Professional Development
Ashley Rickard
Reflection
By day, I am an Instructional Coach in a public high school. Literally 100% of my time at school is spent researching, planning, and implementing Professional Development for the 100 teachers in my building. I have witnessed first-hand tremendous growth from a number of teachers through effective Professional Development, and I am a firm believer in its benefits. I personally look forward to attending local conferences when my schedule allows. This year was a particularly exciting year for technology, as I got to attend both ISTE 2014 and GAETC 2014. I walked away with loads of information that have benefited me (and my students) significantly.
Still, the irony is that I struggled to find time for Professional Development with GAVS this year. I was thrilled to knock out the eTool requirements in time to teach Spring courses, and I completed the New Teacher Orientation Training Course. However, once the semester got rolling and my face-to-face job responsibilities picked up as well, it was a challenge to keep up with PD.
Just In Time was an incredibly well-planned program for new teachers, and I am thankful for all of the information that I gained. Participating in JIT was quite stressful for me, though, because I had previously arranged responsibilities with my church during the scheduled JIT meetings. This scheduling conflict required me to watch the JIT recordings on my own time and write a reflection over each.
Edmodo was an awesome sounding board amongst members of my JIT cohort. Time and time again I was blown away by the generosity and willingness to share resources. Together we worked smarter, not harder.
SPED Professional Development was quite informative. I appreciate the SPED Team's willingness to share resources and best practices for improving communication wtih students and their parents. The ThingLink Communication Resource from Kelly Walker has saved me again and again.
Moving forward, I plan to be more intentional with my Professional Development with GAVS next year. Since I won't be participating in JIT, I hope to use that previously allotted time to participate in more awesome PD opportunities.
Still, the irony is that I struggled to find time for Professional Development with GAVS this year. I was thrilled to knock out the eTool requirements in time to teach Spring courses, and I completed the New Teacher Orientation Training Course. However, once the semester got rolling and my face-to-face job responsibilities picked up as well, it was a challenge to keep up with PD.
Just In Time was an incredibly well-planned program for new teachers, and I am thankful for all of the information that I gained. Participating in JIT was quite stressful for me, though, because I had previously arranged responsibilities with my church during the scheduled JIT meetings. This scheduling conflict required me to watch the JIT recordings on my own time and write a reflection over each.
Edmodo was an awesome sounding board amongst members of my JIT cohort. Time and time again I was blown away by the generosity and willingness to share resources. Together we worked smarter, not harder.
SPED Professional Development was quite informative. I appreciate the SPED Team's willingness to share resources and best practices for improving communication wtih students and their parents. The ThingLink Communication Resource from Kelly Walker has saved me again and again.
Moving forward, I plan to be more intentional with my Professional Development with GAVS next year. Since I won't be participating in JIT, I hope to use that previously allotted time to participate in more awesome PD opportunities.