Neit2009+Open+Space+5+L

Open Space5 - L -Conference House Lilac - Professional Development Conversation

(Live note taking session was at @http://etherpad.com/c9HhPQlycx)

Capture of Etherpad group written notes: Community notes from for the Conversation on Professional Development. Session leader: Liz Davis @lizbdavis Liz offers some training during "Mud Weak" - the week between athletic seasons when coaches are avaiable after school. Arvind at Hewitt has brought the open space model into the school for training with teachers during a t hree hour period. It was a very positive experience. Two sessions, initial meeting and a closing meeting. Come with an idea of something you want to learn about or something you want to share. Prepped some teachers. Similar introduction as here. Open question, with the open space model, are there people who just want to be in a room and talked to without have some power to decide content? Laurie at RCDS has used a wiki to learn how to use a wiki. Sent out an email to faculty explaining that the "course" would be done entirely at each person's individual pace and on a regular basis they would get emails gently nudging them along, providing encouragement, and making suggestions. Multiple are saying that after-school PD just doesn't work. Little to no participation. Hmm, interesting. A colleague and I hosted an after-school PD session and had 22 folks attending. However, it was purposely scheduled to take place in the hour time frame prior to our first Faculty-Staff Association happy hour ;-) Also, the content was not tech related. LION Tech weekly round up  One idea raised in a different session that is underway this year (by Alex R.) is for members of the academic tech staff to meet with each teacher individually to discuss what they are doing in their classroom WITHOUT talking about tech. In fact, when tech starts to dominate the convesation, the "interviewer" steers it away from tech. There are set questions that were created in advance and used consistently.  Have had much success with kids being part of the PD process. Have had them present (in June, after school lets out) half hour sessions on the tools they use – intent is merely to inform faculty, not convert. Also have kids provide 1-on-1 assistance during their free blocks, and kids now can get community service hours for their efforts.

MKA has a group that is part of the ISNET ning where teachers manage their teacher chosen, multi-year PD. This has the side-effect of exposing them to the ISEnet ning and peers outside of the school. Get out of a duty in order to participate in PD Student tech leaders Hi Laurie! Hi Laurie - thanks for participating My favorite topic; wouldn't miss it for anything (not even the Chinese food Fred's gone to pick up!) Collaborate with Librarian and Academic Skills Faculty to teach teachers. Lunch time sessions where faculty could bring lunch to the Tech Center (convenient that the middle school lab is just off the cafeteria) and join a discussion or see a demo of something that other faculty are doing. Purposely organized these to be a blend of mostly tech sessions but also sharing sessions involving a given faculty member's passion or interest. Nice way to get people together from different divisions and in a casual atmosphere, where they weren't obligated to "learn" something. The "branding" for these sessions was "Faculty to Faculty". Office hours once a week You have do things regularly. The consistency is important even if no one shows up they know it is there. To keep me fresh and from getting discouraged, each year I try to take a different approach to providing PD from the previous year. So one year I may decide to not spend as much time with those folks who are stuck in the mud, but another year I may focus loads of time on them. It's important to me to keep my approach upbeat and optimistic, which means I have to mix it up for myself. I also try to vary the types of PD that get offered. Since consistency is important, if I have success with a format, will use it for several years before injecting an alternative. Critical Friends groups was mentioned. They just started a ning. Self evaluation using LOTI Online training... Using kids for summer education -- Student technology leadership group -- 26 kids, test laptops, software, involved in professional development, making training videos, -- Bi-weekly meetings I love this idea, Alex. (This is Susan) I am thinking of trying to get our MS'ers involved in something like this. Comment on wordy PowerPoint from Liz: You read to yourself at a faster spead that you read outloud so when a speaker reads slides no one learns anything. You read to yourself at 240 words per minute and aloud at 140 wpm. interviewing teachers :One idea underway by Alex this year is for members of the academic tech staff to meet with each teacher individually to discuss what they are doing in their classroom WITHOUT talking about tech. In fact, when tech starts to dominate the convesation, the "interviewer" steers it away from tech. There are set questions that were created in advance and used consistently. (Thanks, Bill!) From Laurie Bartels: May I put in a request – anyone interested in trying some online collaborative PD across our schools, perhaps along the lines of the wiki game from a few years ago? or some other model? I think some faculty, especially those who know folks/have friends at other independent schools, might be game to try. Great idea. I would definitely be interested.- Liz -- Look at Sam Schalman-Bergan's Delicious account for great subject matter resources. Per Sam, Moodle has been a motivate for teacher to pursue PD because teachers want to create rich collections of resources for students.

Question raised: What do you do for the PD of administrators so they understand what teachers are doing and need in the classroom? I haven't seen the webinar (so I can't comment on how good it is) but ISTE has a recorded webinar available titled "What Administrators Should Know and Be Able to Do with Technology" at [] Cost is $50 for ISTE members. What skills are we trying to teach kids? And should we be doing that with the library folks since we all what to teach teachers to teach kids the same skills. One of the things I've been thinking about is developing common modules for PD that independent schools could share. School Reform Initiative Ning (Critical Friends Groups) [] One on one seems to be the best way for success with the possible exception of teaching some common skills. Formalize one on one -- create a fellows program, part of the requirement is to meet with tech coordinators one on one throughout the year. Cohorts once a week. Full time faculty training -- e-mail every teacher: 6, 7, 8 meetings per day. Start a summer program. Greensfarms school ( [|http://gfs.westport.k12.ct.us/gfs/homepage.htm)] (is that how you spell it?) model of one on one professional development. A boarding school.... Is there a day school model for this? == End of etherpad notes ==