Professional Learning Done Right

Howdy, and welcome to my Professional Learning Work in Progress Site! In light of the recent major changes we have and continue to experience with the Corona-19 virus, my Innovation Plan to "Flip the Defensive Meeting Room" is going through some necessary changes, too. With my recent move to the University of Louisiana Monroe WarHawk Football Staff, I look forward to bringing the lessons I learned with the Lamar Cardinal Football Staff to make an even bigger impact. With the uncertainty we face heading in the the 2020 football season, and the certainty that we will do it with a shortened amount of preparation time, my plan to "Flip the Defensive Meeting Room" will definitely help us use our time in the meeting room more efficient and effectively, and increase the time we will be able to spend on the actual practice field.

Below to the left, you will find a working draft of a Professional Learning Schedule that will be finalized when we have actual dates for reporting for athletes, as well as the amount of time we will be allowed to work with them per NCAA guildelines. Below to the right, you will find my "Call to Action" video that will give you a general idea of what my plan can offer. Below the Schedule, you will find the Introduction Video for an on-line course that can be available to our student athletes. We will use our Professional Learning time to work through the course, a little at a time, to make changes that will allow the course to work for all of us as defensive coaches. I will be available through the entire process to make sure everyone is comfortable with every part of the program. My hope is, that after the Offensive Coaches see what benefits this plan offers, they will want to jump on board, too, and we can all mentor them through the process.

Additionally, at the bottom, you will notice links to a Schoology Course I developed to teach the skills we hope our athletes will adopt, while allowing them the opportunity to collaborate with teammates. Of course, this is a work in progress for our staff, and changes will and can be made as we work through the process as a defensive staff.

For this Professional Learning opportunity to be successful, we will break the task in to manageable parts and provide ongoing, weekly meeting time as we adopt the new strategy. By meeting weekly throughout the season, ongoing support will be continuously available throughout implementation. All sessions will be completely hands-on, with all coaches having the opportunity to learn and adapt the program to best fit their particular athletes, while the program will be modeled by the program's developer. Finally, by presenting the program to position coaches with the idea that we will adapt the program to fit specific needs, by definition, the program will become specific to each coaches particular needs.

For reference, I have also included links to my UbD and 3-Column Course Mapping for reference, and am happy to discuss any and all of this with you at your convenience.

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf