A New Look at Professional Learning

This time of year tends to be difficult on teachers. The long stretches before another break, lack of sunshine when entering or leaving school, less outside time with students make for long days and stressful times. Springtime also means assessments are right around the corner, and everyone begins to feel the pressure. Teachers are wearing down, and begin to struggle with student behaviors more often. Self-preservation becomes necessary.

Meredith Akers write about a creative solution to this problem in her blog Edu Podcast Tasting + Podcasts & Pedometers for PD with Choice and Movement. Meredith explains that instead of the typical sit and get format for professional development (PD), her school has begun to offer two "Podcasts and Pedometer" sessions a week, where teachers could walk around the school while listening to an educational podcast of their choice. After walking and listening to the podcast of their choice, teachers would complete the "Podcasts and Pedometers Exit Ticket" that asks them to name their podcast, takeaways, and how they will apply it. This seems like an easy trade off for a unique option for PD.

Since reading this blog, I am considering how this could work within my school. It is a great option for self-care and professional learning because it allows interest based learning, movement, and reflection. However, would JCPS consider this as an acceptable PD? Could it count toward the PD hours we need for the year? I ran this idea by a few coworkers. They were very interested. I would be interested to see what my principal would think about something like this. Until then I will be checking out some of these podcasts Akers suggests within her blog.

Edu Podcast Tasting

Podcasts and Pedometers- Exit Ticket