What is Great Professional Development?

The National Staff Development Council defines professional development as “a comprehensive, sustained, and intensive approach to improving teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising student achievement.” They say professional development should be aligned with student state standards, conducted by educators (or knowledgeable well-prepared individuals), and take place more than a one-and-done session (initially several times a week).

The majority of the professional development sessions I have attended have met some, if not all, of the criteria at one point or another. So does that alone make them great? How does one truly define a *great* professional development?

When I first looked at this blog prompt my first instinct was to write about a great professional development sessions I gave. In the fall as part of my Study Group Coach grant obligations for the Chicago Foundation for Education I presented at their Teachers as Leaders and Learners Conference. This was my third year presenting at this conference. In fact, I was fortunate enough to have a lady approach me and say that she was excited I was presenting since she had seen me present before and would be in any session I taught that day because of her past experience with other sessions I lead. That sure was nice to hear.

I lead a session based on my Study Group, “The Web 2.0 Classroom.” It was well attended in both sessions. There was audience participation. One teacher reached out after the session for additional resources (which I spent my break at the conference researching for him). Why would I think of this session as a great professional development? Maybe it was because I was so energized and into the presentation that the vibe rubbed off on the participants. Maybe it was because I was able to provide them with resources they could immediately use. Maybe it was because they wanted and chose to be there so they were more receptive. In any case, in my opinion it was a great professional development. CFE does a great job of providing feedback to its presenters. I’m anxious to see the comments of the participants to see if their thoughts mirrored mine.

In terms of a professional development session that I’ve attended that I found to be great I would have to say there are two related to the current masters program I am in. These two workshops t have proven to be beneficial to my current position as a Lead Technology Teacher. The Web 2.0 and Digital Storytelling workshops were considered great for the following reasons:

*they provided me with knowledge I did not have (many of the professional development sessions I attend are things that I already know, or could have easily managed without the pd)

*they were relevant to my current teaching assignment (many of the pds I attend relate more to classroom teachers)

*they were presented by knowledgeable people that clearly researched and knew the content, and

*they were easily accessible and immediately transferable