Last week, I had two full days of professional development, or PD as we like to call it. I shared my excitement on Facebook about the two days and, of course, was met with disbelief. Excitement? Really? Since when has PD actually been something to look forward to? And so I realized that I might be in the minority when it comes to excitement for PD, that I might be a lone voice among the educational community and yet, in my district I am not. Because my district, Oregon School District, has figured out how to do PD right.
They operate under a few simple things; trust, communication, and choice. Tenets that far too many districts kind of believe in when it comes to PD but then really don’t when it comes to setting the agenda. Yet, my district not only believes it, they live it, and it is apparent every time we are given time to learn as professionals. Our two days consisted of many different things, all meant to fulfill the needs we not only have as a community, but also as individual learners.
We started with curriculum time.Just that. No set curriculum to go through. No agenda.
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cross-posted at pernillesripp.com.
Pernille Ripp is the creator of Global Read Aloud Project, co-founder of EdCamp MadWI and the author of Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners and Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to OurStudents, She teaches seventh grade in Verona, Wisconsin, and blogs at http://pernillesripp.com. Follow her on Twitter @PernilleRipp.
