Professional Development Meme

My friend Jen Wagner tagged me, and since I have really been taking a mental break since school ended, I thought my brain might need a wake up call, and this is just the ticket!

So — first, here are the rules:

1. Pick 3 professional development goals and commit to achieving them this summer.
2. For the purposes of this activity the end of summer will be Labor Day (09/01/08).
3. Post the above directions along with your 3 goals on your blog.
4. Title your post Professional Development Meme and link back/trackback to http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/353.
5. Use the following tag/ keyword/ category on your post: pdmeme.
6. Tag 8 others to participate in the meme.
7. Achieve your goals and “develop professionally.”
8. Commit to sharing your results on your blog during early or mid-September.

I have a lot of things rolling around in my head this summer, which is not unusual for me.  I tend to bite off more than I can chew, and then never really get where I want to be by the end of the summer, so I am hoping this meme will also help me prioritize my ideas, decide what is reasonable, and accomplish those high priority items.  As you can see, I have managed to narrow it down to 5 things, so if you have any thoughts about priority…bring it! 

1. I want to totally re-invent my website because although it is very functional for my students, it is not “teacher friendly” as far as sharing resources is concerned.  I always struggle with making this a priority because I don’t think it will have any direct impact on my classroom.  I also tend to spend endless hours dinking around with graphics, the ultimate time sucking activity for me.  If you have a minute, go and look critically at my site, and let me know how it could be a better resource for you in terms of finding what you might be able to use.  Don’t pull any punches, I really want to know what other teachers think.

2. I want to take a critical look at how I use technology with my students.  I need to find a balance between “student centering” and “teacher planned. ”  I am torn between my own need to be ready for next year, and my evolution in thinking that I should be more reactive to my students, and how they react to the introduction of a topic.  I sometimes get these huge pangs of guilt, like I am using “student centered” as a reason to shoot from the hip perhaps more than I should.  I sometimes get this funny picture in my head of me sitting at my desk, with a tiny little Karl, Clay, David, (or whoever happens to have my head spinning today) on one shoulder, and a tiny little Madeline on the other.  I need to resolve this battle in my own mind, and strike some sort of balance between the many voices in my head!  I am not sure exactly how I am going to accomplish this one, so I welcome any suggestions or insight you all might have!  FYI- medication is not an option 🙂

3.  I want to make information literacy a priority next year.  My idea is to make some little commoncraft type videos for younger students, to introduce the basic building blocks of information literacy.  In order to do that, I need to better solidify my own understanding, read, research, play with my video camera, and have a plan for how I will integrate this project into my classroom.

4.  Decide what I want to do when I grow up:  I have 25 graduate hours in several areas, including gifted education, technology, and literacy.  I could have my masters in gifted by the end of next year, but have no desire to be a gifted teacher- I tried that, didn’t suit me.  I could have my masters in technology by the end of next year, but I dread the thought of drudging my way through outdated material and taking the fun out of what I do with technology right now!  BUT, I need to decide, and get on with it…why?..well, because I am getting old…and because my school would pay for it….and because I can’t move any further on the pay scale until I get my masters….and because I would like to do some teaching on the college level, and don’t think I can do that without a masters.  So, by Labor Day, I will decide what I want to do when I grow up!

5.  I want to submit to present at some conferences, on my own.  I have presented on my own before, but this past year I collaborated with some other teachers from my district.  I enjoyed that very much, and it was less stressful for sure to have another person standing up there with me, but I feel like it is time to step out on my own again and challenge myself. This goal will require me to give some serious thought to my topics, and get my submissions in before deadline.

OK- help me narrow it down to 3 folks!  🙂

Now to tag 8: (I don’t think any of you have been tagged already)
1.  DeAnna Sheets
2.  Kim Good
3.  Cindy Matzat
4.  James Larimore
5.  Marianne Malmstrom
6.  Julie Fessenden
7.  Rob Jacklin
8.  Christian Long