Inspiration, ideas, resources, and contacts drive me to seek out professional development. I am confident that as a result of any given PD experience I will be inspired, get a new idea, learn about an amazing resource or meet an interesting person. The key for me is to listen carefully and socialize ideas.
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| Antigua, Guatemala (Photo taken by Theresa Baginski) |
My favorite source of professional development is any activity that affords the opportunity to learn from colleagues and share my own ideas. Over the course of the past 18 months I was fortunate enough to receive the support of my employer to organize four separate professional development events. Teachers represented middle and high schools, our community college, and a four-year college. Over the course of the four events we focused on culture, the language proficiency levels, creating classrooms driven by authentic input, and the oral proficiency interview. Our goal is to create a seamless pipeline of language learning so that our students can get the most out of each classroom experience.
I can't speak for anyone else that attended those full day events, but I was definitely inspired by our presenters and fellow participants who shared their ideas and resources. This inspiration has driven innovation, curiosity, and a willingness to change what needs to be changed.
For the language teacher out there who just read this blog I would like to share one of the tools that I learned about in a recent workshop and a list of technology tools that I received at a conference. I hope that both of these will help you as you strive to make your classroom 'real' for your students.
https://sites.google.com/site/technologyforclac/
https://www.diigo.com/user/theresabaginski
Theresa, thanks for posting the links! I, too, enjoy professional development. There is always something positive that you can take away from a workshop. My favorite type of PD is when other teacher's present workshops. They share practical strategies/tools and give concrete examples of how they have successfully used them in their classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Theresa,
ReplyDeleteThe inspiration from other teachers and students is very important for professional development. I totally agree on your words, "This inspiration has driven innovation, curiosity, and a willingness to change what needs to be changed." I am so impressed that you organized PD events! Students always appreciate the efforts their teachers make for better teaching and they learn the importance of keeping learning from the teachers who keep learning.
Indeed, it is essential for us to be inspired to make a difference in our oun classrooms! This is why I like conferencing so much.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your library of tools!
ReplyDeleteThe technologyforclac resource is great, thank you! I have looked for intercultural assessment tools with not much luck, however there are several posted to this site. Have you used any in practice yet?
ReplyDelete