Teaching alone has its own skill set. However, it is also ongoing and continuous in the content and pedagogy area. Professional development is essential in order to evolve as information becomes available. Teacher Librarians (TLs) have to keep up with the trends in pedagogy, and curriculum to foster lifelong learning with students and teachers. Teachers should be able to find assistance from the TL who can direct them to resources that help with implementing new practices. I have created ways to start my first year as the school TL. My steps to doing this are as follows: join the Professional Development Committee, establish a connection and gather input from each colleague by getting to know them and creating professional development opportunities.
Maria Kampen states that “time is not a commodity that you cannot avoid using - but you can spend it wisely… it means maximizing the time you have”. She suggests embedding Professional Development opportunities into the teaching day. For example, hosting a lunch and learn event or a drop in so that teachers can participate on their prep periods; facilitating time where teachers of same grade subject area can collaborate to plan or exchange lesson plans.
In the Cult of Pedagogy, Jennifer Gonzales has several Professional Development structures (e.g. I would like to use: Learning Walks, Unconferences, Professional Learning Communities, Peer Observation, and Lab Classrooms) that can be incorporated into the teaching day and save teachers time working outside of work hours.
I would like to try doing the following while I am part of the Professional Development Committee. The following are examples of learning opportunities I feel that I can easily incorporate without disrupting teachers days.
Teaching each other in areas of expertise.
Professional Learning Community
It is a community of professionals who have a shared interest or mutual commitment to growth. This is a community teachers choose to join. This would allow teachers to invest in what they need to know for their teaching rather than waste time learning things they don't need or already know about.
Teachers do a classroom visit. Watching colleagues teach. Sometimes a teacher demonstrates a strategy while visiting teachers observe.
As time passes and I gather more experience I would like to provide opportunities for teachers to use resources virtually so that they can share ideas, practices and experiences with each other. In addition, I would like to develop a folder on Microsoft Teams to put useful links and resources for teachers, students and parents.
References
Gonzalez, Jennifer (2018, March 4) OMG Becky. PD is Getting So Much Better!! Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved from: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/pd/
Kampen, Maria. (2019, April 24) 5 Ways to Make Teacher Professional Development Effective [With Examples]. Prodigy Game. Retrieved from: www.prodigygame.com/blog/teacher-professional-development
Learning Walks: Structured observation for teachers, March 14th, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUTIIOfma90
Wow Julieta, the Learning Walk concept is awesome! I loved watching that video, what a fantastic idea for meaningful professional development. When I first started teaching, the district where I worked had this phenomenal mentorship program where teachers could enter into a mentorship agreement with another teacher and release time was provided during the day so one teacher could observe the other teacher teaching, release time was then provided for them to debrief. It was some of the best learning and professional development I have ever participated in. The skills and teaching strategies I learned from observing my mentor teacher are invaluable and have shaped who I am as a teacher. I truly believe some of the best pro-d out there is learning from our colleagues by watching them in action, just as the Learning Walks suggest, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Erin,
ReplyDeleteYes, I participated in the mentorship program too. I found it most valuable. It's easier to learn by watching and picking up bits that you think will be valuable for your teaching values. Unfortunately, this program is only available once that's why I thought learning from our colleagues would be great for teachers who are past the mentorship program.
This is a good post that shares some great strategies for professional development strategies. Some of the most meaningful pro-d that I have witnessed have been those opportunities where teachers could observe each other and then debrief to collaborate and share. We are often each other’s greatest teachers!
ReplyDeleteHi Julieta,
ReplyDeleteI like the alternative PD structures: those are original and practical ideas I did not know about. Have you tried some of these? Which ones do you prefer and why?
I haven't officially organized them myself but I have been part of "unconferences" and "peer observation". I found both of them to be valuable. Especially if there is a lot of time to discuss and learn new strategies and information.
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