When you utter the words “professional development” around my school, and probably around yours, you get the exasperated eye roll and another grumble about time better spent in other pursuits.

It’s hard to put a finger on the definition of “Professional Development” that really provides a benefit – it’s like art – I don’t know how to define it but I know good PD when I come away from it.

I participated in the AP Biology Reading this summer for the first time.  It was a hard slog, and when people would notice the acorn symbol that identified me as a newbie they would always inquire, “how are you liking it?”  It was a sort of odd way to put the arduous and long days we spent, yet I walked away from that week feeling like it was just about the best experience I had had professionally in a long time – I was in the company of highly-motivated professionals who were united by a single purpose of providing consistent, fair grading while performing our task with the utmost of due diligence.  I also brought back terrific content revelations that immediately impacted my teaching.

Fast forward through the three Kenan Fellowship PDs and the feeling is fairly similar.  I truly enjoy being in the company of highly-motivated professionals who are united by a single purpose of developing our skills as teacher leaders and curriculum experts.  We have been through a number of valuable learning experiences together, and even though there have been technical glitches that elicited some grumbling, I feel like I have had my teaching changed as a result of the experiences.

The best PD leaves you feeling empowered, informed, and energized with new possibilities.  I have come away from each of the Kenan PDs with some level of each, which sounds like a successful suite of offerings to me. The Kenan experiences have been especially welcome under the trying times for teaching in which we find ourselves.  It may just sustain me through the professional rough patch that’s I’m going through now.