I know the phrase "Professional Development" can refer to specific training teachers must attend, or research done to prepare lessons, assessment, etc.. But isn't it also what I do in my non-teacher time, the museums I visit, books I read, even walks I take? Most of what a teacher does and is in his/her life probably makes it into the classroom, I would think.
Anyway, did a bunch of PD last week. Staff Development on CCSS, looking at Standards, rewording them and connecting them to current lessons. After a few minutes trading ideas on writing and speaking lessons with the Middle School P.E. teacher I hopped around to various groups (middle school ELA, 3rd, 5th) and listened/added my 2 cents.
Then it was on to BTSA for a Rick Morris session on engaging students; his focus is managing students and class time, I agree his "gift" is for solving problems. This has always been one of my strong points as well, being able to get to the root of an issue and fix it, quickly and simply. I think a lot of his management techniques fit well with Common Core, reducing classroom procedure and behavior stress/time wasted and allowing students more time for creating and producing work.
Next up was some CCSS online research, mainly New York's EngageNY site for great videos of teachers and students meeting standards and AchievetheCore.org for lesson plan ideas. Part of me still doesn't understand the uproar or hesitation regarding the Standards. "Good teaching" is what I call it.
Finally, I watched this video. Several times. I think students need to be able to write a Tweet, a Blog, a video script, AND an essay.
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