Year three.
I really enjoyed this PD.
Again.
My favorite Thing this year was Social Reading and Book Stuff. I started this Thing back in January and have been actively "doing" something for it every month since! I "sucked" another colleague into it as well and although we have yet to do anything ourselves within our own district, that does not mean we have not been active! Far from it. Taking the time all these months to participate in others online book chats is helping us become more comfortable participating in them as well as beginning to get a full grasp on just how much work is involved with starting and running our own. I know that I will continue to spend time each month participating in these to learn as much as I can - not to mention the fact that I find them fun! I've been told I'm a dork. I'm completely Ok with that. I can really see the benefits of organizing our own in some way, either with students or teachers. All those details I am not sure of yet. One update to my Thing 37 post is that the @ALBookClub that I couldn't find much information about back in January when I started suddenly came to life in my Twitter feed and I joined in for their February book selection (When Breath Becomes Air, which I had not heard of before and is fantastic by the way; if you haven't read it I highly recommend it!) and have put on hold their March selection. If anything, these online Twitter book clubs have exposed me to so many new books to read and that is what I hope to do in some way within our district!
Ive said it before and I'll say it again, but I really enjoyed this type of PD that allows me to pick and choose what I am most interested in. I spent more and more time this year thinking about how we can bring this type of PD to more of the teachers in our district. I think that all of our teachers could benefit from this. I encouraged a good friend of mine to participate this year. She is someone who isn't necessarily afraid of technology, but at the same time she has said that she is intimidated by it and finds it uncomfortable for her to do on her own. I wanted her opinion of this type of PD and so far, she loves it! It is incredible how much more comfortable teachers can be checking things out if given choice and time. I repeat - I think that all our teachers could benefit from this! I just need to figure out the way for our district and department to do it since I doubt we afford to pay for all teachers in the district to take part in your amazing PD. I also think we might need a way to start a little smaller than what you have built - maybe a few less choices for beginners or something. I don't have the answers yet, but my wheels are turning!
New this year was the Canvas LMS, which allowed for discussions. This was a nice addition. I must admit, I didn't always post (guilty!), but I enjoyed reading through some of the boards. I will need to make that a goal for next hear- to participate in the discussions more!
Thank you again for a great PD!
Ive said it before and I'll say it again, but I really enjoyed this type of PD that allows me to pick and choose what I am most interested in. I spent more and more time this year thinking about how we can bring this type of PD to more of the teachers in our district. I think that all of our teachers could benefit from this. I encouraged a good friend of mine to participate this year. She is someone who isn't necessarily afraid of technology, but at the same time she has said that she is intimidated by it and finds it uncomfortable for her to do on her own. I wanted her opinion of this type of PD and so far, she loves it! It is incredible how much more comfortable teachers can be checking things out if given choice and time. I repeat - I think that all our teachers could benefit from this! I just need to figure out the way for our district and department to do it since I doubt we afford to pay for all teachers in the district to take part in your amazing PD. I also think we might need a way to start a little smaller than what you have built - maybe a few less choices for beginners or something. I don't have the answers yet, but my wheels are turning!
New this year was the Canvas LMS, which allowed for discussions. This was a nice addition. I must admit, I didn't always post (guilty!), but I enjoyed reading through some of the boards. I will need to make that a goal for next hear- to participate in the discussions more!
Thank you again for a great PD!
Thank you for the reflections on how this went for you this year. And I'm so excited that you persuaded a friend to join in. I think that's the best way to do this sort of PD, with a friend or colleague. Especially if one is a bit reticent. Well done. I'm not thrilled with how the CanvasLMS thing worked out. The only reason I added it was for the discussion forum and honestly, there wasn't enough discussion to warrant all the extra work it was for me. And also the confusion that it seemed to cause some people. So, once again, back to the drawing board! :) Do let me know if there are new topics we should add next year. (says she who hasn't finished writing this year's new topics yet.....)
ReplyDeleteWhat if you tried out hosting some of your own twitter chats?
DeleteGood idea! Thanks.
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