to have an on-site PD opportunity this year. Do you have any
recommendations?
Thanks again,
Melanie Johnson
Director of Academics
The Pendleton School
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Andrea Jenkins
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 8:40 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Professional Development
At my school, PD is very important. Lower School teachers take advantage
of it the most, primarily due to the fact that we all teach every
academic. Here are the different ways PD happens for our faculty:
- on-site PD; experts in their fields are brought to the school to offer
on-site training and support. This happens either on school days, with
subs covering classes, or it on designated PD days when the students
have the day off; usually our beginning/end-of-year work weeks have some
sort of on-site PD
- off-site PD; faculty is encouraged to attend workshops/conferences
during the year to help them advance their own instruction; we look
carefully at what we attend, especially if it involves travel, to make
sure it will be of max. value.
- summer studies; most of our extensive/lengthy PD occurs over the
summer; groups of teachers will attend week/multi-week institutes to
better develop and align the curriculums
- books; a simple $20 book can change the thinking of a teacher, and
therefore teachers are encouraged to purchase theory and instructional
books at the expense of the school
- professional learning communities; once a month, we dismiss early so
our faculty and staff can gather together in professional learning
groups; these groups can directly or indirectly impact our students;
mostly, it fosters collaboration and a committment to ongoing learning;
also, it sends a message to our parents and students that we valueour
own learning and coming together as students ourselves
- academic specialists; one of the best ways we provide PD is by having
academic specialists; these specialists can serve as coaches to the
entire faculty, providing daily support all year long; specialists
attend numerous workshops, read books, research, and then bring the
learning back to the faculty to implement and support; this is proving
the BEST PD, as it allows for follow-through all year long, year to
year; salaries for the specialists do not come out of the PD budget
As you can see, PD is one of the central values at our school. It is
always encouraged, and most PD requests are granted (within reason).
Money raised from our annual benefit goes directly into PD funds, to
financially support the above endeavors. There are a few guidelines we
try to adhere to when it comes to PD. They are:
- experts are the best way to go; choosing a seminar based on topic
alone is still a tricky bet it we do not know the presenter's own
philosophies. A few times we have invested in workshops, only to find
that we got little out of it; we make sure we know it will be worthwhile
- we like to go in pairs or groups, if possible; there is great value to
immediately discussing the content with a colleague to better solidify
the information and also learn from each other; it also gives us
reference points later in the year as we continue to revisit these
topics; also, it helps if several of us hear the same message and can
implement in several grade levels
- providing a way to share our learning; we often have follow-up
meetings where workshop participants share their knowledge with their
teams/division
Budget
As I stated above, our annual benefit is the source of most of our
financial support for extensive (i.e. expensive) PD; mostly it involves
the summer studies; we have sent teachers to workshops in NY for several
weeks, Cairo for 2 weeks to speak at a conference, week-long university
institutes with the top experts for 6 of our MS teachers, and several
others
Other, smaller, PD efforts are funded out of our PD budget, which is in
the tens-of-thousands. If more funds are needed, we continually rely on
parents who are eager to support our curriculums for funds to help
support this.=20
One thing I think our school does not do enough of is visit other
schools. Speaking with other educators is the cheapest, and sometimes
most effective way to adjust/enhance our own learning and understanding.
We should do more of this, as I personally walk away with so much each
time I do!
There is not a mandated requirement, just the expectation that everyone
will do something to better advance their growth. Most of us really want
to go.
Hope this helps.=20
Andrea Jenkins
Trinity Episcopal School
Austin, TX
Literacy Specialist
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Jessi Christiansen <jessi@epiphanyschool.org>=20
Date: Friday, November 9, 2007 12:40 pm=20
Subject: Professional Development=20
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU=20
> Please excuse the cross posting.=20
>=20
> Hello there,=20
> I hope your school year is treating you well. We are in the=20
> process of=20
> re-evaluating our professional development program at Epiphany and I=20
> would like to find out what your schools have set up in terms of=20
> supporting the professional growth of your staff.=20
>=20
> Do you have an annual theme to your professional development?=20
> Is there an expectation for each teacher/staff member to acquire=20
> certainprofessional development credits?=20
> Are there special programs/grants to which your teachers can apply?=20
> What is your overall budget for professional development?=20
>=20
> Thanks, everyone.=20
> Best,=20
> Jessi=20
>=20
>=20
> Jessi Christiansen=20
> Assistant Head of School=20
> Epiphany School=20
> 206-720-7650=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]=20
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,=20
> attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.=20
>=20
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
