Effective+Professional+Development

The best professional development occurs when teachers/professionals are taught new strategies/tools that can be implemented in the classroom. They are taught why a toold is important AND are given examples/suggestions for implementing this into their classrooms and specific subject areas. One of the best experiences I've had is when I attended a Literature Circles workshop. This workshop not only taught about the importance of using these kind of groups within a class, but also modeled to us how to implement this into the classroom. Through modeling, the instructor had us meet in literature cirlces comprised of the teachers at the workshop. We learned what the students should be doing in a literature circle, how to assign jobs, how to guide the students, and how to encourage the students to hold themselves accountable for their own work and learning.