In the Beginning

I decided that if I was going to share my experience of implementing technology into the professional development plan in my district, I should start from the beginning. It began when I was a Teacher Center director and was asked to participate in the Powerful Learning Practices cohort http://plpnetwork.com/ over a year ago. I was incredibly reluctant, I even tried to get out of it. Thank goodness that did not happen. My first time with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Wil Richardson left my head in a whirlwind, spinning with Web 2.0 tools and the potential applications and implications on professional development. I crawled my way through the process of getting to know how and what to use. Okay- I admit, I was nudged sometimes pushed by some great colleagues who already saw the light. From using words like blogging and twitter, I thought they were referring to something we should not be talking about at work. Boy- was I wrong!

Over the past year I have since changed jobs and I am now the Director of Staff Development at the West Seneca Central School District in Western New York. Coming into a district that spans 25 miles, I noticed right away that there was a disconnect district wide. I knew that working with 7 elementary buildings, 2 middle schools and 2 high schools was going to be a challenge to put together a program that was ongoing and not referred to as "staff development days."

I work with the closely with the Teacher Center to help create options for teachers, but most are after school. It would seem to me that a teachers growth and development would happen during the day when they are with their "clients" the students. The coaching method keeps crossing my mind, but I know that we are still developing the trust in each other to help guide us down the path toward teacher and student learning. Ultimately, I know that our program needs to be a mesh of collaborations. Working together live and creating networks through the use of technology seems to be a balance to me.

My desire to learn the tech. tools to help me grow has been fired up by all that I am learning every single day. I am just getting started- I still don't have all the pieces in place to build my PLN. But I am working on it so that I can provide support to others as our district moves forward to shift to the mindset of 21st Century Learning.