Sunday, January 29, 2017

Day 4

Today's focus was professional development for teachers.  I was able to observe as the media specialist helped teachers "add a little polish" to their websites during two different planning times.  The presentation itself was set up through Google Slides and presented on a Smartboard.  Teachers brought their laptops so that they could work on things in live time.  I picked up several useful tips from this day:

1.  Bring a treat/snack...in this case cookies.
2.  Make the slides eye-catching but easy to follow...red circles, finger pointer, screenshots
3.  Keep it short and sweet...in this case about 15-20 minutes...teachers appreciate that you realize their time is valuable.

In between groups I was able to ask some questions about how often they meet like this as well as how they come up with the topics.  What I learned is that topics are generated as needs arise.  Websites have to be regularly updated, so this was a necessary skill.  Other times, new technologies are presented.  Sometimes teachers' requests are covered.

Overall today has helped me to feel more confident about planning professional development opportunities for teachers.  I think the main goal is to be flexible and to be aware of their time and needs.

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