Readings: Week 14? 15?

For this week our readings focused on professional development. How can teachers (and librarians!) become better at what they do? Of course not every person can be strong in every skill area, and teachers are no exception. This week we looked at some really interesting ways that teachers can work together to learn from one another on improving areas of weakness. In the Semadeni reading, the example is a program run by the district that allows teachers to take time out of their day, maybe just an hour, to sit in on another teacher's class to study that teacher's strong suit. It's a great way for teachers to collaborate, and to promote respect and collegiality within the school as well. It's nice to be singled out as someone who does X very well, and who another teacher can learn from. And it's a great way for teachers to be able to ask their colleagues, "Why did you do that?" and get a real answer. I'm not sure if every school district would be able to implement this strategy, but it sounds pretty reasonable!

We also got to read Kristin's short piece on a PD tool that she enacted in her school as a librarian, which was a self-paced technology "exploration." I think this idea is pretty neat, because the teachers could do it on their own time, with minimal instruction or oversight, and just play around with a bunch of new educational websites and resources. They then had to write up a short blog post about it (something seems familiar here...) and submit it for their PD credit. I thought it seemed like a good way for teachers, who are so busy, to take their time going as slowly or as quickly as they like through new tools and resources. I think they're more likely to gain the benefit from this style of PD than they would if they sat in a computer lab for a half day and had someone "teaching" them to use all these new resources. So much of that information goes in one ear and out the other in sessions like that.

Well friends, this is my last "official" blog post! I must say, I really love blogging, and I think it's been really helpful to think through my learning and reflect on my classes. I am going to try to keep this blog up and running, hopefully with weekly blog posts related to my adventures in library school, or soon here, my internship. I think I get a lot out of it, even if it's just a cathartic release. And it's really been very surprising how many people are interested in what I have to say. I started posting this blog on my Facebook from the very first blog post, thinking, "Well, I wrote it, and probably no one will be interested in it, but I guess if someone really has nothing to do, they could read it." And I must say, I post the link to this blog every time, and almost every time, someone outside of SI even has something really great and interesting to say about what I've written. From teachers who have their own classrooms and have taught me more about what the readings said (for better or worse), to computer programmers discussing privacy concerns or ethical issues, to friends just agreeing with a few lines that resonated with them. So, thanks, everyone, for reading my ramblings on a class you may not even be in!