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| By Michael Jastremski (© 2004 Michael Jastremski.) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Worst PD ever!
No outlet for the interactive whiteboard (IWB) that I was supposed to be conducting a training on. Yes, this was the focus of the "spray and pray" training I was set up to deliver. Not to mention there was not one functioning computer in the classroom to connect to the IWB. Over 40 teachers crammed into a classroom with desk/chair combos. Yes, some were standing. Thankfully, I did have a PowerPoint of various screenshots along with a handout for half of the participants. We were able to rustle up a projector and project my computer image onto a chalkboard that we had covered with white paper. I made it through the day. Did this half day of professional development send teachers running back to their classrooms to use this newly found knowledge? I highly doubt it, there was no buy-in from the teacher, a lack of communication, and definitely a need to listen to what the teacher's basic needs were (i.e. outlets and a functioning computer)
We all could share a great tale of our worst PD's ever. You may even have more than one you could share.
#worstpdever
Then the clouds part and we have a "Cloud 9" day with teacher's and students. We really do have an opportunity to see the fruits of our labor. For example the day I modeled an assessment strategy in the classroom, the teacher, students and I debriefed the lesson, the strategies and our next steps. Yes, the students participated in a portion of the debrief! The teacher emails me before school lets out that day and has two new ideas as to how she and her students can continue these formative assessment strategies the following day and throughout the remainder of the week.
#wewin
These are the days a fellow colleague and I like to call a "We Win" day. Everybody wins, most importantly the students.
Jim Knight shares in his book Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to Improving Instruction an account of one of his worst PD days. He was able to take some time to reflect after this awful day and converse and listen to the participants in a more one-on-one environment. Jim points out professional development success can be attributed to taking time to work with individuals one-to-one, listening, demonstrating empathy, engaging in dialogue, and communicating honestly (Knight 2007) These components help to plant the seeds of what Knight refers to as instructional coaching. Any novice or veteran instructional coach can agree with these success indicators.
In chapter 1 Knight goes onto outline the different types of coaching; Executive Coaching, Coactive Coaching, Cognitive Coaching, Literacy/Reading Coach, and Instructional Coaching. Instructional Coaching will be the emphasis for this book study and our discussion on this blog.
So, we could all share one of our horror stories here, because maybe you just needed to get it off of your chest. Or we could also share our "Winning" days, because personally these #wewin days are why I skip out of bed.
Share in the comments section below on your #worstpdever or your #wewin day.
No one single instance of my #worstpdever comes to mind but have had many unsucessful ones. Unsuccessful ones are ones where teachers are forced to come to it and the pd may not seem relevant to them. My #wewin PD's are ones where I can taylor the PD to the audience. Recently I did one for new teachers on Social Media and our district policies. Several teachers commented how it was a worhtwhile PD.
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