Supporting Staff Development

This is a blog post for the Learning Experience #3 in IICT Part 2. The purpose of this unit was to look at supporting staff development in the school, although the content was much more varied than that. We created a survey to identify staff needs in technology, looked at software such as GAFE and Math software, designed a calendar that planned training for a year, and designed a workshop and a lesson that incorporated 2 subjects with technology.

 The biggest idea that has come forward for me is that it only takes one person to begin to initiate training in a school. The survey was inspiring for me, it was nice to see teachers respond honestly with how they feel about technology and self identify their needs. Creating a calendar was an excellent way to see progression in the learning of teachers, although this can also come informally as well, through teachers asking questions when needed. And designing a workshop that could be used by teachers was fantastic. Although I have done similar tasks before, I have already shared it with my current principal and will be using it at the end of June.

The collaboration between member of the group has been great. The most valuable part has been having other group members ask question that really make me think and justify my thoughts. It has been valuable to see the different interpretations of the tasks, even when the same software has been reviewed. Everyone comes at each task from a different angle, be it the grades or subjects that they teach, their previous experience, or the school that they are in. It has been refreshing to read posts, although sometimes difficult to keep track of. I am looking forward to part 4 of the course and how school wide instruction can be used in my teaching.