Professional Learning Plan Outline

Teachers need professional learning opportunities to teach teachers the skills or strategies to teach students better. One of the principles of professional development states that teachers should not be passive participants in the learning process (Gulamhussein, 2013). For my innovation plan Building a Culture of Blending Learning in Classrooms, I came up with an initial outline of the professional learning needed for my innovation plan to be implemented. My goal is that teachers build a blended learning culture that will assist our students in their learning process. The Rotation/Individual blended learning PL focuses on the five fundamental principles of effective professional development using technology.

5 Key Principles of Effective Professional Learning

Duration: PL should be continuous; teachers need continuing education by creating peer groups so teachers can collaborate and regular meetings to engage teachers and keep them moving forward.
Support: Teachers need help from the campus administrators and assistant principals, encouraging them and district personnel, IT department, providing support with technology tools.
Engage: Teachers should use various approaches for their learners to stay engaged, so we should do the same in PL and keep the teachers actively learning (i.e., role-playing, modeling, reading aloud, or visiting classrooms)
Modeling: Having an expert show or model the material is very beneficial. This is when other experienced active blended learning teachers can demonstrate the lesson, or the IT can model how the technology is used. These experts could also be co-teachers with the teacher during instruction. Providing teachers with videos is an excellent resource for teachers to refer back to for support.
Content and Grade Level Specific: The PL is geared toward K-6th grade teachers only, so it focuses on a specific audience, and everything discussed is relevant to their classrooms, making it more engaging.

Below is an initial planning outline of the professional learning plan I am developing to coincide with my innovation plan.

How will you foster collaboration?
The K-6 teachers can pair up with their peers that have experience using blended learning in their classroom. They can meet and discuss the process, challenges, barriers, and success of the innovation plan. They will also have access to a 24/7 training portal to post discussions and get feedback between their peers, blended learning experts, and me. In addition, they can make an appointment with us during their conference, during their class time while working with the students, or with me after school. The teachers can work together during their conference time to collaborate on issues they are having and share their successes.

Who will lead what components?
A small team of experienced blended learning teachers and I will lead the lessons/training provided for the teachers. The blended learning experts are willing to help foster the new skills in the K-6 grade teachers. They will be available during the day as well as after school. I will be available after school to assist teachers with questions and work one-on-one with them to help address any of their barriers and questions about using blended learning with their students.

Audience and their needs
These classes and training will be for K-6 teachers. It will help them understand and continue using the rotation/individual blended learning that started in the kindergarten classrooms. They will need time, support, engagement, modeling, and specific training for their needs. They are new to this idea, so it will take time for the teachers to learn about blended learning before implementing them in their classes. They will need ongoing support from the blended learning experts and me. They can also support one another during their team meetings. They will need some hands-on engagement to try out the blended learning and could practice by making themselves at a site. They will need the blended learning experts and me to model for them. I will share my ePortfolio with them and the different types of documents and assignments on the site. We will offer specific training for each of their personal needs. Each classroom will need specific training because the teachers are at different levels of technology usage and the students in their students.

Instructional Design of your PL

BHAG and 3 Column Table document

Schedule/timeline: (Listed above)

Types of resources you will need are a Classroom computer or laptop, access to the 24/7 training sessions, examples of teachers using blended learning videos, and schedule time for Harmony conference rooms.

References

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/ system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf