PD - or the post that almost stayed a draft.

I said I wasn't going to post this... but it was sitting in the DRAFT box looking forelorn... so here it is.


So push button training is dead in a BYOT school.  Even with universal products (Edline and Google Docs) the individual use of these products allows for at best small group sessions (usually based on department).  With the multitude of devices, operating systems and apps we are seeing used everyday... the thought of trying to teach everything to everyone in a lab makes my head hurt.

Bringing teachers to me, in a training lab, is not what they need.  Going out to the teachers... to the classroom... to the students and being present in the moment of learning ... shifting sands of professional development means getting out of the training room and into the classroom.

So what does my day look like related to professional development?

1. I have an office in the school building and an open door. Being part of the school life, in the school when needed is critical. We like to call this "present in the moment" (literally and figuatively).  I log roughly 5400 steps a day on my pedometer.

2. As Director of Faculty Development, one of my "hats" is teacher evaluation.  Formal and informal observations allow me to see what is going on in the classroom.  I can then take all the wonderful practices I see and spread them out in the building.  No longer are the great strategies hiding in one room... I can facilitate collaboration because I have seen great lessons... and I have seen areas where new ideas for great lessons are needed.

3. I curate my Scoop.it! BYOT for EDU page for faculty.  I realize most teachers do not have time to sift through lists of tools, apps and websites so I do this for people. Skim the page to see a daily report of trends and tools.

4. I facilitate a lot of Tech Petting Zoos.  Time to play with devices is critical.  Try them out, "pet" them (most don't bite as long as they aren't dropped) and see what they can do.  Thanks to matching funds from Title IIA we'll have more devices soon and the time to work with them.

5. I'll be hosting 1:1 BYOT Boot Camps for departments.  Agenda will include context activities surrounding stages of integration moving to experiences with devices, tools and resources.  The 2 hour session will end with reflection activity on 1:1 BYOT using a current lesson plan and round table brainstorming.

6. Oh and there's a professional development library of BOOKS, email, Twitter, webinars, conferences and first/second year faculty formation groups which meet monthly.

Being present in the building, sharing and observing the moments of learning, interacting daily with students makes my job work.  Being present is the clearest example of paradigm shift I can offer.