Thoughts on Professional Development

https://twitter.com/sjunkins/status/435786318862249984/photo/1

I came across this image as I was surfing for new integration ideas. This has been an ongoing topic of discussion between myself and several of my techie friends. I often hear teachers say that they want (insert device here) in their classroom but in the next breath they ask when the district will offer them the professional development to use it or complain that they haven't gotten enough PD on the device, or worse, they get the devices but don't embed them into students' learning, at least not to the best capabilities of the device. Not long after this you begin to hear how they want the  next latest and greatest gadget. And so the story goes....

I remember getting my first iPod Touch in 2009 and opening the box to read the directions, only, there weren't any directions. I had to turn it on, play with it, experiment, go online to read and then I began to surf YouTube to watch videos- in essence I did my own PD. It took me a couple of days to learn what I needed to be comfortable but the hands-on aspect of that learning was far more beneficial to me than attending a 2-hour workshop. 

This is still how it is. I like to try and stay ahead of the curve so I am constantly venturing out on my own and searching for new integration ideas, technologies, and like-minded individuals. Twitter has been a great resource of ideas and like-minded techies. There are blogs galore dedicated to technology, technology integration and educators at every grade level just looking to embed technology into their teaching and then sharing it. I have learned so much from all of these avenues. PD is not something that should happen twice a year during an inservice but rather should be an ongoing practice. I know not everyone agrees with that statement, but as the other saying goes, 

So... you choose- do you want to wait for someone to offer you your professional development? or do you want to get out there, find it, try it, and share it?