A change needs to be made in the way professional development is delivered. Too often, I have had to sit through professional development trainings that have little or nothing to do with my job duties. These trainings are usually mandated and everyone on the staff must attend. In addition to being irrelevant, I find myself getting irritated because I cannot help but think of all the things that I could be doing if I was not being forced to attend that training.
On the other hand, I also attend trainings that are relevant to my position. These trainings are held in different locations: on my campus, at the district, or at offsite conferences or vendor presentations. They are usually enjoyable as I can see the value in what I am learning. However, I am not always able to implement what I have learned due to a lack of support.
I am an Instructional Technology Specialist and one of my job duties is to provide technology trainings for my staff. I kept these two types of training experiences in my mind when I developed this professional learning strategy. My goal is to change traditional professional development into personalized professional learning by implementing a badging challenge on my campus. This badging challenge will focus on learning technology skills and how to implement them. In planning this challenge, I will survey the staff and give them a voice in what badges they can earn this year.
The participants will have a choice in how they learn learn the skills necessary to earn a badge. A badging challenge website will host all of the resources for self-paced learning and is where all requests for badges and evidence of learning will be submitted. In addition, I will host monthly training sessions for those who want to have in-person training on a topic. Both in person and self-paced training will utilize the five principles of effective professional development.
My call to action is to change traditional professional development into personalized professional learning where teachers have a voice in what we will focus on and a choice in how to participate. This year my school is focusing on Growth Mindset and I have created this profession learning with that in mind. This personalized professional learning will take place while participating in “The Power of Yet …The Badge Challenge”. All faculty members will be required to complete at least five badges, including the introductory badge we will earn together.
Call to Action – Need to change to professional learning
Sandra Negro 