The Project
This year I decided to embark on a journey to change the way my district thought about professional development with the hope that through this project and the outlets from which it would be shared, we could start to spread the idea of individualized professional development to other districts in the future. I started small at first, simply having open conversations with my PD coordinator, principal, and superintendent about the idea of the shift from group PD to individualized. This was well accepted by my administration. The next step was to begin having conversations with staff about their feelings, ideas, and beliefs about PD. the results of my survey as well as a link to take the survey can be found on the survey page. You will notice the survey results confirmed many of my ideas about teaachers's thoughts on their professional development experiences. I then used the results to guide to next steps.
The Disconnect
From my survey and conversations with teachers I realized their was a bit of a disconnect between teachers and administration about PD. It wasn't that their views and ideas were really that different but there was no real communication about goals and school vision as a whole. One way I sought to foster this connection was through a professional learning section in the building. I have read so many powerful books that have impacted my classroom and my professional learning that I felt this could be a step in the right direction. I also knew that a teacher book study could help connect faculty on a more personal level as well as gear us to areas of personal growth. After discussing this idea with administration and the librarian I am happy to say we have plans to use a section of the library as our professional learning corner. This will be a place to share books and articles as well as a place to post PD experiences and opportunities. Plans are in the works to remodel a section of the library this summer and should be up and running the beginning of the next school year!