EDLD 5333 Reflection

This, as with many others, was a really difficult assignment for me. I have never been involved in creating a professional development class, and have only attended a handful, so I had really very little to go off of except for what I was learning in the class and from the weekly readings. This was also the class in which I was introduced to the AEIS report. The idea of the AEIS report is simple, but using that data to create a class that will positively affect the students and teachers was an entirely different matter. I found it difficult to find specific, and inexpensive, ideas that could be used for a professional development class for the teachers.

I had in the past, not really given much thought about the hard work that goes into creating a professional development class for teachers. Upon creating this class I have a new found respect for the hard work, research, and planning that goes into creating a professional development class that is not only informative, but entertaining and that aligns to the state standards. In addition to the initial class, I had never thought about the follow-up that is critically important, in the success of the classes.

The primary thing that I wanted to accomplish with this task was to create an effective and reasonable professional development class for the high school. My initial issue was to narrow down what was actually needed at the school and then to find training that would fit the needs and improvements for that need. Most of the research was done by searching the Internet for solutions to the problems. The Internet has such a vast array of information that expands and changes rapidly, which allowed me to find current, relevant, information and tools. This form of research, I believe, is something that will not change in the future, only becoming more powerful and useful as more information is posted online. I was able to assess my project when I presented the completed project to the math department and was given the “thumbs up”. They were excited about the information within the training session, how it was presented, and that a follow-up was included in the plan. I only had minimal interaction with colleagues during the creation of this project, waiting until after the project was finished to present it to the math department.

One of the rewarding aspects of this project was that I now know I have the ability and knowledge, or at least know where to get the knowledge, to create a professional development class for the teachers. Having this knowledge and will help me to become more involved in creating and suggesting future classes for the teachers so that the school and district can become more effective and better learning environment for the students. This course has also given me a better understanding of what different departments at the campus level go through to ensure that classes that they present to the teachers are relevant and productive. This understanding will help me when creating future classes for the district that will be well received by the teachers attending and the administration. One of the challenges that I did find when creating the class was to ensure that it is entertaining and engaging enough to keep the teachers attention through the duration of the class. This is something that I feel must be addressed and researched since teachers can have a tendency to become “distracted” during training sessions. Ensuring that teachers are engaged will help alleviate some of this and ensure that the time spent taking the class is productive.