Posts
It’s odd, really, when a parent questions the merits of a planned early dismissal or a community member derides a teacher professional development day. Rarely have I heard an open-heart surgery patient complain about the time doctors spend at conferences and professional development programs.
Another teacher professional development day? Lose another day of class time? Can we afford this?
by Peter J. Negroni
visual learning
foldables
why lawyers burn out
Independent George re: foldables
your tax dollars at work part 2
my busy day
not your father's formative assessment
remembering key concepts in math with foldables
south of the border
Steve H and palisadesk on foldables
homeschooling convention: no foldables
you may have to hit refresh a couple of times to load these pages:
21st century skills in Singapore
the master plan
horselaughs are heard in Singapore
more horselaughs in Singapore
7 comments:
That's because when the patient needs the surgery that day, the doctor's not at the conference.
Honestly, has anyone ever asked why they can't do this during the summer, or the other 185 days of the year? What IS the answer?
--More than ever, we need a massive effort on the part ofeducators that ties professional development to teacherquality and student success.
Because they never tied it together themselves before. Naturally.
And how would surgery patients react if the entire hospital shut down for professional development programmes?
I have also heard doctors complaining about conferences and professional development programmes that they found a waste of time.
When I hear, "improving teacher quality," I don't think, "why, more teacher development courses are the way to go!" I think, prune the deadwood, and hire people who can spell, write, think, and have a thorough knowledge of their subject areas. Union contracts don't allow this, of course.
Doctors and lawyers are subject to stringent licensing standards, much more demanding than teacher licensing exams. In order to be accepted to medical school and law schools, candidates must score acceptably on the LMAT or GMAT exams. After their strenuous professional schools, they must either pass the bar exam, or the medical board exams.
As a consequence of professional misconduct, doctors can have their license revoked, and lawyers can be disbarred. This happens upon the basis of duly investigated complaints, on the authority of independent boards.
Measures such as the medical and legal professions have chosen to live under would go a long way towards "improving teacher quality."
By the way, for both doctors and lawyers, the required professional development happens on their own time. Due to the structure of professional partnerships, every day spent in training is a day they're not making money.
When I hear, "improving teacher quality," I don't think, "why, more teacher development courses are the way to go!"
lolllllll
My district DOES do summer training(s). Lots of them. This summer we sent our teachers to Technology Camp.
"We were fortunate to be able to provide teachers with outstanding professional development opportunities prior to the opening of school. These included a Summer Reading Institute for grades K-5 teachers, a Technology Camp, training in differentiated instruction for high school teachers, and training in analyzing students' work for ... Middle School teachers. A workshop in building Professional Learning Communities was also provided for administrators and department chairpersons. Teaching and learning this year will undoubtedly reflect these rich staff-development experiences."
Message from the Superintendent
Last year a motivated group of teachers, concerned about how often punitive discipline was used (zero tolerance) in the mildest situations when some behavioral models might have helped keep students IN the classroom with a minimum of effort, presented admin with the idea to bring in training in a particular model which, when implemented on a school-wide scale would have given teachers more options and control over their own classroom management. (As opposed to allowing the threat of punishment control the classroom.)
Admin thought the training was too expensive. They sent three people to it over the summer, who then returned and ran a twenty minute powerpoint during teacher training - mostly full of touchy-feely quotes about teachers and students, and a few highlights (buzzwords) from the model which did not offer any concrete strategies.
Nothing changed.
Post a Comment