I have been working closely with districts in and around Baltimore, MD and today was a great beginning of what I think will develop into a Chesapeake Consortium of Promethean School Districts. The counties there have really great vision leaders and a drive to get the most out of their investment. Today five districts and some representatives from the University of Maryland got together and just shared victories and defeats that they experienced with their Promethean rollouts. It was positive energy in the room because even in defeat the group was excited to learn and find ways to succeed. The experiences in the room were diverse as the counties were all at different levels of their respective rollouts. Some have been at it for years while others are just now dipping their toes into the IWB space. I hope to develop more resources out of this group as well because I am sure that it could help other districts.

The key thing that I took away from the session was that unfortunately there is no perfect PD plan. What I did discover and feel that all Tech Directors and Integrators might consider is a approach to teaching teachers the way we teach students.  Specifically… That term we all know and love… Differentiation.

As educators we always talk about the need for us to differentiate our instruction for the classroom. How some students respond to lecture is different than the ones that respond to hands on. I find that teachers are very similar. Some can take an online course, a manual, and vague directions and just run with it. Other teachers are more apprehensive. It is contrary to their learning style to just sit and read/watch course work.  They respond better to an individual directing them and going step-by-step. And some others, God bless’em, want you to prove that their way is wrong since they have been doing the same thing for 25 years. What these different backgrounds teach us is that we have to also consider the options for differentiated Professional Development. Not just having a handout and going cover to cover but allowing some to explore. Not getting frustrated that some aren’t shooting ahead and holding back the class but letting the stars run and jump starting the stars to be. For those very steadfast old school types being understanding and meeting their needs while showing the advantages of the new.