Follow Up & Reflection

The first round of professional development about Chromebook Management in the Classroom is complete. Now it’s time for reflection and follow-up. The turnout for all four sessions was more than I expected. I feel that teachers were willing to come for several reasons that relate to the article, Effective Teacher Professional Development by Hammond, Hyler, and Garnder (2017). When this professional development opportunity was advertised, the content focus was stated. All teachers and staff knew we would be sharing ideas and strategies to assist kindergarten and first grade teachers in adjusting to using Chromebooks in the classroom in place of other devices they previously had. This session also included embedded time for collaboration and sharing as well as provided models of effective practice. In addition, support and coaching were offered for teachers to effectively begin a Chromebook implementation in the classroom. Furthermore, I took the advice of Patrick Goertz (2015), and advertised a door prize of a $10 Starbucks gift card and the opportunity to earn Act 48 hours throughout the year, which I believe was another reason attendance was high. The winners of those gift cards were excited to win something and I was grateful to all of those who participated.

In my reflection of this first round of professional development, I used the CDC’s Professional Development Follow Up Support Took Kit’s Ingredients for Success section as a checklist. The first item for thought was determining if the participants left the training with confidence to possibly try the new implementation. In my opinion, I believe they did. While I did not conduct a survey, many teachers were taking notes and nodding heads while information was being shared. Several teachers have also emailed me asking about my availability to come and support them while they are getting started. The next ingredient for success is to provide a social network or avenue to gain resources and ideas. By curating all the information, resources, and presentations for each training in a Google Classroom, all teachers in grades k-3 are able to access all materials at anytime they need or wish to. The third area of reflection relates to the time participants are given to practice the skills presented. Since this professional development Make & Take series occurs once a month, participants will have a few weeks in between to put strategies in to place and ask for questions and/or support. Finally, was there an adequate balance of support and pressure. Teachers know that my support is always there if and when they need it. There is certainly pressure on teachers to use Chromebooks in the classroom. By hearing what others have done somewhat adds pressure for others to try something too.

Overall, I am pleased with the outcome and participation so far. After each session at each building, I sent a follow up email thanking teachers for coming. Included in those emails were informational reminders, my contact information, and the date and topic for the next professional development. Although I sent the next topic and date in the follow up email, I will continue to send out a formal invitation to each building just as I did for this one that will include the objective and focus along with other details including location and prize giveaway.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (n.d). Professional Development: Follow -up Support Tool Kit. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/tths/FollowUp_Toolkit-508.pdf

Effective Teacher Professional Development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-brief

Goertz, P. (n.d.). Tech Tuesday: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Tech. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/tech-tuesday-how-stop-worrying-and-love-tech