PD

Reflections


Aspect of
Reflections
PD
Timing
10 mins late but. 1hr 10 mins. The group were told 30
mins by Tim so I ensured that we could have a group of
people who needed to leave early if required. No one took
this offer up. So at 2.30 we had 3 groups top 3 ideas on the
whiteboard. I told them that the PD session was officially
finished but if they wished to discuss the follow up actions
for these ideas then we could. Everyone agreed.

This indicated that they were now not thinking of an hour
out of their afternoon but was actually getting something
out of the session and felt staying the extra 10 minutes
was worth it.
Goal
Was to start a conversation about Blended Learning at
Kaplan. The end result was 6 areas that could be
developed in order to use Blended Learning more
effectively. Two of these was to have 2 different staff
members give a quick lesson on K+Tools and K+Extra
respectively (as there are many new teachers).

5 minutes after the session, after having cleaned up the
room, I headed back upstairs to say my goodbyes and
there were 5 new teachers around the Study Centre
Coordinators computer, all having an impromptu K+Tools
lesson. It was amazing to see that my PD had an immediate
motivational effect and that a concrete training session
stemmed from it. This exceeded my expectations, even
though it was what I wanted to have happened.
Nominal
I facilitated this well but this is exactly what I do as a
Group
teacher, so I should have done it well!
Technique
One teacher had done this technique at another PD session
but hadnt known what it was called.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and did it mostly as was
instructed. I had made it clear that it was sequential and
could not have any parts skipped, so this worked well. Had
they been ESL students though, I would have modelled
this more heavily to ensure all steps were followed.

I had to remind one group twice to not make any
comments during the first phase of each person sticking
their post it on the wall and explaining it. Even though I
had read out this slide once to the whole group, and
reiterated it in summary form at the time, I noticed that
they were trying to discuss each item, forcing the speaker
to defend or clarify their ideas. So I reminded them of the
steps and of the reason behind letting each person speak
uninterruptedly they then either understood, or chose to
follow the already understood steps!

This same group had one member who only could think of

Link to Literature

Complex
Systems/
Systemic
Thinking
and the
Boys!

Resources

2 ideas, not 3 and I instinctively said that this was Ok, to

not force an idea that he didnt believe in. However, I
wasnt really sure at that time if that was the right thing to
do. I will research the technique again to see if there is any
thought on this. In my opinion, putting pressure on
someone to come up with an idea seems silly, as the
quality of the forced idea would then probably be low.
However, if we follow the assumption that all
brainstorming ideas can in some way lead to thought-
leaping, then a bad idea could still be useful.
When I realised that I had booked the PD session for a day
that fell in the school holidays, I was annoyed with myself.
Then when I realised that I had promised to take care of
my sons friend that day too in reciprocation for my son
being cared for , I was doubly annoyed with myself.
However, when considering alternative arrangements for
the boys, instead of taking them with me for an hour PD
session at work, I thought twice about it. Looking at my
situation through the lens of Complex Systems theory, I
realised that I was a complex individual, with roles as
student, teacher and parent all colliding into one space
and time. I then remembered my personal leadership
philosophy of flexible working and the understanding of
leaders in the workplace that employees have complex
lives and that they, at times, need to coexist. So I prepared
my workmates for having two 7yr olds in the training
room, used them as an example as how complex
everyones situation is and sat the boys at the back with
activities to do. Having taught both boys all year for Friday
morning Ethics Lessons at school, the novelty of mum as
teacher has worn off and they were quiet and content for
over an hour. I am pleased to have shown my colleagues
that having family distractions does not necessarily mean
you cant still be professional and do your job well. We can
all create workplace cultures where it is the norm to have
peoples private lives blend with their professional lives at
times and not see it as unprofessional or an intrusion into
workplace efficiency.
1. the PP worked well with the Electronic
Whiteboard, computer, lighting arrangements as I
knew it would as this used to be my regular
classroom.
2. A spelling error was detected by one colleague that
made me laugh. I had written on the PP how can
we make Blended Learning more affective yet on
the whiteboard I had written it correctly as
effective. My colleague laughed that he was trying
to figure out how we could inject more feeling into
Blended Learning!!! How could I have made that
mistake in a room full of ESL teachers??
3. The formative and summative questionnaire
worked really well in that it showed a clear
increase in knowledge of and positive attitude
toward Blended Learning from start to finish.
However, someone made a joke that I should have
just completed them myself to ensure the most

6.

Feedback
from
colleagues.

positive outcome for my assignment, thus putting

the idea in others heads that they could falsify their
answers for my benefit. However, when looking at
all 12 questionnaires, there is certainly evidence of
difference between respondents, which proves that
there was individual thought put into answering
the questions, rather than a mere ticking of boxes
routine.
4. The groupwork around the Blended Learning
Terminology was a great way to start the lesson. I
was concerned that I hadnt left enough time to do
this activity well enough, as the groups were very
involved in helping each other with terms they
didnt know. But at the 5 minute mark, the
conversation began to quieten and so it organically
ended to begin the next step on time.
5. A last minute addition to the PD resources occurred
last night. I realised that on top of having the
instructions up on the board, I should print out a
booklet for each person that contained only the 4
slides that gave instructions for the Nominal Group
Technique. This ensured each group could read
their own steps without having to orientate their
bodies to the board the groups were then more
autonomous and didnt require me to click the next
slide for them to move on. I also had made two
extras to leave in the staff room for anyone who
had missed the PD.
The mood altered considerably from 1.30 to 1.40. Of the

12 participants 6 were my old colleagues (some of them
close friends) and 6 were new teachers whom I did not
know. One woman had only started working the day
before! So the mood in the beginning was quiet and
attentive. As soon as the group terminology activity began,
the room began to liven up but it still felt a bit polite, like
they were just doing what Vanessa said because I was
their colleague. When the NGT activity began, the groups
started working with self-prescribed agency and the
quality of the discussion and effort put into it was deeper
and more enthusiastic. When we went 10 minutes
overtime, it was clear that there was no problem with this
at all that they were still enjoying what they felt was a
useful activity for their own skill development.