Live, Real-Time Professional Development

Over the last number of weeks I have rekindled my love for live, real-time professional development. Use of Twitter chats and webinars is something I once spent my free time with. Over time, though, I fell away from that practice. Now I am back on that train.

The first webinar I attended was conducted by Angela Watson and was dedicated to teacher self-care. She advised us to understand why it is important to take care of yourself and offered advice on how we can develop positive habits with practice. Next I spent time talking about Chromebook 101s with Jerry Swiatek. Working in IT I was already familiar with many of the items we discussed, but I was happy to hear about developments with GoogleCast. I think I was supportive in that I was able to answer questions to new users in the backchannel. Kim Munoz provided my next webinar that focused on Chrome web apps. There I heard about new Web 2.0 tools that can aid a variety of subjects in instruction. Highlights included the Biodynamic Human and Little Alchemy. Last, but not least, was Monica Burns' webinar on formative assessment tools for the Chromebook. We discussed a variety of tools that will be useful for teachers in my district. Tools that deserve more exploration as a result of this webinar include: Padlet, Kahoot, Nearpod, Seesaw, Today's Meet, and Adobe Spark.

The first Twitter chat I participated in was #CaEdChat. It was a small group as many are checked-out for summer. The topic was about how to get girls interested in STEM fields. As a father of two girls, I was happy to participate. I made a number of new connections and would be excited to connect further. There are so many good things happening in California, I relish the opportunity to learn more. I followed that chat with #FormativeChat. We touched on the value of formative assessment and moved into the strengthening student understanding by allowing students to teach. In #EdTechChat we had a lively conversation about tools that could be used for collaboration. Lots of new connections and good ideas in that chat. Finally, in #ResilienceChat we discussed the possibility of developing international connections to deepen student perspective.

As a result of participating in this professional development I have become reinvigorated to use the tools to my own and my team's benefit at work. Co-workers have already participated in some of the same webinars I did. I once again extol the benefits of Twitter chats and am making new connections in a state that is still new to me.