What The Professional Developments Meant To Me

The best thing about these professional developments has been the continued learning. What I mean by that has to do with the phrase teachers throw out all the time…lifelong learners. Gag! Especially when teachers don’t really use it or mean it with their instruction. My gut response (besides gagging….) is to ask, “What are you doing to encourage that drive…that motivation…in your students to continue to learn…to want to learn more. THAT is what lifelong learners do!

Ok…off my soapbox…

I set about my own professional goal to continue to learn. Some people call that “driven”…some people call that “work-a-holic”. I call it necessary to stay ahead of the trends and issues that guide education right now. It was a great motivation for me to apply to become a Kenan Fellow. Diving into the tremendous amount of information and knowledge provided during the professional developments was, at times, overwhelming to where I had to walk away from it for a while in order to let my brain catch up and absorb it all. But I always came back for more! I LOVE it!

The development sessions also were a big “wake up call” to me about where education is heading and should be heading in the years to come. That is also necessary for me to continue to work effectively for my students. Teachers always hear stories of other “seasoned” teachers who are set in their ways, use the same lesson plans year after year, use the same activities year after year, etc. Not me. I like the change, I like that challenge of tweaking something I do to make it better. That has been what the development sessions  are for me and I am soooo thankful for that opportunity to learn from the best, the brightest, the forward thinkers and the progressives. Don’t get me wrong, though, I do not abandon what I have been doing for 30 years for something brand new. No, no, no! I like to take the old and infuse it with the new to make it better…for the improvement of my students. If it is what is best for my students, then I am “all in”.

Cannonball!