Teach. Tech. Math.
Alternative Professional Learning
Professional learning (PL) is crucial to continuing educators' development, but the PL given to educators often does nothing to change our schools effectively. How can we address the need for alternative PL? Discover the 5 Key Principles of Effective Professional Learning, crucial for educators to enhance their teaching practices.
Significant and ongoing: Professional learning must be delivered multiple times and in various ways. We can no longer have once-and-done PL. Educators need continuous support to implement new practices successfully.
Support throughout Implementation: Educators must have continuous support from someone skilled in the new practices. When educators bring these newly learned skills to the classroom, they inevitably face questions and challenges. This support is crucial in helping them overcome these challenges and feel confident in their ability to implement new practices.
Engage: The sit-and-get method of professional development has been outdated for a long time. We need educators to actively participate in their professional development as passive recipients and active contributors through discussions and hands-on learning. This active engagement fosters a sense of ownership and motivation, making educators feel more involved and motivated in their professional growth.
Model: Educators must see the expected results in action to know how they will work for them. This creates buy-in and drives educators to change.
Specific to Discipline: PL is not one-size-fits-all; it must be particular to the educator's discipline or grade level to create change.
Alternate PL: Call to Action
Why?
Most professional learning sessions for educators follow a passive "sit-and-get" model. They receive information but need more follow-up to implement new practices effectively amidst the whirlwind of education. Districts are spending large amounts of money on one-and-done professional learning; we must ask ourselves if this is a genuinely effective model.
We must offer engaging, meaningful, and supportive professional learning to drive change in our schools. Educators should feel empowered to implement new practices actively. Let's shift from sit-and-get to show-and-go PL, giving educators hands-on experiences to foster district-wide transformation.
What?
As I developed my presentation, simplicity was my priority. I emphasized crafting a concise script before designing the slides. In Nancy Duarte's video, What are some tips for presentation design? she emphasizes keeping the presentation design simple and focused. This approach enabled me to use minimal text on the slides, turning them into talking bullet points rather than detailed information.
How?
I created my slides using Canva and included my speaker notes. Canva is very user-friendly and allows for consistency in design elements such as color, fonts, and imagery. I am to use the same color scheme across my portfolio to create a representation of myself. The imagery I used is simplistic and matches the color scheme to remain visually attractive but not busy. By including speaker notes, I could present my slides in presenter view and record a portion of my screen with my MacBook screen recording software. I often record videos for my students to utilize, so I was very comfortable doing this.