Professional Development (PD) days are often a day of great joy for students, who get the day off, and most times, a day of dread for teachers. Ministry mandated seminars, slips, trips and falls training and staff meetings take up the majority of the day. This leaves very little time for personal professional development, collaboration within departments or collaboration with other departments. Thanks greatly to some of the experts on this tour there has been a focus on how to use the information we have been gathering with our own students. The idea of using big questions, maps, and having students drive where the class goes. Discussions during seminar time and at various stands have given me perspective on how I'm leading my classes in directions they may not want to be lead. However, some of the best discussions on how to integrate these ideas into classrooms have been at dinner, in the vans as we move from site to site, or outside the bathrooms. This ability to collaborate with teachers from across Canada who feel the same passion for history and student learning has been both eye opening, and confusing.
As with any new idea or pedagogy you have to make it your own. I personally have been muddling through how to better serve the needs of my students while still covering my course objectives. Ensuring students are learning things that will help them both understand the importance of the war, the suffering of civilians but also learn skills to help them throughout their lives. More questions of how to integrate the ideas. Some of the best perspectives have come in the form of 5 younger group members. Connor, Karter, Maryn, Emily and Sydney are all students from Smiths Falls, Ontario who have an interest in history. As we (the teachers) discuss various teaching methods we use, they do not hold back in their opinions on the effectiveness of the method, or a way in which teachers are not serving their needs. Like most, during the summer months I try to scale back my contact with students. And many are thankful on Professional Development days when students are not around. The overlying question that I am left with is, why are we not including students in our professional development? These great discussions, in vans, at dinner, and waiting for the bathrooms often involve one of these 5 students. P.D. is provided for teachers to improve their teaching so that students can learn more effectively. So why don't we have more students involved with professional development? Laura Jackson Teacher, Lambton Central Collegiate & Vocational School Petrolia, Ontario
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AuthorsParticipating educators and high school students share reflections on their professional and personal experiences during and after the program. Some posts link to the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society's blog, Studeamus bellum causa pacis. Archives
August 2015
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