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Call to Action
Call to Action
Professional Learning in education is essential to grow educators to adapt to new techniques and philosophies as they pertain to the classroom and campus culture. Often, professional learning is ineffective, because teachers aren't in an environment where they can readily implement what they are learning. When professional development takes place virtually through web conferencing, educators are able to utilize the resources within their own classrooms to create and implement new learning in real time with coaching and coordinator support. Collegial discourse is still able to take place, and a variety of activities can be accomplished to meet the differentiated needs of the teacher learners. Most importantly, virtual professional learning saves travel time, especially in a large district, and offers flexibility and enhanced efficiency. Educators will enjoy being in their own space with all of their supplies and resources on hand, and will feel that they are being treated as professionals rather than being micromanaged.
District professional development days are built into the district calendar to take place once at the beginning of each new quarter. All of Secondary Math attends these sessions. The plan below is designed to build a routine of regular practices while also encompassing evolving needs that are specific to the time of year and teacher needs. Planning time and needs assessments are regularly needed, so they are built into each quarter's professional learning sessions. The Choice session topics will be informed by teacher feedback at the end of the previous quarter's Choice session and will vary from quarter to quarter based on teacher needs.
To clarify, all of the professional learning in this plan is designed to fit a virtual learning model to allow teachers the flexibility of working in their own classroom environments, saving travel time, and maximizing the productivity of teacher collaboration and planning. Thus far, districts tend to shy away from this model of learning for professional development, because they worry that some teachers may "check out" and become disengaged. This fear must be overcome in order to move professional learning into a twenty-first century model. As Sean Kelly, Principal at All Saints High School suggested in the Innovation That Sticks OCSB Case Study: Risk Taking, we have to put our fears aside and move forward without those fears holding us back.
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