Teachers as Life-long learners
Questions to consider:
How can we approach our profession passionately and energetically, with the goal of becoming the best we can be?
How do we model being a life-long learner, setting learning goals, and thoughtfully reflecting on our learners in order to inspire our students to do the same?
Required
When Nathan Smith began his teaching career in 1980, life was him, the kids, and the four walls of his classroom. There wasn't much interaction with his teaching peers, other than chatting with them at the end of the school day for a few minutes. Every now and then he would get some training for professional development. But that happened rarely. If he wanted to explore and apply pedagogical practices, his basic resource was visiting the library on his own time.
He began teaching elementary school in 2014. The school he worked at provided a coach, he participated in weekly PLC meetings with his team, and he attended a monthly professional development cohort for first-year teachers. Starting out as a teacher can be overwhelming but there are people and resources to help you succeed.
In the 2020s, you have so much more access to information and learning than ever before! With our computers, tablets, smart phones, and the internet - those barriers have dissolved. We can easily become more involved with research and educational communities worldwide.
Study the following short articles:
- (Links to an external site.)Teacher Development and Leadership Research Review (Links to an external site.)
- Teacher Development Research Review: Keys to Educator Success (Links to an external site.)
- Teacher Development Research Review (Links to an external site.) (several stories and articles on this page - pick one that interests you!)
- Teacher Development Research Review: Avoiding Pitfalls (Links to an external site.)
- Teacher Development Research Review: Annotated Bibliography (Links to an external site.) (Just scan through this bibliography. Explore one link further that catches your interest.)
How are teachers personally contributing to education?
Just scan through these. The purpose is to show you that there are lots of resources out there for you as a teacher!
Collect the ones that look interesting to you in your curation tool!
- Blogs
As you can see, teachers are not only searching and finding resources and strategies they can use in their classrooms, but they are sharing too! There is a worldwide education community that helps contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of our profession! Become one of them!
Thinking Outside the Box! Teacher Professional Development.
A teacher's life is traditionally divided into three sections - preparing, delivering, and assessing. In most traditional education settings, little thought is given to our own learning. We spend a good chunk of time preparing our lessons. The next big chunk of time is spent teaching them to our students and giving them related homework or tests. We then spend our evenings correcting and grading them, only to begin that cycle all over again.
Hopefully, this course will help you think a little differently about those divisions. Teaching becomes facilitating learning. Homework and tests become various types of formative and summative assessments that are more meaningful and relevant. Time for personal growth in your profession is planned in and implemented.
Watch the video, "An Introduction to Teacher Development."
Traditionally, minimal at-work time is given to a teacher for learning and growing in our profession. We believe professional development (PD) is a valuable, needed component for teachers. Just like we expect our students to learn deeply, and in a manner that sticks with them - the same should be expected of teachers.
Take time now to explore Edutopia's Teacher Development section (Links to an external site.).
Now think about these questions. Let's discuss ideas, thoughts, and feelings about professional development in our vlogs this week. Here are a few questions to consider. Bring your own questions to the discussion, too!
- Why is professional development an important chunk of teacher time?
- When is the best time to hold professional development for teachers? After an exhausting day of teaching? Or some other time?
- How can administrators give teachers time to engage in professional development?
- How should topics for professional development be generated? Who should come up with them? Why?
- Who can deliver the best professional development for teachers? How can we make this "sticky" learning, rather than just sit and listen to PD?
- How can administrators ensure that training topics are implemented successfully?
- How can administrators break down traditional silos through professional development, and allow for cross-curricular instruction for students?
- Can teachers participate in professional development on their own, rather than in group sessions? Which would be more productive? individualized or group PD?
Expand Your Horizons
Pick at least one to read and explore.
- Best Professional Development Websites and PLNs for Teachers (Links to an external site.) (Common Sense Education)
- The Current (Links to an external site.): Engaging space for tech-forward instruction and teacher collaboration
- Teaching Tolerance (Links to an external site.): Thought-provoking classroom resources to support diversity education
- PBS LearningMedia Utah (Links to an external site.)
- Education World (Links to an external site.)
- Discovery Education (Links to an external site.)
- TeacherVision (Links to an external site.)
- Teachers Network (Links to an external site.)
- Read•Write•Think (Links to an external site.)
- (Links to an external site.)BetterLesson (Links to an external site.): Exemplary Common Core-aligned lessons from rock star peers at large
- KQED Education (Links to an external site.): Great news and classroom resources support both teachers and students
Optional Resources
These resources are not required!
A Sampling of Technology Resources Found on Pinterest.