My first year of teaching, our admin gathered us in the theatre and required that we watch a 45 minute video about sexual harassment.
A few years later, we were sent to professional development about co-teaching, but the PD was not taught by co-teachers. What??
This past year, our admin gave us a “team-building” mission that required each department to make a deli sandwich in the shape of our school letters. The food waste was unreal.
In other words, I know bad PD. I have lived it over and over again, and I know you have too. At the end of the day, the best PD I’ve attended has been teacher led. If you hate going to PD, it might be time to step up and lead.
I started leading professional development because I was tired of suffering. Here are 4 secrets for leading professional development that your co-workers will LOVE!
This post this post may contain affiliate links. Please read the Terms of Use.
Leading Professional Development with Enthusiasm
First, your attitude for PD has to be positive. If you go in grumbling about how no one wants to attend, that’s the attitude that will carry throughout your session. Instead, when you’re leading professional development, remind your audience that their time will be best spent if they buy-in.
Similarly, leading with relentless belief will engage your audience.
I also find that less technology is a benefit when leading professional development. Unless I’m leading technology training, I try to focus on paper-based activities. As teachers, we are so pressed for time that we will take any opportunity to check email even if one of our peers is trying to lead PD. I am absolutely guilty of this, so I plan tech-free PD.
Incorporate Movement and Dialogue
No PD is worse than sit-and-get. Instead, plan your PD session the same way you would plan a lesson for your students. Set up your PD session in a way that encourages movement and dialogue. Here are some suggestions:
- Small groups are a good place for dialogue, but it’s better if your audience gets mixed up. I know that when I enter PD, I sit with my teacher friends, so if you can scramble the eggs, do it.
- For this reason, jigsaw groups can be an absolute win for leading professional development.
- Similarly, asking groups to produce a “product” can deepen the dialogue. For the most part, asking groups to produce charts to share is my go-to. (Grab my favorite chart paper and markers.)
- If teachers are traveling through multiple PD sessions, ask teachers to share out from their previous sessions. Then, ask teachers how they can connect earlier sessions to your session. This is a sneaky way to practice retrieval strategies and to build schema.
- Finally, keep an eye on new teachers. Can you pair them with a solid veteran partner or a marigold teacher? Can you strategically remove them from groups that are full of walnuts?
Leading Professional Development with Application in Mind
PD that is irrelevant, useless, or totally disconnected is the worst. To avoid this problem, make sure you lead PD with application in mind. Teachers barely have time for breathing, so if you’re asking for their time, then they need a clear takeaway.
For this reason, consider scheduling your PD in a way that provides time for application. Sometimes, this leads to individuals just leaving your session when there’s 15-20 minutes left. To avoid this, ask everyone to post their work-in-progress on a shared platform like your staff Google Classroom.
Another option is to tie your PD session to building or evaluation goals. This is kind of like a ready-built method for making your PD relevant.
Leave Time for Questions
For whatever reason, people always like to ask questions as they’re leaving. I don’t get it, but I do the same thing. To avoid this problem, these four strategies have helped:
- During work time, circulate and check in with each person.
- Set aside chart paper and sticky notes to use as an anonymous question “parking lot.”
- Send out a quick follow-up email or Google Form to ask if anyone has post-PD questions.
- Ask each group to ask a question. Don’t ask “what questions do you have?” Instead, challenge each group to ask a question.
Bottom Line
Leading professional development is scary, challenging, and rewarding all at once. Like all parts of teaching, this is a skill that grows with time and practice. At the end of the day, leading professional development is a chance to make sure your staff’s time is well spent.
