What am I doing to further PD in my own school?

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This is my 5th year of teaching and I am finally starting to not feel like a "newbie". I have grown more in this past year than any other and a lot of that growth has stemmed from my 30 Day Blog Challenge. It really helped me reflect and re-focus what I am passionate about, while reaching out to others for feedback and support. This post is going to be all about the comment I received on my Day 26 post on professional development.

On Day 26 of my 30 Day Blog Challenge I talked about how I use twitter to develop my PLN and how many ideas I get from my PLN. Then I had @davidwees leave me a comment that read:

"One question I have is, how do you share your professional learning with your local in-school network?"

I am very at ease with students, but I have a weakness for being in front of peers. I know I have great ideas and I have a passion for learning and teaching, but I am afraid of getting negative reactions to trying to help my local in-school network with their professional development.

This question has stayed with me because at the time I didn't have a really good answer. Well this morning I woke up thinking about this question and decided that I need to put my money where my mouth is. On my drive to school this morning, I thought up an informal meeting that I could host for my colleagues that would have a different topic each time. I picture these meetings to be like a twitter chat where we all learn from each other. I know that I can learn so much from my colleagues and right now there isn't a platform to do that. I will fill that void and see who wants to join me. Part of me is a little scared that no one will show up, but I know that I can learn from failure.

My plan is to develop ideas for topics and build a format to facilitate these meetings. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for me or if you have any topic ideas.

Thanks @davidwees for inspiring me and wish this "newbie" luck!

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." ~John Quincy Adams

Comments

  1. DavidMay 04, 2011

    I think this is brave of you and I think that it will pay off. Really, it depends on your school, but every school I've worked at has had a committed core of people who were more interested in sharing, than worrying about their schedule. I like the idea, good luck with it. Keep us informed.

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  2. RyanMay 06, 2011

    Sometimes the best way to contribute is to just share stories of what you're doing in your room and answer any questions you get with a positive attitude. I've also found that leaving my door open all day not only sends the right message to my students but also allows other faculty members to pop in and see what's going on.

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  3. JP PrezzaventoMay 10, 2011

    This is a great idea, Julie! My biggest suggestion is to not get discouraged. If you have a no following or a small following at first, be persistent and stay positive. Just like David said, find a core group of teachers who are on the same page as you are and as word gets around about the great things you all are doing in class, more educators will get on board.
    Good luck!

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