The Little Things Go A Long Way

Today my entire district had a professional development day.  For me, the day was all about 1:1 iPads.  In the morning, I was fortunate enough to attend a session with Anita Huffman, the Director of Student Learning from CPS National Teachers Academy.  

While our initiatives are quite different, this time was especially helpful in broadening my perspective and analyzing our current program.  Below is a list of some of my takeaways in addition to some simple ideas for future plans for enhancing our 1:1 pilot program: 

• Empower Teachers - Anita discussed some of the ways she leads teachers, and I found this one to be quite powerful.  
• For about two years now, I have wanted to develop some sort of teacher collaboration or showcase event where teachers share one or two ways they've used technology in their classrooms.  Even some of our teachers who are right next door to each other don't have the chance to talk to each other about their fresh, new ideas.  
• Empower Students - The National Teachers Academy hosted a parent night where students demonstrated the use of apps to parents in a "speed dating" format.  
• While we've done QR Code App Speed Dating with teachers, I would like to see my district do something like this.  With our 1:1 pilot program, one of the few criticisms we've heard from parents is that they find it difficult to help their children with homework.  An understanding of some of the most-used apps would certainly be beneficial to them. 
• Build a School Community - While I think my school is full of collaborative teachers, Anita demonstrated how connected teachers at National Teachers Academy are.  They tweet and blog as ways to connect and share with each other. 
• When we first started the pilot, we talked about starting a blog on which each of the pilot teachers and admin's involved could post.  Hearing about NTA's experience makes me want to implement this as soon as possible.  I have it on my Friday iPad meeting agenda already! 

I feel like my PD days through my district are so often cluttered with in-district presenters, but I think this proves that there is always something to be learned from your PLN outside of your district.  It's encouraging to hear about the successes another school has had with things like parent nights, and I can't wait to roll out some of these ideas.  And on top of that, they seem so attainable and quite frankly, obvious.  Why wouldn't we be doing each of these three things?!  So, here's hoping I can make them happen with gusto and support from teachers!