Page 221 - DCAP609_CLOUD_COMPUTING

Cloud Computing

Notes
The few moments that we can steal for professional development are usually spent in
sessions with experts pitching the latest silver bullet. Teachers rarely get to self-select
learning opportunities, pursue professional passions, or engage in meaningful, ongoing
conversations about instruction.
What makes professional development even more frustrating to practitioners is that most
of the programs we are exposed to are drawn directly from the latest craze sweeping the
business world. In the past 10 years, countless schools have read Who Moved My Cheese?,
studied The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, learned to have "Crucial
Conversations," and tried to move "from Good to Great."
Although most of my colleagues recognize that business-driven reform efforts are likely
to have little effect on student learning, they are largely unwilling to challenge the status
quo. "Nothing's going to change," they insist. "This is how professional development has
always been done. Just bring a big stack of papers to grade, and you'll keep busy." A
history of poor professional development experiences has left them jaded and stagnant,
groaning when given "opportunities to learn."
Changing Times, Changing Tools
Times have changed in two significant ways, however, since Elmore began describing the
hostile learning environments that have often held schools back. First, there's a new
emphasis on the importance of collaborative learning among members of close-knit teams
in schools. School leaders are beginning to believe in the human capacity of their faculties
and are structuring opportunities for teachers to reflect on instruction together. These
joint efforts are targeted and specific, increasing educators' motivation and engagement.
Second, digital tools now help fulfill Elmore's desire for fresh "portals through which new
knowledge about teaching and learning can enter schools." Specifically, thousands of
accomplished educators are now writing blogs about teaching and learning, bringing
transparency to both the art and the science of their practice. In every content area and
grade level and in schools of varying sizes and from different geographic locations,
educators are actively reflecting on instruction, challenging assumptions, questioning
policies, offering advice, designing solutions, and learning together. And all this collective
knowledge is readily available for free.
With the investment of a bit of time and effort, I've found a group of writers to follow who
expose me to more interesting ideas in one day than I've been exposed to in the past 10
years of costly professional development. Professional growth for me starts with 20 minutes
of blog browsing each morning, sifting through the thoughts of practitioners whom I
might never have been able to learn from otherwise and considering how their work
translates into what I do with students.

This learning has been uniquely authentic, driven by personal interests and connected to
classroom realities. Blogs have introduced a measure of differentiation and challenge to
my professional learning plan that had long been missing. What's more, the readers of my
own blog challenge my thinking in provocative comments day after day. Mike, a reader
from Texas, jumps in on conversations regarding teacher empowerment. K. Borden, a
parent from the school district in which I work, pushes my thinking about holding schools
accountable for improvement. Steve, a school district leader in North Carolina, lends
expertise to conversations about curriculum, and Bob Heiny, a longtime education
researcher, has unique perspectives on the classroom uses of technology. I've met only a
few of these people in person, yet they are a vibrant part of my own professional learning
and growth.

Contd....

216 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY