Professional Development

As a teacher, I am required to fulfill professional development every year. I attend workshops and lectures and glean from these ideas on how to be a better teacher. Sometimes they're great, and when they're great they're GREAT but when they're bad, they are HORRID.

Well, I was sitting in the dentist's chair the other day and I started thinking about professional development in the world of dentistry. My old dentist was, in fact, old. She had been my dentist since I was old enough to remember the pain of a dental pick's prick. She was set in her ways and while I listened to friends tell me about the things they were experiencing at their dentists' offices, I felt like I was getting the short end of the stick.

As I sat in my new dentist's chair, I looked around at the fancy equipment that took x-rays of my teeth - individually! Prior to my appointment, I perused their website to see that they don't use silver fillings but instead have fillings that are tooth colored. The numbing agent used was soooo much better than my previous dentist's.

I, no longer in a haze of gasses, realize that the advances in tooth filling and such probably aren't quite as dramatic as the constant changes in education. However, I see some parallels in the prof dev department.

What if my older, more established dentist, didn't take advantage of the dental workshops or seminars that were available? What if she never updated her equipment (one online reviewer stated she hasn't)? What if she turned up her nose at advancements in dentistry and said "I've done it this way for years and I'm sticking with what works!"???

Her patients would be missing out on the benefits that the newfangled ways of doing things have to offer!

This comparison of my old dentist with my new dentist got me thinking: What if educators did the same thing?

As I stated earlier, my profession requires that I go to professional development every year. And I have to log 150 hours every five years to keep my certification. It would certainly free up my schedule a good bit to skip those mandated hours, wouldn't it?

There are so many educators in this state who have decided that there is one way of doing things - the way they've been doing them for 10, 20, 30 years. Teeth may be the same, but kids certainly aren't. I graduated just 10 years ago and I can tell you that they've changed - dramatically.

They don't learn the same ways that you and I did. The worksheets and repetition aren't enough. They need you to edutain them because they've grown up watching TV, playing video games, and social networking. But more than that, they need to see the relevance of what they're trying to learn.

And beyond that, they've found BETTER ways of teaching the same old stuff. I am always trying to re-invent myself in the classroom, trying to improve what I did the day, week, month, year before. Sometimes I fall flat on my face. Sometimes I jump up in the air, click my heels together, and get so excited because they get it. Shouldn't all educators be as passionate?

They get it. That's what it's all about. It's why I do what I do. It's why I go to conference after workshop after seminar. I don't ever want to be an teacher with "old" ways. I don't want to be like my old dentist with equipment from the 1960s. I always want to be vibrant and excited about the world in which I live.

Are you stuck in a rut? What do you do to make sure you stay on top of your game? Let me know!

Mrs. V