Professional Learning Experience

This year's professional development was around good questions,  specifically open questions and parallel tasks, (parallel task PD date is upcoming).  As a school we have done a great job implementing the district chosen curriculum, but teachers were noticing that students were becoming bored  with repetitive questions and lesson routines and therefore students were not engaging as much as they once were.  As a part of the DLTP Grant, I was able to be join a book club using Marian Small's book, Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Mathematics, and this encouraged me to lead a PD around good questions, see the slideshow above, (III.ii.a., III.vi., III.iii.b.). 

The open question professional development lasted about 30 minutes.  The learning goals for the professional learning were for participants to learn what an open question is, how to identify open questions, and how to rewrite given questions to make them more open.  The following day during grade level PLCs,  we developed open questions to support the lesson objectives and standards of upcoming lessons, (.III.v.d.) The next week at PLCs, teachers reflected on the use of open questions focusing on student engagement and identifying if students were able to get into the productive persistence.  We analyzed some student work to see how they did with the open questions and then I asked teachers what the future of open questions were in their classroom. The following month at our math PLC, we checked in again about how the use of open questions is going in classrooms, (III.ii.b., III.iii.a., III.v.a.).

My colleagues were very encouraged during the professional learning during our staff meetings and during the PLCs.  Most grades saw an increase in student engagement as well as students getting into the productive persistence. When teachers reflected on the use of open questions and the future of open questions, the majority of grades identified that they were using them at least a couple times a week if not once a lesson.  A couple of teachers wants to continue the use of them but do not have the capacity of rewriting questions at this time.  I will be supporting the writing of open questions, and soon parallel tasks, during PLCs as well as on an individual basis for those who have requested that coaching.  Below is an example of one open question that the third grade team wrote. 

Leading professional development is always an opportunity to grow as a teacher leader.  Leading in front of my staff is comfortable for me, but this year I have also begun co-facilitating virtual district wide PD working my courage up to eventually facilitating hopefully next year.  I think as a leader, it is important to remember to be a learner as I reflect on my practice and to take feedback from colleagues to implement changes in future PDs.