Blended Learning Professional Development:
Middle School Social Studies
Professional development is that brief pause during the school year when the roles are switched and teachers get an opportunity to wrestle with new ideas and learn from the experts. Teachers are desperate to adapt to this new age of technology and learning, and it is crucial that our professional development meet the needs of our teachers in this moment. The Center for Public Education published a report, Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability (2013). It describes the complete ineffectiveness of traditional "sit and get" trainings, and highlights the key principles for effective professional training.
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5 Key Principles of Effective Professional Development
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1. Duration: The training needs to provide ample time for teachers to not only learn the practice but also to also receive ongoing support while they work to implement the new practice. ​
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2. Support: Teachers need support during the implementation phase to help address the challenges and frustration that inevitably comes when using a new strategy or skill.
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3. Active Learning: People learn best by doing. The training needs to be centered around on hands-on learning.
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4. Modeling: Seeing strategies implemented in the same situation you are using them in is a highly effective teaching practice.
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5. Specific Content: Training should be specific to the teachers' discipline.
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I have been given an opportunity in my graduate school program to read more about effective professional development and create my own plan for training and supporting teachers while they create blended learning lessons and units for their own classrooms. Below you can read through the design, outline and the initial workshop materials for the blended learning professional development created for middle school social studies teachers.
Call to Action
Professional Development is a crucial component in a teacher's education, and it is more important now than ever to create effective professional development trainings for our teachers.
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I have created a call to action video that explains our need for alternative professional development and briefly outlines what that should look like.
Outline
Professional Learning Goal: Learners will plan and implement blended learning units and lessons in their classroom throughout the entire school year.
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On this page, you can find the 3 Column Table with learning goals, activities and assessments for this year long professional development. You will also find the an outline of how the key principles are addressed along with a brief schedule.
Initial 2 Day Workshop
I have developed out the initial workshops on Day 1 and 2. These will be in-person workshops at the beginning of the school year with all of the social studies teachers in grades 6 - 8 at Park Crest Middle School. Day 1 will be an introduction to the blended learning models, and teachers will have time to explore these models and choose one to implement into their own classroom. Day 2 will be a continuation of creating blended learning units and will also include an emphasis on incorporating authentic, project based learning. I have included links to the presentation slide deck and hand outs that I will use in addition to the outline and resources needed for the 2 day workshop.
References:
Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf