Professional Development

The Only Way to Evaluate Professional Development

This year at the elementary level, the majority of our professional development efforts have focused on Writing Workshop, with the idea that next school year all teachers (and students) will be able hit the ground running with this method of instruction.

With these thoughts in mind, I regularly ask myself, “How will we know if this year’s Writing Workshop professional development has been successful?” (keeping in mind the learning will continue throughout the upcoming years)

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Summer Reading List: 5 Books on Professional Development

By Ross Cooper 1 Comment

This post was originally published on Edutopia.

The summer is almost here. If you are like most educators, this is when you find the time to read your “teacher books” and learn about all those exciting strategies and resources that will give your classroom a fresh look in the fall.

Here are five books that are worth a look.

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When Teachers Want Professional Development Hours

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I was notified that a couple of teachers were looking to engage in a book study as part of their required yearly professional development hours. These teachers wanted a book recommendation…

Yes, some argue there are several problems with an hours-based approach to professional development. However, in this instance, I believe we were able to transform the need for hours into an opportunity.

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5 Ways Administrators Can Serve as Instructional Coaches

By Ross Cooper 1 Comment

This post was coauthored with Lynn Fuini-Hetten (@lfuinihetten) and was originally published on Corwin Connect.

As an administrator, it is easy to fall into this trap of being a manager who does (almost) nothing but take care of day-to-day (or weekly) issues/problems/events as they arise.

As current administrators, we can definitively say…We owe our students and teachers more than being just managers.

All administrators, regardless of position should serve as managers, leaders, and instructional leaders…or instructional coaches who work alongside teachers to continuously move instruction/learning forward for the benefit of the students. According to Jim Knight, “When teachers receive an appropriate amount of support for professional learning, more than 90% of them embrace and implement programs that improve students’ experiences in the classroom” (p. 4). The majority of this support must come from administrators, as (1) they interact with teachers on a consistent basis and not just during defined professional development hours, (2) teachers often look to them for support/resources/approval regarding their instructional shifts, and (3) a sustainable culture of learning is unlikely to exist if administrators are not modeling and leading the way.

That being said…Here are five ways we are working towards serving our district as instructional coaches:

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How to Transform Step-by-Step Directions into Inquiry

By Ross Cooper 9 Comments

In a previous post we explored a potential problem with prepackaged STEM products (or STEM in a box). In short, the problem is when schools and districts invest more in them than they do in their teachers. Because, if the ultimate goal is to leverage these resources to promote inquiry-based learning (which it should be), some form of professional learning is most likely needed, as opposed to simply handing over the goods and believing their potential will be maximized.

Now, let’s examine how teachers can take a product with step-by-step directions and transform/reconfigure it in such a way that inquiry-based learning is promoted…For the purpose of this post, we’ll look at how I previously accomplished this task with solar powered cars, but I believe these same ideas and steps can be applied across countless products/contexts.

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Project-Based Learning Professional Development (part 2): Student-Created Rubrics

By Ross Cooper 3 Comments

In a previous post I described the first of three project-based learning (PBL) professional development sessions I facilitated for our Innovate Salisbury team, a team of 15 teachers engaging with building leaders, district leaders, and other experts/thought leaders to help shape the vision for teaching and learning in our classrooms.

While the first session was more of a general overview of PBL, this past Wednesday we focused on student-created rubrics.

Here is a look at what took place:

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Why Your Tech-Obsessed Conference Presentation Stinks – and How to Make It Better

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

This post was originally published on EdSurge.

In general, technology in the classroom is no longer a novelty, and solid pedagogy trumps those lists of “cool tools.” Yet time and time again, conference presenters lure in attendees by fixating entirely on apps, tech toys, or anything else hot on the market or App Store.

We can do better.

While all of these technologies may get us excited, the reality is we are absolutely ignoring the hard, necessary work when we decide to prioritize dog-and-pony technology shows over working together to move instruction forward for the benefit of our students. With these thoughts in mind, here are five ways for educators (and some of you entrepreneurs, too) to rethink technology-obsessed conference presentations.

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The Problem with Prepackaged STEM Products

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

This post was originally published on Tom Murray's (@thomascmurray) blog.

Over the last handful of years we have seen an explosion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. And, coinciding with this movement has been an influx of new STEM-related products that are school friendly. Some of the more popular merchandise includes littleBits, Snap Circuits, and Spheros.

The Problem

While there is no doubt in my mind many of our students will benefit from these products, and I do wish they had been invented while I was still teaching fourth grade…something is missing if we’re not doing much than placing these items in the hands of our students and teachers, crossing our fingers, and hoping for change.

At the end of the day, these are tools or resources that can help in shifting mindsets and culture, but I do believe an overreliance on them means too much time and energy is being spent in the wrong place.

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5 Soft Skills That Will Upgrade Your Presentations

By Ross Cooper 4 Comments

Last Sunday, I attended the Tony Sinanis (@TonySinanis) pre-conference keynote for my state’s annual educational technology conference, PETE & C (Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo & Conference). The topic/title of the presentation was “Telling Your School Story.” In general, the focus was school/district branding, communicating with stakeholders, and a look at how social media is changing education.

Anyone who is a part of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) knows Tony, the principal of Cantiague Elementary School in Long Island, is a good friend of mine. However, prior to Sunday I had yet to see him deliver a formal conference presentation…To say I was blown away would be an understatement.

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Project-Based Learning Professional Development (part 1)

By Ross Cooper 6 Comments

Last Wednesday I facilitated a few hours of project-based learning (PBL) professional development for our Innovate Salisbury team, a team of 15 teachers engaging with building leaders, district leaders, and other experts/thought leaders to help shape the vision for teaching and learning in our classrooms.

This year, the team will be meeting a total of about seven times, and four of these sessions will feature some form of PBL learning, this past week being the first of the four.

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