We just held the Best. In-service. Ever.\u00a0 And all it took was a little love & empathy.<\/h2>\n

Some in-service professional development days are better than others.\u00a0 Sometimes, we get to be active learners and receive just-in-time instruction (and maybe even the gift of time to apply that learning for the benefit of our students).<\/p>\n

Other times, we find ourselves really far down that Facebook feed as a well-intentioned presenter discusses\u00a0best practices with us while simultaneously\u00a0killing us by PowerPoint.\u00a0 (That can’t be best practice, right?)<\/p>\n

And sometimes, it’s the Best. In-service. Ever.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The best in-service doesn’t happen by accident.\u00a0 It happens with careful consideration of the needs of the humans whose professional skills we are developing.<\/p>\n

So we did that.<\/p>\n

I am fortunate to be part of a stellar team of Innovation Coaches in the Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union (GRCSU).\u00a0 The coaching team has taken on the role of planning in-service for the 8 schools in the supervisory union.<\/p>\n

How we did it<\/h2>\n

This fall, we planned what turned out to be a sublime day of learning & growth for our teachers.<\/p>\n

And they loved it.\u00a0 I mean really loved it.<\/p>\n

Do you want to know why?\u00a0 Because we asked them what they wanted and then we gave it to them.\u00a0 It wasn’t rocket science! (But there was a 3D printer.)<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/algregoritsch\/status\/1053279374110310401<\/a><\/p>\n

We made it relevant<\/h2>\n

We’ve all sat through that PD session that was completely irrelevant to our practice. Perhaps it covered things we’re already doing, or maybe it was completely impractical to implement.\u00a0 To avoid this #PDfail, we began the planning process by surveying staff to ask what their needs were. Questions like:<\/p>\n

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• What outside expertise would be most helpful?<\/li>\n
• Who do you most want to collaborate with?<\/li>\n
• What topics or themes would you like to see addressed?<\/li>\n
• Is there a workshop you would like to offer?<\/li>\n
• What do you hope to get out of the day?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  They also asked staff to rank the importance of the following in-service activities:<\/p>\n

  \n
  • sharing & celebration<\/span><\/li>\n
  • c<\/span>ollaborative work time<\/span><\/li>\n
  • e<\/span>xpert input\/workshops <\/span><\/li>\n
  • i<\/span>ndividual work time<\/li>\n
  • cross-school sharing<\/span><\/li>\n
  • tech help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Kind of Captain Obvious, right? Who better to identify the learning needs than the learners!<\/p>\n

    Then, we used that data to design a self-directed day of professional learning<\/a>. We created workshops and fireside chats (or invited in-house or outside experts to come to facilitate).\u00a0 We also arranged a pop-up for\u00a0Makerspace, and set up an “Innovation Hub” where teachers could come for tech help or to find a thinking partner. And there were cookies, but I’ll get to that later.<\/p>\n

    It was all about community & collaboration<\/h2>\n

    One of the best parts about in-service\u00a0is usually the coffee hour and socializing.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because we rarely get to spend time with the other adults we do this work with.\u00a0 Many a brilliant collaboration has emerged from that chance encounter by the muffin platter.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Got so much work done at the #GRCSU<\/a> inservice today. What a great opportunity to collaborate with @happiest2ndgra1<\/a> on our "Research Buddy" project! Just wish the people next door were a little less raucous @ProctorSchool<\/a>… #VTed<\/a><\/p>\n

    — Ben Curtis (@Curtis_PHS) October 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n