Effective Professional Learning - A Call to Action
Professional development is something that many people have to do regardless of their profession. While traditional professional learning experiences tend to hand information to its participants and expects instant implementation, alternative professional learning experiences can provide proper training and instill confidence among its participants. Currently, our district offers scheduled PL days throughout the school year, district-wide workshops, summer PL opportunities and tech extravaganza PL opportunities. Some of these offerings allow teachers to choose which they would prefer to attend. Oftentimes, they are not content specific for teachers. Now, more than ever, collaboration is key. By using blended learning, we can provide PL opportunities that are relevant to the needs of the teachers. For music teachers, this means more collaborative efforts.
The Process
I began my presentation by using Google Slides. I added all of my animations and transitions. Of course, then I remembered Google Slides will not allow you to export as a video. So, what was I going to do? Quick thinking led me to use my iPad to screen record my presentation in order to display all of my animations.
I then uploaded it into WeVideo in order to edit. In WeVideo, I love that it gives you many different options and functions to use. Since I was not able to record straight through without making a mistake, I recorded narration in small clips. This allowed me layer my narrations with my presentation. I then added in background music, adjusted volumes on everything and was able to finish off my presentation.
Professional Learning Plan Outline
As I continued planning, I used my 4Dx Model, BHAG and 3 Column Table to create an outline for my professional learning plan found below. I also took into consideration the 5 Key Principles for Effective Professional Learning as I worked on developing my PL Plan outline.
These 5 Principles of Effective PL are:
- Duration – needs to be significant and ongoing, allowing time for teachers to learn and implement
- Support – needs ongoing support during implementation to address challenges of change
- Engagement – teachers need engaged throughout process with various approaches – ACTIVE participants
- Modeling – a highly effective approach that helps teachers understand a new strategy
- Specific Content – all content presented should be specific to the content area
