Last year, for some reason that no-one knows, I ended up doing no professional development. Considering I had been out of teaching for about 10 years, this was insane.
So when they started looking for people to do various things at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year, the main word I used was yes. So I am signed up for Walk by Faith, which is a course for Catholics and completed will get me accredited in Catholic schools, and a deaning course for new deans, a biology cluster (I do think that name is really very silly) and a junior science course and a literacy leadership course. As well as the usual things that happen to me like biology field trips, and school camps, and the things that the school does like the combined Catholic school celebration, liturgies, deaning obligations, it all adds up to me not spending a whole week in front of my classes Far Too Often.
Last week was biology, this week had a day for deaning stuff and another day and a half for literacy and next week has a deaning course day. So I have pulled out of the literacy leadership thing. To do so, I had to tell the deputy principal.
I'm not very good at this kind of thing, where you tell someone that you are not going to do something. "No" is not a word I use enough, and the DP is not very good at hearing it either. So I am very proud of myself to sticking to my guns and not going to the PD today. I had to say I would not go three times before he believed me. Today I wrote my reports, I developed some resources, had a meeting with the principal and finished the marking pile. It was a really useful day.
I am so proud of me!
Posted by Toni at May 17, 2007 08:21 PMppl like you keep people like me (relievers) in work.
PS I've been doing IT relief for the last 4 weeks! All that time in classes I'm not totally familiar with has been awesome PD. I can do Countif and Sumif on Excel now and I can also vaguely use CS Indesign!
Posted by: giffy at May 18, 2007 11:22 AM