Creating staff surveys is a great way to collect information from those you lead. Honest answers provide specifics that can be used when making decisions that affect them. However, many challenges exist when it comes to the creation of the survey and the collection of the information. Sometimes the surveys come too often or are…

Teacher appreciation is the act of showing thankfulness for the arduous job of an educator. In the month of May, schools celebrate teachers for an entire week known as “Teacher Appreciation Week.” Usually, there are themed days where students shower their teachers with gifts or words of affirmation to show how thankful they are for…

Burnout in the educational field is trending upwards. In a 2022 Gallup poll, 44% of educators teaching Kindergarten through 12th grade, reported feeling burned out “often” or “always.” Knowing this, educators (teachers and/or leaders) can follow these five practices on how to avoid burnout in educatoin and enjoy a fulfilling career. Set Boundaries & Stick…

Beginning professional development with an effective ice breaker activity is a popular opening activity. This helps warm up the audience to the learning experience as well as get to know each other better. An ice breaker tends to be unrelated to topic being presented at the learning session and is a common interest or skill…

School safety has become top priority for schools as of late due to the many tragedies our country has endured recently. This has caused many school districts to review their safety procedures so that all students are protected while learning at school. This post will cover 4 ways to strengthen school safety for all students.…

Providing professional development on lesson design can be quite fruitful for teachers. Lesson design is a deliberate practice where teachers plan on a macro and micro level, meaning they zoom in and out to ensure all lessons are aligned and thorough. The skill of designing lessons can be hard to master, but consistent practice builds…

Teaching adults is different than teaching kids. Even though both are engaging in the process of learning, how they learn (and need to learn) are different. To ensure a successful and enjoyable experience, knowing how to teach each subgroup is important. In education, adults have to continue learning through professional development [PD] to keep their…

Collaborative planning is a strategy whereby teachers sit together to develop cohesive, aligned lesson plans for all subject areas. Schools utilize this process in various ways which impacts the results. When expectations differ among school sites, the effectiveness of the developed lesson plans differ within the same district. Over time, poor collaborative planning habits create…

Right size PD (professional development) refers to shortening the dose of learning for teachers. Often times, they need to spend more time in their classroom prepping for lessons and analyzing data to better support students. As a result, long learning sessions tend to be hard to schedule and ill received. It turns out that micro…

The power of PD (professional development) is tremendous when executed correctly. When schools intentionally plan, prepare and deliver high quality learning experiences for teachers, they increase instructional effectiveness and student learning outcomes. This post will cover building and executing quality professional development while also providing additional tips for success. Building Quality PD Building professional development…