I have done a couple article studies, but I like how the authors stated that they should help schools have a common language as well as common understand of key ideas and practices. After reading that, it seemed pretty obvious, but I don't think I've ever looked at it as a way to have common language. I think that article studies could be easy and effective ways to deliver PD to the faculty, and I liked the list of articles that could be used as well.
Providing PD to the faculty during a faculty meeting has to be extremely organized. From experience, I don't think it's as effective because we invariable run out of time. I do agree with the authors' statement that it is important because it shows that PD is important.
I thought Strategy 7 (Presenting Powerful Professional Development) was interesting, but I'm not sure that it really provided as much new information as I was hoping it would as we've covered a lot of it in our class discussions. It was still a good, concise reminder to clarify the purpose of the PD so that it is relevant to the participants we've developed it for. I think the section on preparation was the most helpful because a lot of the steps are small things that can be easily overlooked if you're not careful.
The lesson study was similar to what I had thought it was but a lot more in-depth. I liked that it showed the 4 steps (determine focus, collaborate, collect data, and review data) which we do without thinking most of the time. What was most interesting, though, were the 7 pathways to instructional improvement. I know that I try to look at my lessons frequently to make sure that they're effective, and I could always use another set of eyes to help me evaluate them as well. I would definitely use this strategy! I think it could be adapted in many ways too.
Questions:
1) What faculty meeting PDs have been effective for you? What was the format?
2) Do you feel the lesson study is the coaching cycle as PD? What similarities and differences do you see?
3) Did any of these strategies make you rethink the format of your PD?
Please don't forget to create a Google Doc for your PD Program Ideas and share it with the group by Thursday so that we can all respond and annotate no later than Saturday. We should be good to submit our Plans by Sunday's due date. My gmail address is melissa.evans.9807@gmail.com. Thanks!
I'm curious, why don't you think faculty meeting PD is as effective? I'm not 100% sure what I think. I think it could definitely be done wrong, but I also kind of look at it as a mini-lesson, so I think it probably can work.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the lesson study is similar to the coaching cycle! I think there are a couple of major differences, though. For one, the lesson study focuses on observing and critiquing the lesson itself, rather than focusing on helping the teacher improve. Also, I feel like the planning processes were kind of different in terms of both the purpose and the process.The lesson study seems to be more empirical, whereas coaching is more reflective.
Angela, the last faculty meeting PD we had was over ELL. While we got a lot of information, there was no time for questions or specifics, so we were left with only generalized information and a promise that the conversation would be continued at some point in time. I think the lag in time between when the original information is presented and the time specifics can be discussed and questions can be asked creates an ineffective use of time. I am sure that there are mini-lessons that could be effective in that time period, but my experience has not shown any to this point.
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