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The Importance of Continuing Professional Development and how I Plan to Incorporate it Throughout My Career
Teachers are life-long learners who want to educate and create a whole new generation of life-long learners. In order to do this, we need to stay on top of the current trends in education and how to incorporate these ideas in the classroom. Luckily, I have found the greatest resource in continuing my professional development.
Social networks and web 2.0 are very popular today. Everyone is familiar with Facebook and now the new talk is about Twitter. Some people have never even heard about it, and if they have, don’t understand it, or know how it works. Twitter is basically like Facebook, but with “status updates” that are limited to 140 characters. However, the difference, I believe, is that Twitter is more of a conversation, compared to posting about what you are doing. There is also a special “language” of acronyms, @ signs and hash tags that are used in most posts.
Understanding Twitter has lead me to a wealth of information that I could not have possibly learned anywhere else. Through this I have created a Personal Learning Network (PLN) of hundreds of professional educators. They range in all different specialities such as teachers, administrators, librarians, service providers, etc. from all over the world.
Everyone has all been to stale in-services where a presenter is trying to sell their latest product or boring staff meetings where few participate, and if they do, it’s to complain. Some examples of what I converse with my PLN on Twitter, are positive conversations about how we can do our jobs better, help with trouble in the classroom, our sharing websites about the latest news in the world of education.
Also, each week there are different chat sessions that exist on Twitter which cater to all fields of education. A topic is presented and people from all of the world offer their views and pro-active strategies to accomplish a common goal: how to better serve our students. I have participated in chats for special education, general education, new teachers, and English teachers to name a few.
This new style of professional development is more beneficial for me than staff meetings or in-services. First is because it is geared towards my interests and motivating for me. Second is the convenience. I set aside about 30-60 minutes each day to check Twitter. This can be done in the morning before work, when I get home, or even laying in bed. I see no end in this new type of learning and look forward to see how it progresses and grows. My PLN and Twitter will unquestionably make me a better teacher and life-long learner. Now, if only I was able to earn Act 48 credits!
