats, while doing so!) :-)
Dave’s Fave #3: Brown Sugar Bacon Roses
Continuing on the meat theme, I guess…my wife knows me so well, and loves me so much. For Valentine’s Day, she made me half a dozen brown sugar bacon roses. They lasted about 2 minutes and 39 seconds, and were absolutely delicious.
5 Songs to Listen to This Week
Usually there is some sort of unifying feature to my “5 Songs” suggestions. But this week? This week’s playlist…is random. Seriously, it’s just five songs I happen to love that don’t have a clear theme. (I mean, maybe there is a theme here? What do you notice? Drop a comment in response—I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.) I guess the theme is, “These songs make me happy every time I listen to them.”
“Good Time” - Owl City and Carly Rae Jepson
“Levitating” - Dua Lipa
“Shake It Off” - Taylor Swift
“All I Wanna Do” - Sheryl Crow
“You Get What You Give” - New Radicals
And, as usual, here’s a playlist of the above for your easy access. I’d love to hear what you think, so give ‘em a listen, and then drop a comment in response!
Thanks for sharing ❤️