WSQ – Chapter 9 Professional Development
This chapter focuses on different aspects of professional
development such as the characteristics of quality professional development. Looking at page 125, chose your top three
bullets you thought were relatable to you and what you consider to be successful
professional development. Do you think
your colleagues would agree? I found
that some of these bullets related to what I wrote about in Dr. Beach’s
blog. What was something that gave you
an “ah ha” moment? The last bullet where
it talked about “acknowledged participants’ existing beliefs and instructional
practices” made me realize that most professional development is just expected
and might not take into consideration what teachers believe or go along with
their teaching philosophy. Has that ever
happened to you at your school?
What are some strategies that might be implemented at your
school to support change? If you do not
have any, what are some strategies you would like to see implemented at your
school? Our school is very data
driven. We have a special instructional
leadership team that takes time to look at test scores and benchmark data in
order to implement site based action plans.
I am a part of this team and sometimes we even meet on the weekends just
to analyze data in order to plan a site goal to implement for the year! This helps us determine what gaps are missing
in our students as well as allows us to see success. I am not sure if meeting on the weekends is
the way to go, but it definitely allows us to see what is happening in our
school and helps us make academic decisions.
On page 557 in the Sustained Professional Development
article, I thought it was so interesting that the article touched base on the
idea that teachers were relying on whole group class instruction and that there
is not enough release of responsibility to students. How did the themes of whole group instruction
(the bullets on page 557) make you feel?
Are you guilty of minimizing group work in the classroom? Put yourself in the shoes of a student. If a professional development was solely
whole group instruction and did not provide enough collaborative time with colleagues,
would you be successful?
Looking at page 125, chose your top three bullets you thought were relatable to you and what you consider to be successful professional development. Do you think your colleagues would agree?Has that ever happened to you at your school?
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to choose a top three, just due to the fact that many of these are interrelated. The first one I think is of great importance, a sustained intensive process. I can recall over my years engaged in professional development, that each new PD session often covered something new. There was no overlap between the topics in such a way that provides teachers with the scaffolding needed to ensure the successful application of the topic. I think if something deserves our attention and time in regards to PD, then it needs to occur over a passage of time. It shouldn’t simply be a one time event. This sustained process would look different depending on the topic of PD. Another characteristic I found crucial was receiving needed funding to support the material and staffing needs. It seems the State of Oklahoma is really eager to pass requirements down the pike without providing the adequate funding to support the said change. Bringing this down to the district level, if we want to implement some PD action we need to provide professionals with the funding and staff support to ensure their ability to be successful. Another point that is crucial to having a successful PD experience is providing the teachers a voice behind both topic and format. Teacher buy in provides that intrinsic motivation to be vested in the process.
What are some strategies that might be implemented at your school to support change? If you do not have any, what are some strategies you would like to see implemented at your school?
I can’t say that we have directly used any of these strategies of change for most of the PD at our schools. What I hope to do or one day have influence over would be helping create “peer support teams” (p. 127). I noticed when I gave my schools the needs assessment, most teachers wanted grade level, vertical collaboration, and PLCs. I realize this isn’t exactly the same thing, but I can see connections between the two. I think as a PD topic is introduced this team can assist in providing the sustained part mentioned above. Also, these teams could prove intercal
to problem solving and school application.
How did the themes of whole group instruction (the bullets on page 557) make you feel? Are you guilty of minimizing group work in the classroom? Put yourself in the shoes of a student. If a professional development was solely whole group instruction and did not provide enough collaborative time with colleagues, would you be successful?
I think that most of the teachers I work with realize that students need to have time to socially collaborate (Vygotsky’s theories). I think the teacher’s philosophy also influences the amount of time spent with group collaboration. The one factor I can thing of the keeps teachers from using these strategies are the testing requirements passed down to them. Often teachers need help discovering practical ways to implement social collaboration while meeting the standards set by the state. Some of the routines mentioned by the text could be applied to help with this. To be 100 percent candid, I don’t think PD always has to be collaborative if the whole group instruction is simply one part of the PD plan of action. Sometimes the collaboration may come later. I think there is still some merit to whole group instruction. I think it needs to be a balanced approach.
