Thursday 25 June 2015

Professional Development For Teachers Who Care

By Francis Riggs


Instructors need to keep up with trends in education. Therefore most school districts offer professional development for teachers so they can stay abreast of the changes and additions to the curriculum and to instructional methods. This gives instructors the opportunity to grow and learn in their specific fields.

Most of these courses are held after school on a weekday but some are hosted on Saturday mornings. The more important ones such as the core courses of English, math, social studies and science may be held on one or even more actual school days during regular class time hours.

During the course of these classes, instructors are required to work on hand-on activities, group instruction, and class lectures. This is so important as the manner in which these seminars are held is the same way in which instructors teach their students. Those who participate learn both the content and innovative methods of presenting materials to students.

For example, a science teacher could attend sessions in physics, natural science and biology. She could possibly be taught the content in exactly the same way she would be expected to teach her students. The routines, supporting materials and presentations would all be same as for your students. It is fun and exciting to be immersed in the very same activities as the kids in your class as it helps develop empathy and gives a new perspective to the subject.

Many times these courses are held so instructors can learn how to use new software or technology. It may be new ways of taking attendance or recording grades, innovative resources for subjects, educational websites that the class can utilize, aligning lesson plans with testing, evaluation or assessment tools, or how to operate new equipment. These are all examples of topics and training that instructors can learn and take back to their respective schools.

Some may focus on family involvement. Keeping parents immersed in their child's path to success can be difficult and keeping them informed, asking for their input, and inviting them to participate in school activities can be difficult. Keeping lines of communication open is the key to a successful parent/teacher relationship. A seminar on this subject can be especially helpful to teachers who work in low income areas or who are first-year instructors.

Other conferences may deal with improving the learning environment or handling behavior issues. These would be especially helpful to an individual who is new to the field or is taking on a difficult classroom. Discipline, consequences, creating a calm teaching environment, arranging a classroom for effective instruction, and collaboration with more experienced instructors are all examples of the content of such workshops.

Education of instructors is vital to the growth and learning of all children. Also individual educators will have much more confidence in their skills and be more aware of the effect they have on their students. The end result will be a higher standard of learning with instructors who have the proper tools to bring this about in their classrooms every year.




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