Professional Development -- Emphasis on "Professional"

The past two days I was at the Raising Student Achievement Conference in St. Charles, IL, with many other teachers from CSD 17. There were some really great breakout sessions -- standouts for me included one on implementing Genius Hour and another one of implementing standards-based grading. One session I attended was about Future Ready Schools, and the speaker said something that really stood out to me that I felt was "Tweetable" -- check it out:

Interesting:some things, like ed camps,Twitter, don't get Ts PD credit,but they do it anyway bc they like taking charge of their own growth.

— Renee Bogacz (@mrsbogacz) December 6, 2016

Here I was, sitting in a breakout session, and earning professional development hours for it, which for many teachers, is a motivating factor for attending a conference or workshop, but for many other teachers, it's just an added bonus. I talked with Channahon teachers at this conference who needed the professional development hours (like I did), but there were some who didn't need them but came anyway.

And many of my colleagues are also like me in that they spend time on Twitter not just helping to share the great things happening in our schools but also reading what experts in all fields of education share on Twitter. I know some teachers in the district who recently attended an ed camp. Many are part of professional organizations and read publications in their field. How many professorial development hours are teachers getting for these activities? None. But they do them anyway. Why? Because as professionals, teachers see the importance in and enjoy taking charge of their own growth and learning.

So my post today is mostly to salute the professionals I work with! Keep learning and growing, truly living this year's theme of developing a growth mindset! I have had many teachers thank me for the things they have learned from me, but I don't often get to thank all of you for what I learn from your leadership. I appreciate that you are so serious about your work, and I really appreciate how so many of you step up and lead all of us, whether it's by sharing a Tweet about something you read, starting a discussion at the lunch table, or sharing what you know and do at an institute day.

And one more real quick "thank you" to all the teachers who are taking the time out of their schedules this week to give your students the opportunity to participate in Hour of Code. It feels really amazing to know our students are part of a global group of learners all getting to try something new and challenging!