Professional Development

This past Wednesday we had our latest professional development day. We met as a department to discuss amongst other things, what professional development activities have we done this year have been successful. It got me thinking about what professional development has always meant to me and why I struggle with what school districts want it to be. First of all, I don't believe that every discipline taught in school can use the same template of professional development. Trying to do so limits and frustrates the curriculum writers and teachers. Second, professional development involves finding best practices and experts to discover what works best in education. As a music teacher, I find these best practices and experts in the following places: Music conferences such as Minnesota Mid-Winter Music Education Conference, national National Association for Music Education conferences, and the Midwest Band Clinic Taking courses that apply to what I need to know. Some great courses I have taken lately have been in the categories of Music Technology, Bullying, and What Makes Great Teachers Great. Performing and Composing/Arranging Music. I get so energized when I perform with the great groups of musicians I'm privileged to play with here in the Twin Cities or when I write a piece of music that I can't wait to get back with my students and share the experience, what I learned or the simple love of music in our lives. Third, I think professional development is never done. Curriculum writing is constant. It's always changing based on what doesn't work or what is changing in our world. Fourth, professional development is costing our schools too much money. By trying to structure professional development into school workshop days, 2-hour late starts and having multiple coordinators is costing us money that could be used more directly for our students.