There is nothing better than a great professional development session. One that really ignites your passion and sets your wheels spinning about how it will impact students.
There is also nothing worse than bad professional development. Everyone knows what I'm talking about and unfortunately everyone has experienced their fair share of bad PD.
As a new principal, I want to take advantage of every moment that my staff is gathered together. The days are so busy and our time together is a precious commodity. Below are a few ways that I try to keep staff development relevant and inspiring for my teachers.
Flipped Faculty Meetings
I had some success with flipping meetings in my previous position and knew that I would utilize this strategy at my new school. At least one week before our scheduled monthly meetings, I send out all of the pertinent announcements in a presentation video. (I've used Screenr and Screencast-o-matic, both services are free and easy to use.)
Teachers are able to watch the short presentation at a time that is most convenient for them and know that they are responsible for the information presented. When we gather as a faculty our time can be focused on those discussions and activities that move our school forward - not just a lecture full of dates and other items that do not require discussion.
Ten Minute Inservice
We begin each of our meetings with a short, easy to apply training session that lasts ten minutes. Todd Whitaker is one of my favorite educational leaders and his book The Ten Minute Inservice provides me with 40 activities that are ready to use with my staff and sure to increase teacher effectiveness. The response has been positive and I appreciate the opportunity to focus on elements of instruction in a short period of time.
Modeling A Growth Mindset
As a teacher, I wanted to model lifelong learning for my students. The same is true in my new role as principal; I want to model lifelong learning and growth for my teachers. One of the ways I do that is by sharing resources. I send a weekly "Technology Tip Tuesday" email that is full of resources and strategies for integrating technology effectively.
I also include resources, inspirational quotes, blog posts, and instructional articles in our weekly Friday Focus Memos. Yet another one of Todd Whitaker's ideas, the Friday Focus is an excellent way to build a culture of growth in your school (and improve your climate!).
Meet my PLN
Becoming connected changed my life as an educator and I used Connected Educator Month to share that opportunity with teachers in my building. I held staff development activities that focused on building a Personal Learning Network. From Pinterest, Blogging, and Twitter, teachers had the opportunity to make connections around the world and use those connections to improve the learning in our building.
The response was positive, but not as widespread as I would have liked. But I keep plugging anyway.
I frequently send tweets that may be useful to specific teachers or include them in the Technology Tip Tuesday emails and Friday Focus Memos. You never know when one more teacher will find the connection that speaks to them and begin to grow their own PLN.
Teacher PD does not have to fit in hour increments to help teachers grow. I am always on the lookout for new ways to encourage teacher growth - and my PLN never disappoints!
There is also nothing worse than bad professional development. Everyone knows what I'm talking about and unfortunately everyone has experienced their fair share of bad PD.
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| thecornerstoneforteachers.com |
As a new principal, I want to take advantage of every moment that my staff is gathered together. The days are so busy and our time together is a precious commodity. Below are a few ways that I try to keep staff development relevant and inspiring for my teachers.
Flipped Faculty Meetings
I had some success with flipping meetings in my previous position and knew that I would utilize this strategy at my new school. At least one week before our scheduled monthly meetings, I send out all of the pertinent announcements in a presentation video. (I've used Screenr and Screencast-o-matic, both services are free and easy to use.)
Teachers are able to watch the short presentation at a time that is most convenient for them and know that they are responsible for the information presented. When we gather as a faculty our time can be focused on those discussions and activities that move our school forward - not just a lecture full of dates and other items that do not require discussion.
Ten Minute Inservice
We begin each of our meetings with a short, easy to apply training session that lasts ten minutes. Todd Whitaker is one of my favorite educational leaders and his book The Ten Minute Inservice provides me with 40 activities that are ready to use with my staff and sure to increase teacher effectiveness. The response has been positive and I appreciate the opportunity to focus on elements of instruction in a short period of time.
Modeling A Growth Mindset
As a teacher, I wanted to model lifelong learning for my students. The same is true in my new role as principal; I want to model lifelong learning and growth for my teachers. One of the ways I do that is by sharing resources. I send a weekly "Technology Tip Tuesday" email that is full of resources and strategies for integrating technology effectively.
I also include resources, inspirational quotes, blog posts, and instructional articles in our weekly Friday Focus Memos. Yet another one of Todd Whitaker's ideas, the Friday Focus is an excellent way to build a culture of growth in your school (and improve your climate!).
Meet my PLN
Becoming connected changed my life as an educator and I used Connected Educator Month to share that opportunity with teachers in my building. I held staff development activities that focused on building a Personal Learning Network. From Pinterest, Blogging, and Twitter, teachers had the opportunity to make connections around the world and use those connections to improve the learning in our building.
The response was positive, but not as widespread as I would have liked. But I keep plugging anyway.
I frequently send tweets that may be useful to specific teachers or include them in the Technology Tip Tuesday emails and Friday Focus Memos. You never know when one more teacher will find the connection that speaks to them and begin to grow their own PLN.
Teacher PD does not have to fit in hour increments to help teachers grow. I am always on the lookout for new ways to encourage teacher growth - and my PLN never disappoints!
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