A PD You MUST Attend!

I'm usually not a big fan of professional development.  I used to look forward to it, back in the beginning of my career.  But my opinion has been tainted over the years after enduring boring PD after booooooooorrrrrrrrrring PD.  You can relate, right?

Well, this summer my district is offering a PD Academy for us.  I was skeptical, but as I looked at the list of offerings I was pleasantly surprised.  Scheduled to be at our high school today was none other than Margaret Searle!  If you've never heard of Margaret Searle, you should have. :)  Seriously, she's an amazing educator with expertise in differentiation and co-teaching, and since I learned about 6 weeks ago that I will be teaching inclusion next year, I decided this would be a perfect session to attend.

I was not disappointed.  In fact, I was so far from disappointed that I swear I would have paid to sit in that class! She was amazing!!  Here's a few nuggets of what my co-teacher and I learned today: (By the way, if you have the opportunity to attend a co-teaching class, the best scenario is for BOTH teachers to be enrolled in the class - many of my colleagues did not have their partner with them today, and they definitely felt like they were at a disadvantage.)

1) To be effective at co-teaching, both you and your partner teacher must be both trustworthy and trusting. (Think about the difference between those...)

2) There are 4 types of co-teaching: Speak and Help (one teacher presents and the other supports but stays out of sight), Speak and Chart (one presents and the other takes notes or creates a concept map on the board), Speak and Add (one presents while the other interjects with examples, questions, illustrations, etc), and Duet (both teachers present equally).  We should aim to spend 80-90% of our time using a Speak and Add or Duet format, as students will get the most out of these.

3) There are many discussions that need to be had before the start of the school year.  Co-teachers should discuss everything from classroom management, to procedures and routines, to personal pet peeves, so there are minimal surprises once the school year gets under way.

4) Instead of extending due dates for IEP students, try front-loading and letting those students start earlier so that their project/assignment is still due with all the rest.

5) Never punish a learner.  Reward good attempts and encourage improvement.  Allow them to rewrite, revise, and retake. (I feel like a do a decent job of this in my room already, so this was good affirmation for me that I'm on the right track... I don't grade homework that's intended to be practice, and I always allow an opportunity for students to retake their tests and quizzes.)

Oh, there is SO much more that I could share, but I figure if you're still reading by now then I've kept you long enough!  If you have some time, go to margaretsearle.com and check out the resources she has to offer.  I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Rachel