As an aside I just want to share the fact that one neat thing that we’ve had happen at our school this year is the installation of Acti-Boards in some of our classrooms. However only those teachers whose classrooms would be adorned with this technology were scheduled to attend the training for this new piece of technology.
I think staff development should be held by grade level and not the entire school. This decreases the group size and therefore trainers will be able to provide more individualized assistance if needed. As teachers, we get so much “new stuff” thrown at us, we often don’t get the time to digest those new tools and strategies before we are meeting and being professionally developed on something else.
Below are some tips on how I think to conduct effective professional development:
4 comments:
I thought you had an excellent idea to hold training in smaller groups by grade level--gearing the instruction to their needs. Also, the "doing" part of training is much more interesting than watching someone make a presentation while I am trying to figure out how soon I can escape and begin doing what I "really" need to be doing.
I'm not sure what an Acti-Board is except it sounds like the ones they have at CNN. I am impressed that your school is purchasing any kind of technology since my school barely has computers.
I agree with your idea about having professional development for each grade level. Workshops should be catered to small groups so that they are more intimate and more hands-ons. Small groups would feel more comfortable participating publicly and asking questions.
Teachers at schools need to be trained on how to use Acti-Boards, White boards, and activboards. These are some great teaching tools for teachers to use in their classrooms. Students become more engaged when lessons are presented throught these kind of technology tools.
I agree with you that professional development is very important. It is important that teachers are kept abreast of the changes that are taking place in technology.
I also think that the training should be on technology that are simple to use and directly help teachers instrust students on GPS standards. I realize that teachers are bombarded with meeting after meeting. I agree with you that training size for group should be kept small so teachers can ask questions and become familar with the information being presented.
Teachers usually do not run towards a professional development seminar so therefore we need to make them productive. Your idea of the training being hands on is great. Also, if at the end of the training the teachers have created a product that they can actually use they will feel like they did not waste their time.
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