Collegial and Immersion PD

April 11, 2014

Gail, Lori, Allison, and I recently had the opportunity to attend the ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) national conference. With no obligation to present, we were free to attend as learners, choosing sessions that reflected our personal interests and passions. We heard from principals, researchers, authors, and other teachers, who reaffirmed our current practice, broadened our understanding, and pushed our thinking.

As I was soaking up a massive amount of new learning, I couldn't help but think about how the experience related to myself as a learner, to myself as a teacher, and to our students.

• Professional Development: One of the advantages of attending a conference together is what we like to call "Collegial and Immersion PD." The chance to attend workshops all day is one part of it, but a large part of Collegial and Immersion PD is what happens outside the workshops. Every breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening, and walk to and from sessions is filled with conversations. It's a gift of time that we fill with deep-level conversations about our new learning, what we are still pondering, and what pushed our thinking or bumped up against our beliefs.
• Renewed Energy: As people in the business of education, we can become so focused on the learning of others that we forget to foster our own. Feeding our brains brought a huge amount of energy to our small group, as was evident by the animated discussions, the poring over and sharing of notes, and the sheer excitement of gaining new knowledge.
• Engaging Choice: It made me realize, yet again, the power of choice. We were able to choose our own sessions based on where we were as learners, what we were interested in, and how it would help us in our current positions. Some sessions found more than one of us in attendance, but as often as not, we would go our separate ways, coming back together to share our learning. I couldn't help but think about our students, who when given choice, like us, are more engaged and motivated.

So how does this relate to you, educators all over the world, in your job? Whether you're attending a workshop or conference, watching a professional video, or reading an article or chapter in a book, find a colleague or colleagues to share your learning, ponderings, and questions with. By sharing before and after school, during lunch, in the hallway, or on Twitter and Facebook, you can build your own Collegial and Immersion PD. When we take responsibility for our own learning, and share with and listen to others, we gain renewed energy for our work and learn more about our students in the process.