It is hard to explain the magic that happened on September 19th in Border Land School Division for their first divisional PD event of the year. It started off with two amazing speakers: Winnipeg Police Chief, Devon Clunis and Assistant Deputy Fire Chief in Calgary, Tyler Pelke. Devon Clunis told an inspiring story of the power of a teacher (Mrs.Hanna) and Tyler told a story of resilience, forgiveness, and chasing your dreams.
Teachers were watching and engaged during these talks as you could have probably heard a pin drop. It was QUIET. Devon reminded teachers of the power of connection. Those things you do like stay after school to meet up with a student who needs extra help because you want to see them succeed. And Tyler referred to these people as difference makers throughout his talk.
Throughout the morning, so many ideas were swirling in my head:
"Who is my Mrs.Hanna?"
"Who is my difference maker?" (some were sitting in the room)
"Does someone/or a student view me as their difference maker?"
"What will I do to continue to make positive connections with students?"
"How do we foster/promote resiliency in students so they can move from victim to survival to thriving?"
Tyler defined resiliency as:"The ability to bend and not break, experience pain and flourish, be challenged and adapt, and overcome and grow emotionally." His message really resonated with me. He said a couple of times..."It is not about the story, but what you do with the story." I definitely went back to work on Monday thinking about student's stories and my role as a teacher in helping them see their story differently. How can their stories be a source of empowerment?
In the afternoon, we ran an Edcamp style PD where teachers created and chose topics that they were passionate about and attended sessions based on their needs. Some of the sessions included: composting programs, interactive apps, teacher wellness, fitbit and sustainability, aboriginal perspectives in education, #geniushour and passion projects, social justice and equity in our school, teacher evaluation process, yoga in the classroom, and even the creation of a music data base. The ideas were flowing and many colleagues even had breakout sessions that fit their interests. Our day ended with an app smackdown, where teachers could learn about new apps that could be used in the classroom to engage students. It was nice to see teachers smiling, taking risks in their learning, having informal conversations with teachers across the division, and showing interest in a style of pd that is really unconventional.
Edutopia has an article focused on how to deliver a great PD (www.edutopia.org/blog/10-tips-delivering-awesome-professional-development-elena-aguilar) BUT...here is my top ten list that focuses on how you know your PD was a success:
10 Ways to Know Your PD Was a Success
1. People leave smiling
2. They have choice in what they learn
3. They leave asking more questions than when they arrived
4. They have an "Aha" moment while listening to others
5. The engage in conversations that are out of their comfort zone
6. They find inspiration through others
7. They create new contacts for continued support in their learning
8. They reflect on their own practice so they can be their "best self"
9. They leave with something they can use/apply in the classroom right away
10. They leave wanting more (We should do this again!)
Teachers were watching and engaged during these talks as you could have probably heard a pin drop. It was QUIET. Devon reminded teachers of the power of connection. Those things you do like stay after school to meet up with a student who needs extra help because you want to see them succeed. And Tyler referred to these people as difference makers throughout his talk.
Throughout the morning, so many ideas were swirling in my head:
"Who is my Mrs.Hanna?"
"Who is my difference maker?" (some were sitting in the room)
"Does someone/or a student view me as their difference maker?"
"What will I do to continue to make positive connections with students?"
"How do we foster/promote resiliency in students so they can move from victim to survival to thriving?"
Tyler defined resiliency as:"The ability to bend and not break, experience pain and flourish, be challenged and adapt, and overcome and grow emotionally." His message really resonated with me. He said a couple of times..."It is not about the story, but what you do with the story." I definitely went back to work on Monday thinking about student's stories and my role as a teacher in helping them see their story differently. How can their stories be a source of empowerment?
In the afternoon, we ran an Edcamp style PD where teachers created and chose topics that they were passionate about and attended sessions based on their needs. Some of the sessions included: composting programs, interactive apps, teacher wellness, fitbit and sustainability, aboriginal perspectives in education, #geniushour and passion projects, social justice and equity in our school, teacher evaluation process, yoga in the classroom, and even the creation of a music data base. The ideas were flowing and many colleagues even had breakout sessions that fit their interests. Our day ended with an app smackdown, where teachers could learn about new apps that could be used in the classroom to engage students. It was nice to see teachers smiling, taking risks in their learning, having informal conversations with teachers across the division, and showing interest in a style of pd that is really unconventional.
Edutopia has an article focused on how to deliver a great PD (www.edutopia.org/blog/10-tips-delivering-awesome-professional-development-elena-aguilar) BUT...here is my top ten list that focuses on how you know your PD was a success:
10 Ways to Know Your PD Was a Success
1. People leave smiling
2. They have choice in what they learn
3. They leave asking more questions than when they arrived
4. They have an "Aha" moment while listening to others
5. The engage in conversations that are out of their comfort zone
6. They find inspiration through others
7. They create new contacts for continued support in their learning
8. They reflect on their own practice so they can be their "best self"
9. They leave with something they can use/apply in the classroom right away
10. They leave wanting more (We should do this again!)