{"id":659,"date":"2015-08-17T03:15:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T08:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/?p=659"},"modified":"2015-11-09T08:01:46","modified_gmt":"2015-11-09T14:01:46","slug":"a-case-for-professional-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2015\/08\/17\/a-case-for-professional-development\/","title":{"rendered":"A Case for Professional Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Andrew Willems<\/em><\/p>\n

The case for WELS teachers entering into ongoing professional development should be clear. As I\u2019ve taken\u00a0post-graduate classes, I appreciate those teachers who seek to stay current with readings and new technologies and modern pedagogy. As a parent, I have bad thoughts about my daughter having the same college professors I had–hoping they don\u2019t use the same old strategies they taught me as a student! As a teacher, I know my students can instantly seek answers from the world wide web. Why can\u2019t I?<\/p>\n

This blog posts only looks at the value of Professional Development time at school, sometimes referred to as inservice. How can you afford not to do it? How can you make it effective? Finally, how can you do it for as low a cost as possible?<\/p>\n

In his Jan 30th blog entry on Issues in Lutheran Education, No Time for Continuing Education?<\/em><\/a>, Dr. John Meyer states that, \u201cIf Lutheran schools are to develop a community of professionalism and continued growth, they need to view classroom teaching as sufficient for a full-time call.\u201d One of the suggestions he offers to increase time for teacher professional development is, \u201c3. Maximize already scheduled inservice days for high- impact professional development…A school that prioritizes professional growth will utilize the embedded inservice opportunities for teacher learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another blog, Elton Stroh points out one of the reasons Lutheran schools are more likely to be healthy is, \u201c5. expect and budget for ongoing professional development\u201d (Key Observations about Healthy Schools<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

On a limited budget, your own school can greatly assist with teacher professional development by providing regular and intentional teacher inservice time, known as professional development. Why not plan a two hour late start day once a month for teachers to work on making their teaching and their school better? We ended the school day five minutes and gained 880 minutes of extra instructional time. That allows for 1 \u00bd hours of professional development each month. Many books can be discussed, educational studies read, and ideas written and rehearsed for your classroom lessons in that time!<\/p>\n

Topics and resources are almost unlimited in this day and age. While I enjoy going to assist faculties with specific professional development topics as the \u201cexpert\u201d in a particular field, why don\u2019t you save your school the\u00a0$400 you would pay me for a full day\u2019s inservice and go online to find another \u201cexper?” Even a rudimentary Google search comes up with literally millions of ideas (professional development tools for teachers<\/a>). These online tools often lead to other resources to use (Ed-Week <\/a>and Ted Talks<\/a>). Finally, let’s not forget your Professional Learning Network (PLN<\/a>). Many states require this as part of your state certification plan. Perhaps you use Twitter <\/a>as your PLN already. Share those resources with your teachers and ask your PLN for resources they use.<\/p>\n

Lost as to how to go about arranging a professional development plan of attack? Look at the WELS teaching<\/a> standards<\/a>. Perhaps look at your school\u2019s five year plan generated from your Accreditation team or institutional self-study. Then with your faculty or administration team select the areas of school improvement you would like to focus on. That is your main goal. However, that goal is usually too daunting a task, so then divide it into smaller more manageable tasks depending on how many professional development opportunities you have in a school year.<\/p>\n

Next, think about what you are trying to accomplish. Why did you hate inservice before you were a principal? Why do teachers complain about professional development? Why is professional development never relevant to you? It is hard to make professional development meaningful: different grade levels, different subject levels,\u00a0different teaching pedagogies and teaching philosophies. But keep these points in mind from Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux in their book, \u201cThe Ten-Minute Inservice<\/a>\u201d: time saving, inservice design, implementation\/follow-up, making inservice engaging.<\/p>\n

Before you know it, you are well on your way to having a good plan for your WELS school\u2019s teacher professional development.<\/p>\n

Andrew (Drew) has a MS Ed from Walden University with an emphasis in integrating technology. He is the Director of Technology for Shoreland Lutheran High School and assists in planning their Professional Development days. He has 26 years experience teaching in WELS elementary and high schools.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note:<\/strong> There are a variety of courses to fit your needs whether you are interested in faculty development using the Professional Development Series<\/a> or maybe you are interested in taking a class that allows you to practice what you learn right away in your classroom like the Teaching That Works<\/a> courses.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Edublogs Teacher Challenge. Retrieved May 4th, 2015 from: http:\/\/teacherchallenge.edublogs.org\/pln\u00ad<\/a> challenge\u00ad1\u00adwhat\u00adthe\u00adheck\u00adis\u00ada\u00adpln\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Education Week. Retrieved May 3rd 2015 , copyright Editorial Projects Inc. from http:\/\/www.edweek.org\/ew\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Google Search. Retrieved May 1st, 2015 from https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?sourceid=chrome\u00ad<\/a> psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF\u00ad<\/a> 8&q=professional%20development%20tools%20for%20teachers&oq=professional%20development%20tools%<\/a> 20for%20teachers&aqs=chrome..69i57.8439j0j7<\/a><\/p>\n

Meyer, J. No Time for Continuing Education?. Issues in Lutheran Education, January 30, 2015<\/p>\n

Stroh, E. Key Observations about Healthy Schools. Issues in Lutheran Education, August 14, 2014<\/p>\n

Ted Talks. Retrieved May 3rd, 2015. copyright TED Conferences, LLC. from: https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks<\/a><\/p>\n

www.twitter.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Whitaker, T, Breaux, A. (2013). The Ten\u00adMinute Inservice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey\u00adBass. Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Teaching Standards. Retrieved May 7th, 2015 from:
\nhttps:\/\/connect.wels.net\/AOM\/schools\/General%20Documents\/WELS%20Teaching%20Standards%20and%20<\/a> Continuum\/WELS%20Teaching%20Standards.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

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