How Did It Go?

Friday turned out to be a "snow day" for my district.  I was anxious to see what impact that might have on the number of teachers who have completed the course for credit.  I did have two colleagues send it out to their campuses as well, so we had 4 campuses to try to get a few teachers to participate.

As of this writing, four teachers have watched the video and completed the reflection form.  None of them from my campus.  :(   But the feedback given by these teachers and the experience of putting it all together is helping in the  next venture - PD in your PJs.

I spent the snow day (there was no snow or ice - it was just cold) going through other districts virtual PD offerings and watching webinars offered to teachers on different websites.  I have taken those ideas, the feedback from the teachers and my own thinking and started to create a roadmap to our latest attempt to be responsive to teacher's needs.   So far I am calling it PD in your PJs.   Tomorrow the others ITSs that have shown interest in this topic and meeting via Google Hangouts to make some decisions about times, topics and format.   The initial launch date is set for February 25th.

A New Venture - First Attempt At OnDemand PD

We have been having some weird weather in Central Texas lately and it seems that we have had quite a few late start says lately.  This past Thursday, after another late start day, I decided why not offer one of these Lunch and Learn sessions to my teachers as a way to earn PD credit during one of these late start days.   (I am also trying to get the principal to approve this kind of credit as a way to make up a professional development day moved to the end of the year due to a bad weather day.  But that is another story.)  

With much head banging and  help from friends, we finally got the webinar ready to be shared.   I used the YouTube video editor and added slides to the beginning and end of the video.  The end one contains a URL that takes the teachers to a Google Form they will fill out to get credit.  The form is a reflection form for the teachers and a feedback form for us.   (I was inspired by Amy Meyer's 6 Steps to Make Staff Development Sticky.)   Autocrat was added to the form so that a certificate of PD credit is emailed to the teachers once they have completed the form.   The feat of just putting this together was exhilarating and I was so excited to send this out to my teachers and the friends who helped me figure out the autocrat part.

So maybe it IS me afterall!

So maybe it IS me.   Over the years I have stopped giving afterschool PD sessions because it was harder to get anyone to come. I agreed with their excuses about tutorials, meetings, papers to grade. I am not bad at giving or planning professional development.  In fact my reviews and feedback are complimentary.   Honestly, if teachers HAVE to attend PD sessions they will come to mine, I will have a packed room for each session.  But if they did not have to attend,then only a few will come.  Is that the reality of today’s teachers?  They do not have time?  It is to an extent, but maybe it is time for me to step up my game the same way teachers are being asked to step up their game in the classroom.

In Teach like a Pirate, Dave Burgess asks the question if kids did not have to come to your class would they?  On twitter @McLane_Ryan  shared his school’s Teach Like a Pirate Day experiment  that challenged teachers to develop lessons and then gave choices to kids to decide what lessons they wanted to go to.   Check out the promo video here:  http://goo.gl/iFJQhI

This is my challenge.  It is time  to step it up a notch.  What can I do differently to make them want to come even though they do not have to.   I have been thinking about this over night and have been thinking about what hooks described in the book would be applicable to this situation.  One that has come to mind is costume.  I could offer Google Ninja training and dress like a ninja!  In promoting PD in your Pjs, I could come in my pjs (with principal approval) to get folks excited about it.   But I also need to work in hooks for when they walk in the door to encourage them to stay, to come back and to bring their friends!  I am also looking at how I am offering professional development.  Maybe face-to-face afterschool time is a thing of the past.  If so then I need to explore other ways of providing the training teachers need in ways that make it accessible to them.

Lunch and Learn

I have been pondering virtual PD for a while and began a venture in my district with the other ITSs to start the
process.   We began a few months ago offering a series we call "Lunch and Learns" run through Google Hangouts on Air.  Twice a month a panel of Instructional Technology Specialists discuss a given topic at lunch time.    The audience is other Instructional Technology Specialists in the district.  So far we have had 5 of these and have learned a lot each time.

The next Lunch and Learn is this Thursday and the topic is Google Drive Extensions.   Previous episodes have been archived in the district YouTube account for future reference.    They are full of good info and really need a larger audience.  This past one we invited the librarians to join us and will continue to do so.  I am also hoping that the instructional coaches will join in soon.

Technical issues being the one hardest to overcome.  When Google says try back later there is not a lot of troubleshooting you can do.   As part of the process we are writing a manual on how to conduct these sessions and the responsibilities of each role.  I am hoping this is something that we can hand off to others in out district to help them do something similar for their departments.  We have  more to go this year and I am looking forward to learning more with each one.

Time for a Fresh Start

I have been keeping up and paying for Robinstechtips.com for the past 5 years and honestly I think it is time that I say goodbye to it.  The ideas are good, and the tips were solid over the years, but I can't find the energy or drive to keep it up.   After pondering just moving it over to blogger to host it (which I did at: http://robinstechtips.blogspot.com/)   I think it is time to start fresh.   For several years now I have been wanting to explore alternative ways to provide professional development to teachers and to really work on my own skills in delivering pd.  I think this is my new home.  After I began reading "Think Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess I was so struck by the quote:

Cows, after you've seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though...now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they won't forget a Purple Cow.  ~Seth Gordon "Purple Cow"

I have decided that I want to strive to be the Purple Cow in my world. This blog will mark my journey to discover my inner purple cow and grow in my chosen field of Educational Technology.  I am look forward to the journey!