I’ve just returned from work, and it was a day filled with Professional Development. I have to be honest, I enjoy PD because I enjoy learning and assessing where I am in my profession.
Following breakfast, something I skipped because I’m fasting, we engaged in an activity like speed dating. We had an opportunity to meet staff members who are not a part of our immediate department. This was a pleasure, for I made a connection with two new colleagues and each connection was geographically oriented.
Second, I attended a session on stress management. It was a change in the types of PD I’ve experienced, but nonetheless it was an affirming moment. Our campus chef discussed the benefits in drinking water flavored with fruits or veggies. She served water with berries, sliced oranges, and lime or lemon. I do not recall which one for I have for two weeks been bringing my own flavored water with lime and water and did not partake in what she served. I bring my own flavored water to work almost every day. Our chef did call to my attention, however, that I need to stop the consumption of the occasional morning coffee. On a more positive note and certainly a stress reducer, I’ve been walking to and from my campus for over a month–rain or shine. It’s only .3 miles one way, but it equals 3 miles a week. I can honestly say stress at this moment stress is not an issue; I know the walking (and singing), fasting, and morning time devoted to inspirational literature have had a very positive impact.
The fourth session I attended was an introduction to Google Classroom; yes, I skipped session three on purpose, I want to end with it. As I’ve taught college classes using Blackboard and completed one of my graduate degrees with it as well, the Google Classroom features are similar. Presently, I’m using the Google Classroom assignment turn in feature, student sharing, and archiving handouts for my dual credit classes. Last semester, creative writing students shared research through the platform. I know there’s so much more I could use, so I plan to take advantage of the District’s Google Classroom certification opportunity mentioned by the facilitator.
Now for session three. This was the session I was most interested in attending. It was a session on creating a positive classroom environment. While I have effective classroom management skills and prepared a classroom management guide for my mentee last year, a handout the supervising AP said he would continue to use, I was hoping to add to my approach. What I presently employ is zone of proximity, chatting with some students in the hallway for a one-on-one discussion when needed, building a genuine relationship with the students–identifying interest and future plans (I’ve taught many seniors in my short stint in public education.)–using a call-recall phrase to gain student attention (The latter has not been as successful on my present campus as it was at my last. So now the attention strategy is “Eyes on me,!” and it works well since I employ several collaborative activities in my curriculum.), instituting procedures for turning in work, signing in upon entry and exiting, starting the class with a bell-ringer, walking every area of the classroom (The latter is surely a must but complementary with the use of progressive monitoring.), and pairing students strategically. On my last campus, I included something called Rupert’s Pick every Tuesday. Again, the nature of my present environment has not prompted the inclusion this class strategy, but I hope to include in the future for it was very powerful. But even with all of these practices and others, there’s that one student that challenges every approach. The latter make sense given the complicated lives many of our students live, something validated during a PD session called Restorative Discipline and Positive Reinforcement. However, to be honest, I’ve only had two challenging student behavior situations. What I learned from the PD session on Positive Classroom Environment is that it simply takes some students longer to come around and for some it may never occur. I did not find anything new in the session, with the exception of the acronym CHAMPS. I’d never heard this word before but the principles are similar to what I learned during my Alternative Certification Program and where I garnered most of my classroom management practices. However, what I did learn was comforting and affirming–it may take a full semester for some students to finally embrace a teacher’s expectations. I’m sure that my classroom management approach has been influenced by over a decade of post-secondary teaching and administrative roles but nonetheless, it works for me, my personality, and most importantly it works for my students.
It was a good day. I love teaching. I enjoy my students. I love developing new ways to engage students in the learning process, and I love identifying the nuances between secondary and post-secondary education–something I’m observing and taking mental note of everyday. However, the irony is that my first career, Wal-Mart management (assistant store manager, store manager, and operations manager) and my 3.5 year stint in Africa as a professor and Leadership Development Institute director have prepared me to successfully navigate secondary educational terrain.
But, that is a blog post for another day!
Avis 