This week is also about professional development, but it is a time for you to discuss with your group the program you are developing, and what,if any feedback you have gotten on it. I also have been working on a presentation/workshop combination for my conference next week in Slovakia. I"m going to detail my plan for you below. Use what you know about powerful and engaging professional development, and give me some feedback on what I'm doing. I'd like to include the materials I've created but I can't attach them.
The purpose of my workshop/presentation (and it is a combination of the two) is to introduce the concept of a knowledgeable engaging teacher and have participants reflect on their own status as a knowledgeable teacher. I also want to share what children in my research said about what knowledgeable teachers do to provide opportunities for engaged literacy learning. My plan is to ask them to pair discuss what they think a knowledgeable teacher is and what engagement in learning looks like. Then I will share the theory and research. Then I'll have pairs interview each other with some question prompts about who they are as engaged knowledgeable teachers and we will share what they learned about themselves. We will focus on what the children in my study said about knowledgeable teachers and what they did to provide opportunities for engaged literacy learning. Finally, I'll ask them if they would like to participate in the knowledgeable teacher research that I"m starting with a group of international colleagues.
I know that the description is pretty brief....but what do you think is 1 thing that might make this an engaging presentation? Do you have any questions or suggestions for me?
I have uploaded a video describing the different roles a leader can take on in a PD session/program. Please view it this week and integrate the roles into the descriptions of your activities in your overall plan. It is in the Planning and Creating PD programs section on D2L.
For your own blog, Talk about where you are in your PD program planning process and in your coaching practice. You might want to solicit input from your group and talk about feedback you have gotten. You might also want to start talking about which one of the activities on your plan you intend to plan in detail and how that would relate to your grant proposal.
Have a good week!
Overall, I think it's already a pretty engaging presentation! Perhaps one thing you could add, in addition to the research you presented, is to somehow get the teachers thinking about what their students would say constitutes a knowledgeable and engaging teacher. That way they can think about how the research might apply (or differ from) their own experiences and situations. In terms of suggestions, maybe you could give them some time to not only reflect about what they do to be knowledgeable and engaging teachers, but also about what they could do to become more knowledgeable and engaging, based on your research.
ReplyDeleteHaving partners interview each other as to who they are as knowledgeable and engaging teachers is a great way for them to think critically about what this type of teacher really does in the classroom. I really like Angela's idea of having the teachers think about how their own students would describe them. That has the potential to cause critical reflection and change in how they engage their students.
ReplyDeleteI like Angela's idea of having the teachers reflect on what their students might say about them as teachers. Maybe if time allows for it, you could have a couple of pairs share with the whole group about their reflection. This might allow for the others to realize something they might not have come up with while working in the pairs. In all, I think that the presentation is very engaging!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other ladies, the interview/ pair discussion over the what a knowledgeable teacher is will be engaging and provide great reflection. The only suggestion I would have is the presentation/ discussion of the research and theory that would come after the questioning/ reflecting session. During the discussion of the research and theories behind this idea of the knowledgeable teacher, they could get into groups and go around to different tables/ posters that discuss the research in smaller digestible chunks. During this "data walk-around" the groups would learn the new concepts and would answer some simple questions about the information being presented. This would allow participants to engage in group thought and to bring forward background knowledge the participants might have about the subject. We did this at our last professional day at my school when discussing the High Schools That Work data for our site. It allowed for a change up in receiving information and made us work in groups with teachers we might not have known.
ReplyDeleteThanks Angela, Julie, Erin, and Lauren. I will incorporate your ideas into what I do.
ReplyDeleteI am late to responding but I definitely feel like having the participants reflect on their own practices is important. I think that helps the teachers make connections in their own teaching. I like what Lauren mentioned about having groups discuss the research. Allowing those groups to explain the research in their own words could be really helpful. Like Lauren said, this changes things up from the norm.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for this being late. I am in 3 classes this semester, and honestly thought I'd replied. No excuses! Anyway I like the idea of interviewing each other. I've never done that. It prompts the teachers on what to talk about, but always gives them freedom to answer how they really would. It's like an outline of what to discuss. I think allowing teachers to showcase the ideas they are using in their class already or ones they've come up with would be neat at the end. I always learn well when I hear other teachers ideas. I usually think, "wow I wish I thought of that, I'm using it!" Why reinvent the wheel when someone has thought of a great idea that works!
ReplyDeleteI think that one way you could make this more engaging would be to show a video, maybe from a popular "teacher" movie, or a funny video about teaching. Then lead into a discussion of the pros/cons of the scene. I can think of a lot of great moments for teaching, like "The Dead Poet's Society" or " Freedom Writers", and talking about why they were engaging and knowledgeable. Then go into the deeper metacognitive stuff, this might help them think of the different things they do in their own classrooms to stand out and be engaging. You could also do some sort of role playing and give them made up scenarios and discuss how they would make these situations more engaging or what the teacher in the situation could do to change the outcome. I, personally, like it when I have something else to critique before I have to critique myself, it makes it more a process and gradual release; it can be hard to immediately understand the different areas that you need to assess and focus on.
ReplyDeleteHow did it go?