I know - the title is snarky.
Really, our district has loosened up and trusted the teachers to be more professional about our growth as teachers. We have more options and can pursue a wide range of paths to get to an array of goals.
Go with me here...I'm on a roll
Our district is already on MLP for professional development. Maybe there is a part of MLP that hosts portfolios. If not, Google docs or some other web 2.0 tool could be used. All the evidence of our growth could be displayed and organized there. I have bad memories of binders filled with forms and lesson plans and certificates and more, all neatly separated by tabs. And you needed to make copies of everything, just in case.
Maybe you want to research methods of classroom management as part of your three year plan. You could share the videos and webinars that you watched. You could still show the classes you took or the conferences you went to with either a link or scanned documents.
Blogging could add so much. You could join a support group of people working on the same goals, either in the district or in another hemisphere. There could be required posts, maybe once a month. The administration could monitor your activity, ask questions, redirect you, and generally stay involved.
I could see this organically growing into an authentic PLN. Wouldn't that solve so many problems with staff development? Teachers would be able to pursue their interests with guidance from their administrators and support from engaged and enthusiastic colleagues. If you became part of a network, would you be inspired or, at least, embarrassed to participate. I can see amazing collaboration and learning result.
I'm an old timer and have seen initiatives come and fade. But most of the teachers in the district are younger than me now. Most live a good part of their lives online. Isn't it time to take this next step into the future?
Hey Jim;
ReplyDeleteI came into teaching only 6 years ago. Most of my previous experience in sales was most likely technology driven behind the scenes but I was out in the field. My exposure to technology involved email and posting expenses! So, teaching has taught me to do so many different things, an introduction to technology as a learning tool being one of them. It's so pervasive. You had I had similar thoughts at times about overload. It seems as if we're both getting accustomed to the idea that this "elephant" we have to eat does take smaller bites but will make us better at what we do in the end. And, who knows, maybe our test scores will go up because kid will want to come to school and learn from us experts! Take care!