I agree Cathy, PDs don't always have to be collaborative and it can come later but they are still very effective as each participant can learn from the coach as well as other teachers. As a coach I think we should try different approaches to see what works best for the teachers. Maybe it could done by block, grade or individually rather than whole group.
DeleteI think there should a variety of formats for PD too!
DeleteOf course PDs don't always have to be collaborative but a little interaction now and then wouldn't hurt.:) I mean, it doesn't even have to be groups among the teachers a tending, sometimes it can be the facilitator and the teachers in attendance, getting them thinking and moving. Sometimes the facilitator of the PD can be very boring/monotonous. Collaboration can show its face in many ways. :)
DeleteI liked what you said about "teacher buy in" and intrinsic motivation. I completely agree! When teachers take ownership in what they are learning they are more invested in the PD that is provided. Teaching adults is a lot like teaching a children! Students also have to buy into what is being taught and we always encourage intrinsic motivation.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely important to have a support team especially for new teachers. There can be so many things that can be learned from your peers.
I agree that there has to be balance in PD. I have been to some where it was lecture style and did not allow time for collaboration or even time to debrief on what was presented. I think its hard to go through PD and not be able to discuss with peers along the way. There should be a good balance of different styles of PD.
Looking at page 125, chose your top three bullets you thought were relatable to you and what you consider to be successful professional development. Do you think your colleagues would agree? Has that ever happened to you at your school?
ReplyDeleteLike Cathy, I think choosing three bullets can be difficult. However, the top three I have chosen are 1) provide teachers with opportunities for active learning 2) provided supportive follow-up through observation, feedback, faculty dialogues, or study groups and 3) acknowledge participants’ existing beliefs and instructions practices. I think that professional development is successful when participants go away from it feeling as if they have learned something of substance and meaning. Being able to take something away that can help them in professionally and instructionally is and should be the overall aim of PDs. If I were in a classroom/school I do think that my colleagues would agree because why go to a PD and not take away something, then it would just be pointless.
What are some strategies that might be implemented at your school to support change? If you do not have any, what are some strategies you would like to see implemented at your school?
Unfortunately, I am not at a school right now but honestly, I would like and hope that all of these strategies are used at the school that I am placed in. I think all teacher can benefit from each of them, no matter how long they have been there- experience, or their age. The top two I’d like to see more than the others though would be mentoring programs and websites for sharing resources.
How did the themes of whole group instruction (the bullets on page 557) make you feel? Are you guilty of minimizing group work in the classroom? Put yourself in the shoes of a student. If a professional development was solely whole group instruction and did not provide enough collaborative time with colleagues, would you be successful?
I am really for group work. Looking at the aspect of domesticity where students are expected to work with others in the outer world aka when they begin to work, I see group work in the classroom playing an important part in the beginning process of what students should do when the work with others. I think group work should be done but it shouldn’t be an overkill. Just as group work should not be an overkill, or should be at a balance state in the classroom so should collaborative time in PDs with colleagues. Sometimes PDs are more successfully when there is one or a few participants present. Collaborative PDs aren’t always necessary but are effective because you are able to learn from the facilitator, as well as other teachers.
I agree that acknowledging what people believe and practice is important to PD. In this day and age where it feels that the educator is often under attack, it is good to acknowledge the positives about what teachers are doing. I think a little affirmation can go along way!
DeleteI think using the word "overkill" is a little drastic when it comes to group work. Remember ever teacher has his/her own way of teaching and group work may be one of their strengths during the teaching process. Also, group work doesn't have to last a long time. It can be as short as 5mins or as long as 30mins or more so if a teacher wants to do it everyday, by all means I think it is a good idea. :)
DeleteCommunication, collaboration and affirmation...these are the three words I've gathered from last week and this week's posts. I think the integration of these important practices can make teaching, working with others and succeeding at our jobs a whole lot easier, fun and worthwhile.
DeleteYes to affirmation! A little bit of kindness can go along way.
DeleteI agree with you Krystal that group work doesn't have to be the whole time. It can be brief but being intentional about adding that into PD I feel is important for educators to debrief and express what it is that they might be thinking or contemplating about the PD. I think it always helps to talk about what is being taught. Just like when teachers give students the opportunity to turn to their partners and talk about what is being taught.
Looking at page 125, chose your top three bullets you thought were relatable to you and what you consider to be successful professional development.
ReplyDeleteMy top three bullets I thought I related to are:
- Provides teachers with opportunities for active learning
- Received adequate funding for materials, consultants, and staffing
- Provide supportive follow-up through observations, feedback, faculty dialogues, or study groups.
There were a few more I would have liked to add here but you asked for my top three. Active learn gets teachers involved and helps them to better understand what is being taught/discussed in the PD session. It is a great way for ideas to be exchanged and gives them the opportunity to voice their opinions about existing issues.
If the right person is not facilitating the PD session, there is no way it can make an effect on teachers that attend. With that, I think it is very important that money should be spend on consultants and staffing and materials to help them with facilitating the PDs. And of course, we know Pds shouldn’t be a one-day thing, so follow up and necessary. I think with all that teacher go through in a given school day/week, it can be hard to implement what they learned if someone if not there to remind them. that is why observations, feedback or study groups will help them to continue learning and growing.
What are some strategies that might be implemented at your school to support change? If you do not have any, what are some strategies you would like to see implemented at your school?
If I were at a school, I would like to see all of the strategies implemented. A successful school is a school that looks at all aspects, from the small details to the big problems and attends them each of them accordingly. The change I would like to see if for the overall idea of a PD to understood in a better light and for teachers to be willing to participate. This can only be done if we start to understand and implement new ways of constructing pds and not just having them in a “meeting” format.
How did the themes of whole group instruction (the bullets on page 557) make you feel? Are you guilty of minimizing group work in the classroom? Put yourself in the shoes of a student. If a professional development was solely whole group instruction and did not provide enough collaborative time with colleagues, would you be successful?
Well those themes got me in my feelings. How could they even be! I am proud to say I am NOT guilty of minimizing group work! As I said before, I am a huge fan of group work not only for my students but for adults in PDs sessions as well. Group work is a great opportunity for ideas to bounce back and forth and for everyone to learn something from each other. There are some things that seasoned teacher may like to share with the new teachers and of course the reversed can be done. In the classroom, group work was a weekly thing for me. I never allowed all students of the same ability to be in one group and never did any one person do all the work. For example, if we were making goods and services posters, and students had to cut pictures from a magazine and place them under the correct heading and write a short sentence about it, everyone would get a chance to cut the pictures out, glue them on and of course everyone would have to write something. Even for the struggling students, I always encourage them to use their invented spelling and ask their peers for help. I even have everyone pitch in to write some of the poster headings where by one person may write it in pencil and another will go over with a marker and then someone to decorate it. I love group work and I love when responsibilities are shared equally.
If PD was solely whole group instruction and did not provide collaborative time with colleagues, I think it would not be successful!
I think active learning is so important. I think this means being engaged and connecting schema thus learning is occurring. I think that group collaboration is important also. It allows all people to be involved in some level. There are many teachers that would be engaged in a small group discussion but wouldn't participate with the entire group in PD. This could just be part of their personality. This type of collaboration does help all people be engaged in the process.
DeleteThis all goes back to meeting the needs of your audience. Having all these different types of opportunities during PD helps meet the personalities of all teachers. Kathy, I appreciated that you mentioned those teachers that might discuss with their table rather than an entire group. I can be like that sometimes!
DeleteKrystal,
DeleteI also think providing follow up is important after PD. Every PD I have been to has come to our school numerous times and not just once to follow up with what we might have implemented in our classroom. There was this PD called the Oklahoma Writing Project that was really great about providing us resources to implement in the classroom (based on what was presented to us during the PD) and then we were given an opportunity to discuss how the lesson went with the consultant and our grade level. I really enjoyed that about the PD!
I also think if teachers have great classroom management, noise level during group work won't be a problem, and so what if there is a little noise, at least wee know our students are engaging in work, getting it done, learning and enjoying themselves.
ReplyDeleteKrystal,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that through group work we are able to bounce ideas of each other thus being able to learn more from one another. I think that through group work you become more aware of what is outside the box. By this I mean that, we are able to hear other people’s perspectives and we are not conformed to our own. As adult learners it is important to share what we know because it may help with expanding our intellectual and professional horizon. I love group work for our students in the classroom setting and I like being a part of groups during PD sessions that help me to gain more knowledge and that allow me the opportunity to share what I know as well.