Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Giving Teachers the Reins for Staff Development

I am reading this article out of a new online magazine called Sourcebook (magazine for professional development) and I just have to quote what someone says....

"I believe that true professional development takes a lot of time. The reason I think that this is so important is because oftentimes professional development is seen as: Go to a training one or two days after school and now you are professionally developed. I believe that to truly grow and learn, you have to use your knowledge, find out what works and doesn’t, and determine what gives you the results that you need."

I thought...HELLO!!! Someone has dared to say it out loud. This is the case with TILT, attaining technology skills and understanding how to effectively integrate it into your curriculum takes time. Planning and implementing it takes...more time. That is the reason for the 3-phase approach to TILT. It models staff development that is ongoing...because we don't just get "professionally developed" in an hour or two.