Professional Development

I've been lucky so far over the course of my career. Like every other teacher I have ever met on the planet, I have had professional development seminars that I spent planning, reading other things that I brought with me, and sitting, just generally faded off into the woodwork; but luckily for me, these days have been few and far between.

I usually enjoy professional development days, and usually have good luck finding seminars that are educational, enlightening and entertaining.

I just returned home (again) from Winnipeg (again), another 1500 kms of driving to attend a seminar on non-fiction reading and text comprehension. I needed this seminar to remind me about a lot of reading strategies, and to help me get a few new ideas about working with non-fiction texts with junior high kids. It was overall a reasonably interesting and well - paced session.

But overall I found myself thinking about blogging and the conversation that we have in this space. In the year + that I have been blogging, I have consistently and constantly found it to be the best learning space I have ever encountered. We write, we read, we listen, we consider, and we respond to what each other writes or speaks about. I find myself during the day in my classroom thinking about blogging a certain event, or watching an event unfold in my classroom and running through a post from someone else I have recently read at the same time.

As other's have said, the value is in the conversation that we hold. Blogging helps me to clarify events, think through responses, and plan for the future of my classroom.

This weekend I also have been considering membershhips to professional organizations and the journals I read. I have been a subscriber to the Harvard Educational Review since I frist started seriously reading this journal about 8 years ago when I began my master's degree. I have had a love - hate relationship with the NCTE for years, being a consistent on and off again member. This weekend, a presenter and an influential literacy leader I know in Manitoba asked me to write for the IRA, and also asked what journals of theirs I read. I have been considering subscribing to the journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy and even the Reading Research Quaterly,  but I am hesitant to lay down $85 U.S. for two journals that may not be as informative as this space is for me.

Has blogging "ruined"me?

So what do we need from professional development? Do we need advanced courses of our own? Do I get to tell my boss that I'm not driving another set of 15 hours for a 6 hour session because I have spent the last two weeks arguing online about new definitions of literacy and their value in shaping post - industrial knowledge centred classrooms?

Will anyone besides those of us who blog understand the importance of this space?

Technorati Tags: professional development, blogging

Comments

[Anne Davis]

Your post got me really thinking. I posted my reflections here (http://anne.teachesme.com/2005/10/24#a4496) Even though the interest is high now for blogging, I'm not sure what the number of educators is that really get the powerful learning that can result from blogging. It is encouraging to me to see what you are doing and I just have to think more will join in on the good conversations.I think using it with students like you are doing will make a great difference. Keep up the good work!