Take A Bite Out of Professional Development

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A presentation that was given at the VA DOE Educational Leadership Conference

Transcript of Take A Bite Out of Professional Development

Take a Bite Out of Professional Development!

Professional Development Programs That Work

Wendy Heller – ITCHeather Hurley – ITC

Arlington Public Schools

Goals

• Learn what is needed to implement a realistic professional development program

• Learn effective professional development strategies that we have used.

• Learn how to access free and low cost online professional development resources

The Question?

• If I Won the Lottery...

• How replicable is my work by someone other than me?

• Why or why not?

Understanding the Context

• Why doesn’t everyone just do this?

• Barriers:– Time– Money– Resources– Administrator Support– Type of Adopter

Adopter TypesAdopter Type Characteristics % in

Population Innovator Eager to try new ideas

Open to change Not necessarily integrated in social structure

8%

Leader Open to change Thoughtful re. involvement Trusted for advice and opinions

17%

Early Majority Cautious and deliberate re. innovations Follower vs. leader

29%

Late Majority “Set in their ways” Can be won over by peer pressure and administrative expectations

29%

Resister Suspicious and opposed Low in influence Isolated from mainstream

17%

Rogers, 1971

Assess Your Needs

• You need to assess needs and create the means for on-going assessment and review.

• Use this knowledge to create your professional plan and influence your choice of appropriate professional development strategies.

LOTI STEPS• Level 0 Non-use

– No visible evidence of computer access in the classroom

• Level 1 AwarenessClassroom computers used exclusively for teacher productivity

• Level 2 Exploration– Technology used in student

projects focus on lower level thinking skills

• Level 3 Infusion– Technology used in student

projects focus on higher level thinking skills

• Level 4a Integration (Mechanical)– Teachers use existing or

prepackaged materials to aid in technology integration

• Level 4b Integration (Routine)– Teachers create their own

integration lessons with little or no outside help

• Level 5 Expansion– Technology is expanded beyond

classroom walls. Global use of technology

• Level 6 Refinement– Student use of technology is

used to solve “authentic real-world problems”

LOTI Lesson Evaluation

The Missing LinkVision Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change

Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Confusion

Vision Incentives Resources Action Plan Anxiety

Vision Skills Resources Action Plan GradualChange

Vision Skills Incentives Action Plan Frustration

Vision Skills Incentives Resources False Starts

Enterprise Management, Ltd. 1987

Bite, Snack, Meal• Bite: Small bits of information that can be used

immediately. Less then 15 minutes. (Isolated Skills)

• Snack: More substantial amount of information usually has curriculum implications. Can also be used immediately. 45 minutes or less. (Integrated Skills)

• Meal: The most information over a longer period of time. (Workshops, Institutes, Inservices, Mentoring, Study Groups) (Long Term, Ongoing Skill Development)

Snacks

• Modeling• Technology Training Sessio

ns• Tech Breaks• Newsletter – Lessons

– Technology Integration for Teachers

• Staff Meetings• Discovery Educator Networ

k

Meals

• In-services• Float Day• Modeling• Discovery Educator

Network • Study Group

Grant Funded Professional Development

• Work Smarter Not Harder!

• Summer Tech Camp! Kids Shouldn’t Have All the Fun

• The World Outside My Window

• Tech Club

3 Things You Need to Know About Grants

• Read the Request for Proposals (RFP)

• Specifically State Your Project's Impact on Teaching and Learning

• Collaborate!

More tips can be found athttp://www.sun-associates.com/resources/10tips.html

Maximizing Your Bites, Snacks and Meals

• Schedule dedicated staff development days and time

• Think about stipends or incentives for anything that goes beyond scheduled hours

• Create your schedule way in advance

• Use a combination of outside and in-house trainers– Use new faces to

build upon known expertise

• Assign follow-up tasks (meals)

Benefits to Us and Our Program

• Collaboration – for ITC and Teachers

• More seamless integration• Enhanced technology skills• More consistent integration

across the grade levels

Summary• You need a strong

professional development plan that is rooted in a strong vision for technology’s role in education– This role needs to be

centered around the anticipated and desired student impacts (SOL’s)

• Training must be adapted to the various needs of your staff at different stages in their technology “development.”– Understand the stages,

and then pick the appropriate strategy

– Think about your range of strategies

– Maximize your strategies... One size will not fit all!

Remember...• Utilize strategies that build

confidence and comfort– Mentoring– Modeling– Close support

• Combine support and pressure– Support = peer and bottom-up– Pressure = top down administrative

requirements– Pressure = competition

• Create rewards and responsibilities– Accountability is the key!

• Meal type activities should produce concrete products!– Sample/Outlined lessons– Templates– Examples of actual student or teacher

work

• Distribute the products– Produce a guidebook or facilitators guide– Publish materials on the web

Reasonable Expectations

• You will not have 100% adoption– Remember the 17% resister population

• At least try to move people to LOTI level 4 a/b

• This takes time: 3 -5 years on the average

Other Free – Low Cost • Thinkfinity

– http://www.thinkfinity.org• Atomic Learning

– http://www.atomiclearning.com• Lynda.com

– http://www.lynda.com• Education World

– http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/• LOTI

– http://www.loticonnection.com/freeloti.html• SMART Tech

– http://www.smarttech.com• Constant Contact

– http://www.constantcontact.com• Sun Associates

– http://www.sun-associates.com

Contact Information• Wendy Heller – ITC – Key School

– wendy_heller@apsva.us– 703-228-8922

• Heather Hurley – ITC – Arlington Traditional School– heather_hurley@apsva.us– 703-228-2061

•http://www.techstoup.edublogs.org