Today I had an amazing time learning from some pretty amazing people who are innovative in the world of education. Most people think professional development day and think, "Wow, this is going to be awful." This, was anything but awful. The district where I work sponsored this event for all of the teachers in the district. We got to pick 3 sessions and as a special education teacher I worried that none of these sessions specifically talked about special education and all seemed geared towards general education. Oh, how wrong I was. My first session was amazing and gave me a myriad of tools to work with my students. While it was geared towards technology for English Language Learners, I was able to see how each of these tools can help my current students with reading and writing. I became very excited about what this would mean with only a few weeks left in the school year and state testing coming up at the end of the month.
My next session was about using technology for assessments. No one loves tests... well no one I know. However, when you put it on a computer it ups the anti on the fun factor. I've used them before and now have even more tools at my disposal.
My final session was about how to teach like a rock star. What, I'm not a rock star yet? No, I am not... YET. This presenter talked about what he did in his classroom and the amount of time and tears it took. There is a happy medium between rising expectations and students having fun while learning. He even invoked my Disneyland obsession and had us collaborate on a slide about what an epic fail the opening day of Disneyland was in 1955. I'm now taking this same collaborative tool and trying it out with my students tomorrow on the introduction of the Ford Mustang in 1964.
Professional development should NOT be boring. It should give you tools that you can use immediately in your classroom with your students. It should invigorate what want to do or what you already do. As a special education teacher, I can take all of these tools to help my students be more successful. I can make my classroom student centered. I can't wait for tomorrow and the last few weeks of school to try all of these tools. I'm not waiting until Fall because that is just an excuse NOT to do try something new. As one of my colleagues made her theme this year, "Try Everything" from the movie Zootopia, I believe that this 100% applies to developing your professional tools. I'll let you know how my experiment goes tomorrow.
My next session was about using technology for assessments. No one loves tests... well no one I know. However, when you put it on a computer it ups the anti on the fun factor. I've used them before and now have even more tools at my disposal.
My final session was about how to teach like a rock star. What, I'm not a rock star yet? No, I am not... YET. This presenter talked about what he did in his classroom and the amount of time and tears it took. There is a happy medium between rising expectations and students having fun while learning. He even invoked my Disneyland obsession and had us collaborate on a slide about what an epic fail the opening day of Disneyland was in 1955. I'm now taking this same collaborative tool and trying it out with my students tomorrow on the introduction of the Ford Mustang in 1964.
Professional development should NOT be boring. It should give you tools that you can use immediately in your classroom with your students. It should invigorate what want to do or what you already do. As a special education teacher, I can take all of these tools to help my students be more successful. I can make my classroom student centered. I can't wait for tomorrow and the last few weeks of school to try all of these tools. I'm not waiting until Fall because that is just an excuse NOT to do try something new. As one of my colleagues made her theme this year, "Try Everything" from the movie Zootopia, I believe that this 100% applies to developing your professional tools. I'll let you know how my experiment goes tomorrow.