Professional Development Day

Workshops. Workshops. Workshops.

I'm a teaching nerd, so I enjoy these days. Wonder how many teachers do? Which, in turn, makes me wonder about the usefulness of days like these.

Mike and I were talking the other day about how to really improve teaching. I don't know that it's offering professional development sessions like these. Nor do I think it's paying handsome sums of money to bring in 'experts' to talk or work with teachers.

Don't get me wrong. I've been to some excellent presentations (and I will be at some excellent ones today) and presenters (we've had excellent ones in the past too).

But we've had some terrible ones too. I recall administration bringing in a reading expert. Talk about a bomb. The guy had the personality of a gnat and the charisma of paint drying. Talk about wasted time and money.

What Mike and I thought would really help improve teaching is not to schedule a mass group of workshops all on one day, but let the teachers choose their own professional development.

How I'd love to visit another school or university even and observe how writing is taught there or how technology is used in the English classrooms.

I'd learn more in one day than I probably have in a decade of these professional development days.

Here is my schedule today -

First session - advanced SMARTboard training. I've used my SMARTboard sparingly, and that needs to change. I'm going to be a sponge in here.

Second session - Check Understanding at the Secondary Level. Mr. Stueke is presenting. He has observed my class several times for the MNHS class I have been in. He is a former social studies teacher and always has insightful things to offer. I will pick up at least half a dozen tricks I can use on a daily basis here.

Third session - Did You Ask a Good Question? Again, Mr. Stuekel. Questioning strategies are, in my opinion, one of my weaker areas, so I'm going to be a sponge in here too.

The one session I was really looking forward to, though, was on sharing our best writing practices. Of course, that one was canceled. Figures!

I was going to bring my stuff on the multi-genre research paper. I was also hoping to get some other best practices and great ideas from others. No luck.