Week 7: Professional Development, So THAT'S what they do on days off...

I had my first opportunity to attend a full-day professional development at my school this week.  As the teachers rolled in around 8am it felt like the roles had reversed, the faculty were now the students, all sitting to one side towards the back of the auditorium (I don't think people sit in the front of rooms until after retirement...) awaiting whatever enthralling lecture would be taking place, our topic: the new teacher evaluation system.  This abstract topic that I have been reading about in the news finally became a semi-reality for me.  And at the end of the hour-long session I can accurately and confidently say, I don't have a clue what she was talking about!

Image - www.educationworld.com

Luckily it wasn't our only task that day, we spent a chunk of time looking at the Common Core standards.  While history isn't a major component of the Common Core (much to my chagrin) we were able to find some varied assessments that can be incorporated into the world history classes next year.  It felt good to be able to provide some of my own insight, however limited, to this discussion.


Lastly, our day ended with a guest speaker from the MARC center (Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center) which was extremely informative and well done.  Not that you'd ever expect to laugh during a presentation on bullying, our speaker Dr. Englander, had a few humorous quips that helped lighten the mood on this topic.


Overall, with the mystery of PD days finally gone, I have to say I'm a little disappointed...  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the day was very low-key.  One thing I wasn't disappointed with was having a day during the week to regroup before a few more days of teaching, can't ever complain about that.


-MB