An Innovative Approach to PD

For a little over two years I have been serving as an Instructional Technology Facilitator (ITF) in my school district. This position comes with many different facets, and I have had to learn a multitude of new things from device management through a management system to the best most effective classroom strategies for utilizing devices with students in a 1:1 environment. As I was reading through part one of The Innovator's Mindset, I found so many great quotes and ideas, that I could not possibly use them all. My book is marked up and has many sticky notes, (I like to interact with the text when I read). As I am reading, I am thinking...I am not always in a classroom directly impacting students, but I am always impacting teachers. How can I take the Innovator's Mindset and use it daily in my interactions? How can I encourage teachers to be risk takers, to be thought provoking, to be creators and not just consumers of content? In short, we cannot continue to deliver instruction to teachers the way we always have.

We have to be innovative in our approaches to professional development. If we truly want to see a shift in pedagogy, we have to offer learning experiences for teachers. The key word here is experiences.

Recently, my teammates and I participated in an Edcamp. This is definitely an innovative approach to professional learning. One teammate in particular had been exploring BreakoutEDU and had brought a breakout box and materials so others could participate in an actual breakout, if the opportunity arose. If you are not familiar, Edcamps have no set schedule of sessions, the participants suggest what they would like to discuss and learn more about. BreakoutEDU happened to be one of those topics. During the Breakout "session" my teammate mentioned that she had brought a Breakout activity and she began to lead the group through a breakout experience. To actually experience a breakout was far more engaging than just talking about it, and it allowed the participants to interact with the concept and truly walk away with a vision for the possibilities in their classrooms.

Personalized Professional Development for Teachers
Professional Development for teachers that is delivered or offered in the way teachers are expected to teach is a start to making PD more of an experience. The PD has to be personal and relevant, and allow teachers to explore their own interests instead of mandating what they should "learn". These are all take aways from part one of The Innovator's Mindset. I am going to put a spin on a statement from page 21; "'What is best for this teacher?' Individualizing education and starting with empathy for those we serve is where innovative teaching and learning begins." Teachers need to meet students where they are, but as leaders and coaches, we must meet teachers where they are. "Effective leadership in education is not about moving everyone from one standardized point to the next but moving individuals from their point 'A' to their point 'B' (page 47)."

The innovative idea that I will share comes from The Digital Teaching and Learning Team that I am a part of. We saw a need to offer teacher choice in Professional Development when it came to learning about all of the technology resources that are available. We took an idea that was shared at a local conference, NCTiES (North Carolina Technology in Education Society) #NCTIES15, and made it our own. We spent several hours planning and creating "challenges" and creating a website to house the PD. In the fall of the 2015 school year, the #PDChallenge was born. You can check it out on our #PDChallenge Website. In our first year we had over 1,000 submissions for completed "challenges". You can read more about the #PDChallenge here in one of my previous Blog Posts.

A few key factors that make this professional development innovative:

• It is, and always has been, a working, live, document. If we see a way to make it better or more effective we change it!
• It is completely open source. My teammate, +Erin Wolfhope (@ewolfhope), and I have presented this idea several times and have always provided resources and said, "take this and make it your own"! 
• The participants choose when, how and if they want to use it. 

I understand that some PD has to be mandatory, but I think we can minimize the number of mandatory things and allow teachers to participate in PD that they choose, like #IMMOOC, as a part of their professional learning. We cannot do the same things over and over, and expect different results. At least that is what Einstein thought!


I am very fortunate to have a "boss" who supports innovation, crazy ideas, collaboration and who allows me to fail without fear. FAIL - First Attempt In Learning. Now, what I do with that, and how I grow from this support is up to me.

@kristinedwards3
Kristin Edwards
#IMMOOC
#failforward

#PDChallenge: An Overview

Just a little over a year ago, while looking through all of our findings from the NCTIES15 conference, my ITF teammates and I came across a real gem; a link to a presentation called "What's your APPtitude?". The presentation highlighted a Professional Development that was offered to two different schools.  It was from here that the idea of the #PDChallenge began to emerge!  

So, what exactly is the #PDChallenge?  

The #PDChallenge is district wide badging style of Professional Development that is self-paced and self-directed. This PD resource allows educators ranging from Kindergarten to Administration the opportunity to explore various digital resources within the environment they choose. Check out our BCPS #PDChallenge Website to gain a greater insight into the BCPS #PDChallenge.

Our #PDChallenge is currently set up into two different "challenges".  Teachers are encouraged, but not required to participate in either the iPad Challenges or the MacBook/Website Challenges .  After completion of their first Challenge, teachers submit feedback through a Google Form and provide a sample of their work in a "Brag Box".  The ITF at their school will then issue the teacher three things:

The I'm Participating in the BCPS #PDChallenge Poster.

The iPad or MacBook Template for Badges.

And the the very first Badge to place on their template!! 

The "I'm Participating Poster" and Badge Template are generally placed outside of a teacher's door. This lets everyone know that they are participating, they are learning, and they are growing as an educator!  For each submission after, teachers receive badges to place on their templates.  Each completed challenge is worth .1 CEU.  A teacher may choose to complete only one challenge this school year, or they may choose to complete them all.  It is completely up to the teacher!  

Completed Template

If teachers are expected to personalize learning for students, shouldn't a teacher's professional learning be personalized as well?  Personalizing PD allows for the opportunity to explore areas of interest at a convenient time, at a comfortable pace, and allows the opportunity to model being a life long learner for students. Participation from teachers in the #PDChallenge within our district has grown over the course of this school year.  We have administrators, administrative assistance and counselors participating, proving that it is not just beneficial for teachers!  The feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive, but just like with anything it is important to be reflective of feedback and suggestions.  Many teachers have given feedback asking if certain things can be a part of the Challenge.  This pushed us to begin thinking about a #PDChallenge 2.0 that will be rolled out in the Fall of 2016 with the start of the new school year.  #PDChallenge 2.0 will add a few beginning level challenges, but will mainly focus on depth of knowledge and content rich digital integration.  

Why consider the #PDChallenge or a similar style Professional Development?

This style of PD is an effective way to recognize teacher leaders, build teacher capacity, utilize available resources, and evaluate authentic feedback from teachers.  The challenge has helped our district provide a resource bank for each of our challenges where teachers can visit to find ideas to take back and use in their classes.  

The #PDChallenge has allowed me, as an ITF, the opportunity to get into more classrooms. It has teachers asking questions and eager for assistance in their classes! 

One of the most beneficial considerations for this style of PD is the teacher interaction with the tech begins at the personal level.  Our department has a saying when it comes to digital integration; personal use leads to professional use, professional use leads to classroom use, and classroom use is what impacts the most important part, the student.  

I am excited to see the impact of the #PDChallenge and to see where 2.0 takes us!   Check out our #PDChallenge on Twitter to see what is happening in our classrooms.