Professional Learning
K-12 Roundup of Tools and Resources: Personalized Professional Learning
Stefanie Blouin (she/her/hers)
Former Senior Program Officer
NGLC
in Maine
Topics
Educators are the lead learners in schools. If they are to enable powerful, authentic, deep learning among their students, they need to live that kind of learning and professional culture themselves. When everyone is part of that experiential through-line, that’s when next generation learning thrives.
Practitioner's Guide to Next Gen Learning
Here’s a look into how four NGLC schools—Matchbook, Intrinsic, Alpha Public Schools and Horry County Schools are reimagining professional learning.
As our teachers and schools move toward personalizing student learning, it makes sense to personalize adult learning. Here’s a look into how four NGLC schools—Matchbook, Intrinsic, Alpha Public Schools, and Horry County Schools—are Reimagining Professional Learning.
In this roundup, I include some resources that will help you jump-start your work to build systems of personalization that support ongoing, just-in-time, and self-directed professional development.
Guide: From Pre-Fab to Personalized: How Districts are Retooling Professional Development
With so much emphasis on personalized learning for students, we must not overlook personalized learning for teachers! Developed by EdSurge, this guide is aimed at collecting tools that districts are using to support personalized professional development and sharing stories from over a yearlong exploration of what it takes to get personalized PD started.
The guide includes:
- Field Reports - 8 different reports highlighting approaches to personalized PD across the US. Check out: How Districts Get Personal: Retooling Professional Development.
- Toolbox - 6 blog articles featuring tools schools are using to personalize professional development. Check out: BetterLesson Brings Lean Startup Culture to Professional Development.
- Getting Started - 5 blog articles focused on the foundation of getting personalized professional development started. Check out: Building the Basics of Personalized Professional Learning (Part I).
- PD Management and Delivery Cycle: 25 Tools - A framework to evaluate PD systems.
Podcast: Talks with Teachers
With personalized professional development comes an increase in individual ownership, goal setting and reflective practice. Access this collection of podcasts on various practical topics to get a glimpse into how teachers across the U.S. are thinking about and taking action on relevant topics like assessment 3.0 (with Mark Barnes—image above), technology as a tool to differentiate instruction, and of course, rethinking professional learning.
Blog: Walking the Walk: Professional Development Personalized
Read Oliver Sicat’s blog on BlendMyLearning to learn about the journey he and other leaders at USC Hybrid High took as they moved to a personalized PD system. (Hint: leaders are more in the background.)
Article: All You Can Learn: DC Public Schools’ Personalized PD Buffet
Learn how teachers in 10 pilot myPD sites across the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) system pick a PD combo based on their needs.
Video: Blended Learning Master Teacher Project
The Learning Accelerator (TLA), a nonprofit organization supporting the implementation of high quality blended learning in school districts across the U.S., and its grantee BetterLesson, recently launched this online resource showcasing the practices of top blended learning teachers nationwide with 53 strategy videos. This first batch of videos showcase content from 11 stellar teacher leaders and the strategies focus on building classroom culture that supports personalized and self-paced learning using digital content.
Next Gen Tools: EAA Professional Development
In this 2-page document, you will see the blended, mastery-based professional development course the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) developed for teachers, and you can explore a professional development playlist that guides the professional learning experience in the Buzz platform.
Template: Thrive Public Schools’ Personalized PD plan
Teachers and school leaders can use this sample template to organize and formalize personalized professional learning.
Do you have examples of how professional learning is personalized in your school or organization? Let us know in the comments below.
Top Image Credit: EdSurge (From Pre-Fab to Personalized: How Districts are Retooling Professional Development)
Stefanie Blouin (she/her/hers)
Former Senior Program Officer, NGLC
As the former senior program officer for NGLC, Stefanie Blouin was responsible for developing and implementing internal and external strategies to ensure smooth operations and maximize team effectiveness and contributions to the next gen learning space.
