Faculty Professional Development in the Time of COVID-19
Getting up to speed through professional development (“speed” being a relative term here) for remote learning is not the same process as most typical teacher professional development (PD). First of all, the pacing is different. Most often teachers sign up for professional development well in advance of the actual scheduled event: Critical Friends Group Training, July 15-18—sign up in February; NAIS Annual Conference February 26-28—sign up in November. But in the current circumstances the timeline has been shortened: campus closure on March 13—sign up for a Stanford Online High School Webinar on March 17, then watch some Zoom tutorials and read some articles from online publications: ‘What Students Are Saying About Online Learning…,” “Extending Classroom Learning Online…,” et. al.
In addition, the PD environments are definitively different. While most teachers can and do complete PD from home through webinars, reading, online courses, and podcasts, etc. throughout the year, they also travel quite a bit locally, nationally, and even internationally, to attend conferences, workshops, seminars, classes, retreats, and other professional development events with colleagues from other schools. There’s often lots of shared meals during long workshop days in a conference center, at hotel, or at another independent school. The movement to another location provides some room to take in the ideas presented and be reflective. Some ideas are more straightforward than others, e.g., how to provide some flipped classroom experiences for students, while others require more planning, for example, providing differentiated learning in math instruction for a unit on fractions.
Finally, some teacher PD is focused on a hot topic aimed at immediate implementation and some is meant for digestion and reflection or may be more global in nature: best practice for implementing an advisory system, retooling an elementary school literacy program, or scheduling (this last one is never about immediate implementation). With remote learning to commence after Spring Break, every kind of PD is, of necessity, of the immediate implementation variety and there are more choices available. Many, many more choices. Such choices could flow through a teacher’s mind a bit like this:
Teacher: “So. How can I meet with my students and have them meet their learning objectives? What can I do in Zoom?
I can meet with students, conduct polling, chat with students, allow students to chat with each other, mute students, unmute students, share my screen, allow students to share their screens, use the whiteboard, send students to Breakout Rooms…and bring them back.
Teacher: “How do I make all that happen. Let’s see, I can…” (while counting on the fingers):
Take an online course.
Participate in a webinar.
Watch a recorded webinar.
Watch Zoom Video Tutorials.
Watch a Canvas Video Tutorial.
Watch a YouTube Video Tutorial.
Watch a Padlet, NoRedInk, Turnitin, Cahoot, Office365—Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint. et. al. video tutorial…
Visit websites.
Visit Khan Academy.
Join a listserve.
Create a listserve.
Read articles about online learning systems and their features.
Read user guides.
Read online reviews, news articles, trade publications, blog posts, etc.
Ask the Tech Department for help.
Ask a colleague for help.
…
Teacher: (big inhalation followed by a big exhalation) Okay. That should help me with the delivery. How about some content? Can I go someplace new to find content on line to replace or augment what I usually do in my “live” classroom? Whose got virtual resources for learning?” (while surfing the internet, so no finger counting this time)
The JFK Library (and other Presidential Libraries).
The Library of Congress.
Art Museums.
History Museums.
Government Agencies — the CDC; the CIA; NEH, NEA…
Media Outlets — WGBH, NPR, NYT, WSJ, NGS
Tedx.
YouTube.
CodeAcademy.
Think Tanks and Foundations; NGOs and GOs, (and little lambs eat ivy)
Teacher Professional Associations: NCTE, NCTM, NCTS…
Teacherspayteachers.com
Online Games.
Online Simulations.
Just online…
Teacher: “Okay. That should cover me for awhile.”
Fortunately, with 75 faculty members in the School who are different learners with a diversity of skills and interests, such as content area expertise, skill-building, SEL and mindfulness, health and wellness, lesson planning, classroom management, assessment, etc., we can cover a lot of ground in our professional development and share our insights and newly-developed skills with our colleagues. This is a sign of an outstanding learning community and a dedicated, effective faculty. This is Brimmer and May’s faculty: professionally developed and continuing to develop professionally to meet the needs of our students both in the short term and for the long term.
Brimmer and May School
69 Middlesex Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
617-566-7462
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
617-566-7462
As an inclusive private school community, Brimmer welcomes students who will increase the diversity of our school. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, or any other characteristic protected from discrimination under state or federal law, in the administration of our educational policies, admissions practices, financial aid decisions, and athletic and other school-administered programs.