Teachers will be motivated when they realize the tangible results of professional learning in their classrooms, writes Catherine Guillory of the Lafayette Parish School System (LA) in an eSchool News essay.
Here are five steps her school took to ensure a smooth rollout of a new professional learning program for upper elementary and middle school teachers:
Don’t overwhelm staff. The lessons are about 45-60 minutes. This is enough time to get through background and introductory information to get to the core of the lesson. It is also the right amount of information to not overwhelm.
The platform should be interactive. Make sure lessons ask questions and include quizzes. You don’t want it to just be “busy work.” I’ve done a lot of literacy training during my career, but even I’m challenged by the platform–and that’s a good thing. It pushes teachers to go beyond theory and think about the kids sitting at their desks.
Avoid push back. You must roll out professional development properly. We selected about 12 courses that would be the most valuable right now, and they were intended for a specific group of teachers. We asked them to complete the courses by an end-of-year deadline. Based on pacing, this worked out to one course every 4-5 weeks. When finished, teachers receive a stipend.
Make a commitment. We have an annual fall conference for elementary teachers, so we plan sessions for fall professional development around what is happening in the PD course, how the platform links to our curriculum, and which elements will help them teach that curriculum correctly from the first day of school.
Respect the clock. We initially considered having teachers choose the courses they wanted to complete, but we took pressure off and picked the courses ourselves. We knew that courses they were curious about could be different from what they needed to know to be able to teach. There are many choices for teachers to explore, and we incentivize completing more courses with a stipend.
Giving teachers another training or professional development choice can be a burden. We emphasize the benefits of the professional learning program, both for teachers and their students. Let them dive in and get started. When they see tangible results in their classrooms, they are motivated and development continues organically. They feel confident; you can see it on their faces.
eSchool News
