10 Tips for “Flipping” Teacher Professional Development
Looking to jazz up professional development at your school?
Who wouldn’t? Right!
But how, Brandi?
As I discussed in my previous article, you can choose flipped learning for your students.
And…
Learning is the same for grown-ups.
Right!
So…What does this look like with teachers in the “student” role?
In her article, Scott (2014) describes the intention for flipping teacher professional development. She explains:
the goal of this approach to professional learning is to provide teachers the time they need to understand the new content (such as a key strategy) on their own, leaving the face-to-face time to focus on collaboration, discussion, activities, and analysis of the content (p75).
Sounds great! But how?
10 Steps to Flipping Teacher PD
1. Free Up Meeting Time. Principal e-mails staff meeting business on videos or written text. This would include updates on school events unrelated to teacher PD. Teachers are expected to respond to the e-mail via several short questions.
2. Choose a topic for the group PD. This can be a survey given to the staff or based on the school growth plan. In some school districts there might be ongoing initiatives that can provide the focus. Scott (2014) suggests the topic of flipped classrooms as a logical topic for the first flipped PD.
3. Gather materials at a variety of levels. . These might be videos, slideshares, PowerPoints and articles. Look for materials that can support all the learning levels of your staff.
4. Consider materials that can be found online or created by teachers. One place to view examples of flipped classroom is this youtube channel.
5. Match materials with a guiding question. Each of the materials has a guiding question to keep teachers focused.
6. Set expectations before the group learning day. Teachers are asked to review the material posted, choose the formats that best suit their learning needs and learn the content.
7. Check in with teachers, half way to the group learning day. The principal can call a short meeting to get feedback on the learning and possible tech problems.
8. Principal creates mixed ability groups. Create the groups the teachers will be working in. Scott (2014) created the groups to include a “tech-savvy teacher, an innovative teacher, a traditionalist, and so on” (p. 75).
9. Teachers can lead the learning. Teachers can be selected to demonstrate their learning to other teachers. For example, the article mentioned that if the teachers are discussing flipped learning, other teachers can demonstrate web 2.0 tools or apps that can assist teachers with creating their own flipped lessons.
10. Check for understanding. Groups can create an artifact of their learning via a short presentation using a video medium.
So will you choose to flip your Teacher Based PD?
Remember, it’s all about adding value!
Until Next Time,
When I will be “Talkin’ About” something else…
Related Posts
Flip Your Classroom…Jeff Lewis Says Yes!
References
Scott, P. (2014). Flipping the flip. Educational Leadership, 71(8), 73
Checked out my Flipped Classroom Resource Page!
