TL;DR:
- Presenting at an education conference or district professional development day can be scary.
- You are the only one who can tell your story.
- You can design professional learning that informs, inspires, and invites change.
I still remember the first time I led a teacher professional development session.
My district had done a call for presenters for a teacher institute (in-service) day and they encouraged anyone, even early career teachers, to submit an idea. I had been teaching full-time for just a few years and had just started implementing a guided math approach in my classroom, based on Dr. Nicki Newton’s Guided Math in Action. I was excited to share my successes, my challenges, and my plans for adjustments with my colleagues across the district.
That first-ever PD session had just eight people in the room, including a colleague from my building who was interested in learning more about what I had been doing down the hall. But what I remember most from the experience were the four teachers sitting in the back of the room, phones out, texting and giggling the entire time.
I felt embarrassed, insulted, and discouraged.
I remember wondering why they had even bothered attending my session if they weren’t going to engage in the topic or, at the very least, pretend to engage.
It made me wonder if it was my fault: Was I just wasting my time and my colleagues’ time? Who was I to think I had something worth sharing when I had only been in the classroom for a few years? Was I really ready to lead PD sessions?
I spent so much time focused on those four teachers in the back of the room that I missed what the other four were doing: leaning in, taking notes, asking questions–fully engaged in the topic!
My coworker thanked me afterwards and followed up the next day at work, wanting to brainstorm on how she could implement the ideas in her classroom. This helped me reframe my thoughts about the PD session and helped me realize that I did have a story to tell!
Later that year, I was invited to submit a proposal to present at a statewide conference for early career teachers. I repeated my session on guided math and also led a session on using social media to expand your professional learning network (PLN).
The sessions were well-received and from there I was hooked! I began seeking opportunities to lead PD sessions at other conferences and built up a catalogue of PD sessions related to instruction, leadership, technology, and equity. Most of these sessions were within my own district or in our region, but I also presented at statewide conferences as well as conferences with national and even international attendees, such as Teach Better 19 and Teach Better 22!
A common question I hear from other teachers when it comes to professional development is the question I found myself asking after that very first session:
How do you know I know if I am ready to lead a PD session?
I could probably come up with a rubric or list of questions to ask yourself and then tell you that once you can answer a specific number in the affirmative, then you know you’re ready. I am sure that ChatGPT or some other AI tool will gladly tell you the answer. Just for fun, I tried this out. Here is what the AI bot told me:
These all seem like reasonable considerations, but here’s the thing: They don’t actually answer the question. And there is a reason for that:
I don’t think you ever know you are ready.
I can hear your responses already: “Well, gee, Alex, thanks for nothing! This blog post promised to tell me how I’d know I’m ready and now we are 600 words in and you’ve told me that I can’t know!”
When it comes to leading a professional learning session or doing a keynote, it isn’t a matter of knowing whether or not you are ready. It is a matter of knowing you have something to offer that no one else can for the simple fact that, of all the billions of people who have ever lived, you are the only you to ever be you.
And for that reason alone, you may not be ready to lead a PD session, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t! (If I had my way, every teacher in my district would lead at least one PD session every year, not because they are the best, the smartest, the most talented, or the most experienced, but because we all ought to have the chance to learn from each other.
So knowing that you’ll never know if you are ready to lead a PD session or not, it is time to just cannonball in!
That doesn’t mean going in unprepared, though. In my many years of facilitating professional learning sessions and coordinating others’ sessions, I have developed a model of high-quality professional learning to plan, deliver, and reflect on workshops, keynotes, and other professional learning opportunities. In this model, high-quality professional learning is the intersection of three components: information, inspiration, and invitation.
Information: What will your audience members know and understand as a result of this professional learning experience?
Inspiration: Why should your audience members care about this topic?
Invitation: What should the adult learners be expected to do during and after this workshop?
Let’s think about what happens when you don’t have all three components.
If all you have is information, it should have been sent as an email. If all you have is inspiration, you might make people feel good for a moment, but the feeling will fade. If all you do is extend an invitation, there will be frustration at not knowing how to do it.
Doing any combination of the two will likely result in similar outcomes of confusion, frustration or, at best, a few moments of feeling good before the audience members go back to what they were doing. As my friend and mentor Javier Sanchez once put it, the goal should be to create a movement, not a moment!
Still not convinced you are ready to lead a PD session? Reach out to me and let’s talk! I’m happy to provide feedback and encouragement!
About Alex T. Valencic
Alex Valencic is an educator, former small business owner, Boy Scout, volunteer drug prevention specialist, unrepentant bibliophile, and a geek of all things. He worked as a substitute teacher for three years before achieving his lifelong dream of teaching fourth grade, which he did for seven years in Urbana, Illinois, before accepting his current position as the Curriculum Coordinator for 21st Century Teaching and Learning in Freeport, Illinois, where he not only supports innovative educational practices in the classroom but also oversees social studies, science, and nearly all of the elective courses in the district.
