Attracting staff to PD

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lynne H on November 17, 2008 at 12:59pm

We do something similar here. It's called the I Can Cafe. They key for us (besides the food) is to keep it short and simple. We tell them it will be no longer than 30 minutes (often 20) and they will come away with a new skill. We also provide handouts and post them and 2-3 minute how-to videos online. We do it twice a month (also on Wednesdays) and the list of topics and when they will be featured is set at the beginning of the year. It's hard to get them to come sometimes but here technology is often built into the professional development plans so they use the I Can Cafes to fulfill that requirement. Good luck

Permalink Reply by Fran Lo on January 2, 2009 at 8:13am

I have the same problem. Even with a lot of PR, I get few. Most people are looking for help with a specific problem, so I have started posting "office hours" one day a week (when I'm available to my students as well), and usually get one or two who pop in (not to mention the "oh, by the way..." in the hall).

I publish a blog that has specific tips for our faculty and staff every week. It gets distributed via email with a link to the blog - if I asked them to click on a link to read my tip - never mind us RSS - that would be too much "work" for some people... Posting the content of each email on the blog makes the content accessible and searchable. franblo.edublogs.org.

I've already created tip sheets with lots of illustrations. Now I'm thinking of putting my training PowerPoints onto Slidewhare, with links to my blog (have also put videos from elsewhere into my blog). I teach middle school full-time already, so haven't had the time to create videos - would love to do that, too.

I'm going to try asking faculty to speak briefly at our monthly faculty meetings about specific technology they are using (and then provide some followup). I've been lobbying for time during our PD days, which is more likely to be attended than after school (per survey of our faculty).

I say, try it all and keep at it.

Good luck,
Fran

Permalink Reply by Susan WB on January 8, 2009 at 7:59am

I assume that your teachers need to earn Continuing Education credits for re-licensure... any chance that you could offer these for teachers who show up at a certain # of sessions, integrate a technology into their classroom, and then report back about how it went? In my experience teachers have so many things to juggle that going to PD sessions just for their own personal edification doesn't happen--they need to be rewarded for it in some fashion. Once you get a cohort of people who come regularly, you'll get some group cohesion and then the group will start to self-manage. Starting up is the hardest phase.

Permalink Reply by Shannon Smith on January 23, 2009 at 6:38pm

Hey John,

I hold pd for staff, although not as regularly as you. The key for me was to survey staff (http://www.surveymonkey.com/) to find out what they wanted and when (day of the week and time of day). I find that things that are easy to implement appeal most - perhaps because we tend to want to see it work perfectly in our classrooms right away. I have used Jing http://www.jingproject.com/ to record onscreen narration (similar to Camtasia - made by the same co, I believe). I post my Jing projects to http://www.screencast.com/ . You can view my Jing (2 part) of Photo Story here: http://tinyurl.com/bcyq9t and part 2 here: http://tinyurl.com/caekhf .

Shannon

Permalink Reply by Dennis Pack on January 28, 2009 at 2:38am

It's no different than teaching the kids ... matter of fact, it points out clearly why so many kids don't achieve in subjects like math and science ... what we are giving them is what we think is useful, not what they really need. Shannon's suggestion to survey your teachers would be a good place to start. Authenticate the PD (make it relevant).
Another possibility might be to break the PD into subject specific or grade-level specific groups. Are there some programs/technologies more suitable to some subject areas than others? Do your science teachers use probeware? Or, have their students produce PowerPoint presentations instead of written lab reports? Do the Geography teachers use GIS or GPS?

My profile has some other options.

Cheers
Dennis

Permalink Reply by Julie Frederick on May 11, 2009 at 12:24pm

i am in an independent school where we have "in-house professional development" requirements. there are many ways teachers can earn these credits, but one way is by attending tech workshops or planning and implementing new tech projects. i run a year-long series of tech workshops, offering at least one - but usually two or three - per month. teachers' attendance is voluntary, but they get IHPD credits. like some of you have mentioned, i base these offerings on surveys the teachers have filled out telling me what they want to see and learn, and most of the workshops are only 20 minutes long. i promise them they'll be in and out. from time to time, i offer hour-long hands-on workshops during which teachers can create something they'll be able to use right away. i also send out an "enews and tech tips" email newsletter a few times a month.

of course, there's no way to force this down anyone's throat, but every once in a blue moon i get one of my less tech-savvy teachers who comes to ask me about something they picked up in a tech workshop or the newsletter - and just those few moments are worth the time i put into the rest of it. i always provide handouts, and i post them on our intranet.

Permalink Reply by Bettie Donovan on May 24, 2009 at 6:39pm

I am a tech specialist in a K-5 school. Forget about them coming in the AM for trainings. It is nearly impossible. This year, my media specialist and I held lunch and learns in our media. They brought their lunch ( you could provide it), and we showed them one new piece of tech equipment we had purchased. We did this once a month for the school year. Showed them a document camera, mimio, flip video camera, to name a few. They LOVED it. We made sure the preso last no more than 10-12 minutes. Provided dessert and raffled off one ipod shuffle each lunch and learn. They were asking a week ahead what we were going to show them. We will do this again next year and I am thinking about different Google tools or a web site each month that they can use with their students like voicethread, glogster, and more.