Standard 3.1 Professional Learning

At PHS we have scheduled into our weekly/monthly plan dedicated time for professional time during what we call "Power Hour." This Power Hour was implemented as part of our COVID-19 response, and we hope that it will remain a feature in our school.

To view the Power Hour schedule, click HERE, or click the image.

Payson High School maintains a curated list of recommended media (books, podcasts, articles, etc.) for faculty and staff. This is important because, as our mission statement details, we believe in high levels of learning for everyone at PHS, students and adults. Teachers can use their self-guided professional development time during Power Hour or Genius Hour, or their own time, to hone their craft by learning from these resources.

To view the list, click HERE or click on the picture

The Nebo district provides a complement of professional development courses every year through a program called Nebo Academy. The attached link will take you to a list of courses offered.

Mini School-Site Conferences

PHS likes to host our own mini conference-style workshops. For example, on 10/12/2020 during our Power Hour time for PD, we provided four breakout session options for teachers to learn about technology use in their classrooms. This provides great professional learning for our employees and showcases the incredible in-house talent and expertise on our staff.

Outside Conferences

In addition to hosting our own mini-conferences, we encourage our staff to attend and present at professional conferences outside of the school, both at the state, regional, and national level. Some examples of conferences that we have attended and/or presented at include Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET), Utah Music Educators Association (UMEA), International Thespian Festival, The Learner's Edge Conference, Instructional Leadership Conference, and National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP),

Here you will find an example of one of the administrator-led professional development presentations. This particular one mixed three big ideas: enculturating our staff with the "4 R's" of PHS (specifically, the fourth R of Reflection), research on professional expertise and mastery, and training on where to go to conduct their self-assessments and professional growth plans.