Professional Development

At some point, each of us comes to the realization that we have so much to learn, and a long way to go. One such AHA moment happened many years ago when I was working on improving my teaching practices.

I encouraged my students to create a mobile to symbolize what they had  learned. One of my students collaged a beautiful Zebra using black and white bar codes to represent consumerism. She even put it into a frame  behind glass. I was impressed by her creative expression and scored her well for that assignment.

The following year I was fortunate to participate in a Professional Development course about examining student work. “Look for evidence of learning. What do you see?” they encouraged.

It was then that I took the opportunity to evaluate that assignment in terms of what the student learned through it. I realized that although it was creative and beautiful, it didn’t take learning a step further, the way it was meant to.

Until the glass over the zebra shattered a few years ago it remained a physical reminder of how important professional development is and how it results in continuous improvement for both my benefit and that of my students.

In what teaching situations have you become the learner?