What Is Effective Professional Learning To You?
I have been thinking about this question ever since I started teaching. When I first got hired as a teacher I was so excited to just jump right in and sign up for every Pl possible but little did I know it would soon be the death of me. Every PL I went to seemed like a great thing and made me excited to try it in my room. However, that was the last time I thought about it or the at least the last time I thought about it and wasn't immediately stressed because of it. All to often many of these PLs were presented and no follow through was given afterwards making it hard when teachers would actually try implementing what they were just taught. So with no one to talk to about struggles, concerns, likes, and dislikes, the PL piece quickly disappeared. I do not want that to happen with our PL. I want our PL to be beneficial to you, I want you to keep it in your classroom all year round, and I want you to feel confident with it and excited about doing it! As you continue reading you will see everything that our PL will entail, how we will create this effective Pl with you, the teachers in mind, the process we took to learn how to implement everything successfully, the outline and timeline we will be using to help ensure everything is being covered, and any resources that we thought were beneficial in helping us create this Effective Profession Learning Plan.
The Why?
We want or Godfrey students to have a great learning experience while receiving the best possible education. We want our students to be willing to take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, be persistent problem-solvers, embrace collaboration, all while working creatively. In order to do this we need to make sure our Professional Learning is thoughtful and meaningful to the staff. So very often professional learning presentations are "sit and get" which is not only very boring but also very ineffective. We need to start making sure the professional learning are more geared towards "go and show," meaning give the teachers the information, follow them to the rooms , help show proper implementation, and then continue to be there for on-going questions.
We want or Godfrey students to have a great learning experience while receiving the best possible education. We want our students to be willing to take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, be persistent problem-solvers, embrace collaboration, all while working creatively. In order to do this we need to make sure our Professional Learning is thoughtful and meaningful to the staff. So very often professional learning presentations are "sit and get" which is not only very boring but also very ineffective. We need to start making sure the professional learning are more geared towards "go and show," meaning give the teachers the information, follow them to the rooms , help show proper implementation, and then continue to be there for on-going questions.
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The What?
The presentation was created to get teachers on board with implementing STEAM into their classrooms. STEAM is a way of learning that will help our Godfrey students be happy, passionate, hard working, confident, life long learners, who are prepared for their futures beyond the classroom. We hope to get all teachers enthusiastic about teaching STEAM and know that they will always be supported and given help if asked. Through this presentation they will understand the power of STEAM. |
The Resources used to help create the presentation
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The How?
First off let me just say a learned one huge lesson with this presentation….ALWAYS SAVE YOUR PRESENTATION ON MIRCOSOFT POWERPOINT RIGHT AWAY! I created my presentation and then as I was adding another part the circle of death as I like to call it appeared and it made powerpoint force closure. So after I restarted my computer I tried to get back into my powerpoint and it was no where to be found. I googled and youtubed numerous ways to try to retrieve my unsaved powerpoint and it became hopeless so I had to start all over. That was a really hard and upsetting lesson to learn. After learning that lesson the hard way I decided to make my new presentation with Google slides since it continues to save your work without you saving it yourself. Completing the powerpoint with Google slides took longer for me to accomplish because I was not as familiar with Google slides as I was with Microsoft Powerpoint. The main thing I had to research and find out was how to put voice over on my slides. I did really enjoy using slides and I will now use this program over Microsoft powerpoint any day. So, if you continue to read I put my step-by-step process I used in completing my powerpoint/Google slide in case you would also like to start using Google slides instead of Microsoft Powerpoint.
In order to complete a Google Slide presentation with voice over there are two applications you will need. Google Slides, found in your Google drive, and voicethread, which you will need to create an account for.
The first step I had to do was to create a presentation using Google slides. To create a google slide presentation I had to login into my Google account and click the new button and then click Google slide to create my slides. When adding pictures to my slides I had to go to insert and then scroll down to image and then navigate over to upload from computer and then chose the picture I had saved. After creating your slides.
The second step was to download the presentation as a PDF. In order to download the slides as a pdf I had to go to file, click on it, scroll down to where it said download as, and then navigate over to where it says pdf document. When I clicked it, it immediately pulled my presentation back up but now as a pdf.
The third step then was to create a Voicethread account. In order to create an account I had to go to www.voicethread.com. Once I was on the page I had to go the top right corner and click on the button that said register. To register I had to fill in the blank fields and confirm my email and then sign in again.
The fourth step I had to do was upload my pdf into voicethread. To do so I first had to click create and then click add media. Once I clicked media I had to click Google drive and find my presentation. Once I hit choose, an option for adding a title came up. Once I gave my pdf a title all my slides showed up.
The fifth step I had to do was record over each slide. In order for me to do this I had to click the slide I wanted to record on and then click comment above the slides. Once I clicked comment it brought the slide up. I then had to hit comment on the bottom of the screen a half circle showed up with five icons. I chose the microphone icon. After I clicked the microphone icon a popup box showed up asking if you will allow voicethread.com to use your microphone. I clicked allow. Once you allow voicethread to use your microphone it brought me to a count down. Once it hit 0 I was able to begin recording. When I was done I had to hit stop recording. I was able to then listen to my recording and decide if I wanted to save it or rerecord.
Outline/Timeline
Below is a detailed outline and timeline that we plan on using during the implementation of our PL that involves implementing STEAM in our K-2 building.
The Big Picture
How everything fits together
References
Cult of Pedagogy. (2013). How presentation zen fixed my bad powerpoints. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/vkrl1j0IW-c
EdCan Network Le Reseau EdCan. (2016). Innovation that sticks case study - OCSB: Risk taking. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/UAMcjUzdVnE
Duarte Inc. (2009). Duarte design's five rules for presentations by nancy duarte. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/hT9GGmundag
Golinkoff, R. & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2016). Becoming brilliant: What science tells us about raising successful children. APA LifeTools.
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/Professional Development.pdf
[Simple Tutorials]. (2015). How to use 4k video downloader | download videos from youtube/dailymotion/facebook/vimeo/metafe. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/6V1BcL0GgY4
Skillshare. (2015). How to begin your presentation with simon sinek. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/e80BbX05D7Y
Stephanee Stephens. (2013). Embedding a ppt in weebly site. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/FXE5fX2mhi0
[TEXx Talks]. (2014). How to avoid death by powerpoint | david jp phillips | tedxstockholmsalon [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/Iwpi1Lm6dFo
TNTP. (2015). The mirage: Confronting the hard truth about our quest for teacher development. Retrieved from http://tntp.org/publications/view/evaluation-and-development/the-mirage-confronting-the-truth-about-our-quest-for-teacher-development