This blog is a reflection focused on one "gear" of the Future Ready Framework. I will focus on Personalized Professional Learning.
WHY?
This gear is the most important gear of the Framework because student-centered learning starts with the teacher. Teachers need to be trained how to implement technology, trained on 21st century skills, and should be part of a district's implementation plan. Also, the district and the administrators need to model the kind of learning they expect to see in the classroom.
The world in rapidly evolving into a technology based society in which people are always connected to the internet and they have access to resources to learn almost everything. We as educators need to teach our students how to learn in such a society and that starts with modeling what is to be expected of them as they leave our classrooms. No more can we expect students to sit and take notes all day and do worksheets at night. That style of learning no longer reflects the world.
WHERE IS MY DISTRICT?
My current district is just starting its journey towards providing Personalized Professional Learning for teachers. Individual teachers are going out of their comfort zones, learning about new ways of teaching with technology and bringing those ideas to other teachers. The district is developing a 1:1 initiative with the hopes of providing more student-centered learning to all students. However, some administrators still preach about the importance of test taking skills, direct instruction, and consistent homework. PLCs are focused on frequent assessments consisting of multiple choice and free response questions without considering more authentic forms of assessment. So right now, there are competing directives from administrators.
I think you brought up some great points about the importance of professional development with 1:1. My school is planning to go 1:1 in two years, but any time we have professional development it is in a large group setting. For those of us comfortable with computers it is frustrating to go through the basics over and over again but for some teachers these are things they still need to learn. My school is planning to have professional development over the summer where we will meet with our department to go through training and discuss ways to incorporate technology in our classrooms. My concern is that since all of the members of my department are at different comfort levels it may be difficult for those of us with more experience to get something out of the training. How does your district create your PLCs or are they based on your department?
ReplyDeleteIn the science department at the high school, each course has its own PLC. My district does a bad job with PD at the moment. I've had to sit through PD where they are "teaching" people how to turn on the device, log on to google, bold/italicize text, etc.
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