Educators Speak

Professional development is often picked because it looks good on paper, but I feel those who choose these sessions do not always think about the application or usefulness for teachers. When doing a professional development session, I feel like there are too many times where we are taught things that we can’t always apply in our classroom, or aren’t realistic. They give us all these tools to use, but all it does is add to our workload. Often times, some of the techniques they show us won’t overlap with what we are already doing, so we just add it to our stack of things to do.

I am so proud I was able to send my children to a wonderful school district. Being that I am not from around here this article really taught me a lot about Clinton and its school district. It taught me how Clinton School District really became successful and continuing to grow. I love how he inspired the schools to be about the community and not the neighborhoods. I love how Dr. Belue wants everyone to be treated the same and fair regardless of their race and learning ability. Everyone is held to the same standards.

Hope -Leake County Schools

I use CL in my classroom on the average of 1-2 times per skill. This may change from skill to skill, depending on many factors. Things happen on a daily basis in the classroom that are out of our control. When students have group assignments, each student is assigned a role within the group. This allows them to be self-directed and use problem solving skills without too much interference from the teacher. Also, each student within the group has the responsibility of his/her own assigned component. Therefore, individual accountability is a big part of the success of the whole group. I have found that most students will try harder to achieve the goals if each one has a required performance within the group. It also makes it easier to assess the group as a whole, as well as, individual accountability.

We were just discussing how professional development opportunities seem to be few and far between during the school year. Also, our district spends money to bring in prof. dev. personnel and then asks everyone to attend when only few need the training. It is often a waste of time. We are fortunate in our district to have full reimbursement for PD during the school year if we have to travel and days missed are excused and compensated for. However, as stated above there is often a shortage of opportunities during the school year and online training is not reimbursed.