Burning Nuggets

I have a tradition of posting something following my own professional development moments.  It’s my way of paying it forward.

This time, instead of blogging about those salient details that were most meaningful to me—my burning nuggets, if you will—I have a list of some more over-arching PD points.  A PD to-do list, if you will:

Don't Give Your Power Away

I learned this a long time ago.  Never take up an audience's time with information and activities that you don't believe in yourself.

A presenter this weekend gave us an excerpt from a book to read.  She really loved the author, and believed that he made a clear point in this piece of his writing.  The problem was that it was a 7-point critique of 7 things that were not included in the reading package, leaving me to guess as to how valid I felt his critique was (or could be).  Next, she asked us to read this article using a particular reading strategy that, in her words, "did not work well at all with this particular reading".  Needless to say, I was not instilled with confidence in the reading, the reading strategy or the presenter.  Too bad;  she really knew her content area well.

Table Talk is Good

The one thing that was cemented into my thinking this weekend was the importance of table talk. While I disagreed with some of the speaker's methods of content delivery, I did appreciate her good questions to the group and the time that she allowed for table talk.  My colleagues contributed to my learning immensely.

Choice is Good, Informed Choice is Better

This is my critique of my own work. I am part of the planning committee for this last PD weekend.  We offered all of our colleague three choices for topics of study, and around those choices, we planned the logistics of room and session sizes.  We started off the first day with hour-long mini sessions, giving the group access to all topics and speakers, and ended with a round table discussion where we posed questions to the presenters. 

The issue was that this exposure to content and presenter changed people's minds around what they wanted to learn (also, to be fair, the choices were made months ago).

The problem was that we had built a rigid programme structure that didn't allow for movement, and while it is easy to say that people chose their session, they did so a long time ago with much less information than they had after the first night.  We built a structure that was inflexible and that favoured organizational needs over learner needs, and I hope that the conference feedback is honest enough to point that out.

Social Time is Important

There is an importance to unstructured social time among colleagues that is very real, and unfortunately very minimized.  It never ceases to amaze me when you get a few administrators together, how quickly the social talk turns to work talk.  I am not talking about over-stressed, A-type personality talk, but about supportive "what would you do with this issue", "you should talk to so-and-so" and "how would you tackle this problem" talk.  It is exactly this type of connecting time that builds the networks and friendships that anchor our professional practice during turbulent times.

Be Prepared For Your Class

Be prepared for your class, or at least have them prepared for you.  This one goes out to the first presenter of the day who always has the toughest gig.  While most of us arrived on time, we had to rush out of our schools to do so and we needed some time to breathe.  Some of us couldn't pack the day away quickly and rushed to get to the sessions late.  Others, just needed some time to collect themselves and to get from "problem-solver" mode to "learner" mode.  Now, it's easy to say that we are all professionals and should have been ready to learn, but after driving for 90 minutes and having just enough time to check in and grab a quick lunch, what I needed was some big questions, led by a facilitator, to discuss with my peers.  I did not need, nor appreciate, 60 minutes of seated, intellectual listening and I left disappointed that I was not able to absorb more from a presenter with top-notch ideas and knowledge to share.

As a leader, you need to be able to predict your audience's needs, or at the very least to read their reaction so that you can re-energize the room with a varied approach.  As a teacher, I always knew that there would be days when I had to reign in the class' energy just like there would be days when I had to be the energy for the class.  I guess what it boils down to, ultimately, is that the facilitator (teacher, leader, etc.) is there to lead the learning, and not simply to fill the vessels.

Now, don't take this the wrong way; I did have some excellent professional growth this weekend. I appreciated all of the time that the guest speakers put into preparing and presenting their workshops, I appreciated all of the time that the organizing committee put into planning the event, and I appreciated the enthusiasm that my colleagues tackled their own professional growth with.

Until next time...