It may be hard to manage two or more tasks at a time, but nothing is difficult for a person who tries and exerts effort in everything. "Excellence is not being the best it is doing your best,"-says Yadav.
I asked about how PLC's ran, what worked, what didn't work, etc. In the beginning of this year, I started a new job as a Reading Coach for a K-8 school. Don't forget your #hashtag! I think I need to add a Goosechase option next time we do this for the competitive teachers! Check it out if you've never seen the app before! You'll also notice a Twitter challenge on the right to encourage sharing and just to add some fun. Sometimes you just need a minute to grade papers, make a phone call, or just breathe at your desk (and that is okay)! Another option I add is a "planning" time so teachers have some flexibility to do anything they need to. If you can't travel a lot to present, it's a great way to get some sessions in! When thinking about time, I wouldn't go shorter than 45 minutes per window. I always add Google sessions that I teach myself to help keep up with my 12 required sessions a year as a Google Certified Trainer. After I get my list of presenters, I block out our required sessions first, then plug our teacher presenters into the Choice Board template you see above (template below). Just for suggestions to give to teachers when they want to observe other classrooms. My favorite part is seeing how much other teachers enjoy learning from each other! I know that's how I was when I was in the classroom and I refuse to forget that! That's also what makes Edcamps so successful, so why not use the same method in our schools? Of course, I did not invent this model of Professional Development, this is just how we fit it into our set schedule. Afterall, you know how enjoyable "mandatory" professional development can be! Yes, we still have to have those sometimes, but we try to mix it up a bit so teachers have some choice to make the day worth while. Last year, I started using this model so we could add choice to our professional development and really try to encourage teacher leaders.
We are a town of bridges, so it gets really bad! It's so nice having this time built into our day so teachers don't have to make alternate arrangements for after-school kid pickups or just try to get home in heavier than usual traffic. Our kids leave early so we have over 3 hours of embedded time for professional development. Our district has an "Early Release Day" scheduled on Wednesdays, almost every month, during the school year for our Elementary and Middle Schools (High School does a "late in" instead). the reason I'm writing this post is because I've had quite a few people ask me about how we use an "Edcamp" model for our Early Release Days at our school.