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Professional Learning Reflections

In my district Annual Reflections of Professional Learning are, for many, a chore and can at times feel artificial. Of course the act of engaging in professional learning is not just legislated by our provincial government, but, more importantly, is professionally satisfying, keeps our practice fresh and students engaged.

Because so much of our professional learning occurs in daily dialogue with colleagues in the staff room, or in passing as we observe the activity in others' classrooms. seeing what students are doing in the library, the computer lab and hallways and noting points for our own practice, it can seem artificial to shoehorn those myriad experiences into a cogent summary statement once a year.

The accountability element of professional learning must be at once meaningful, effective, and managable. Blogging about professional practice seems to meet all these requirements. Additionally, it includes an audience beyond one's administrators, bringing with it a greater level of engagement with both content and colleagues, and integrates professional reflection into daily practice.

The educators I follow on Twitter point me to innovations and trends that inspire and excite me, they challenge my notions of teaching and learning opening me to possibilities beyond my current experience. Their blogs detail experiences, challenges and successes. My blog, as a context for my own reflection, may serve the same purpose for my readers.

This form is not for everyone, it takes some tech savvy, and necessarily occupies more time and brain space to meaningfully and regularly articulate one's professional learning in a reasonably polished written form. I am finding it a good way to get my head wrapped around a topic and then toss it out to others for reflection and, hopefully, response.

Posted by milesmac on December 21st, 2011 Posted in Pedagogy Tagged as: ,,,,

2 Comments

  1. Joy Kirr says:
    May 21, 2012 at 7:46 PM

    I agree with so much of what you said. Our blogging leads to our reflection, as well as those who read the posts. Our positive attitude to roll with what we're given and make the most of it needs to be infectious if we intend to make education worthwhile for our students. Thanks for the wonderfully-written engaging post to aid in our reflection of ourselves!

    Reply
    • milesmac says:
      May 22, 2012 at 6:10 AM

      Joy - thanks for the comment. I sure appreciate how online engagement provides windows into other classrooms and insiht into a teacher's practice. All the best!

      Reply

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