I think the best professional development is teacher centered and teacher led. I take issue with the terminology though. The term “professional development” is often shortened to just PD. That shortened acronym belies the effort and sustained focus it takes educators to truly acquire a new classroom skill. As an educator, I’ve always been more drawn to learning experiences. How could I analyze and reflect on substantive material in a single day? How could I map the pros and cons of any given ideology or system I would enact in the matter of a few hours? How could I possibly determine if I’m capable of transformation in the course of an hour?
My learning cannot be whittled down to a single moment in time if I’m participating in an experience. And my learning is important. I have students that depend on it. Many teachers probably think a moment is all they owe; after all, if it’s all the contract demands, why do more? I disagree with this notion. My job is too important. My kids, their futures, and their lives are too important for me to take my learning or teaching lightly. For these reasons, I pursued acceptance into Classroom Teachers Enacting Positive Solutions (CTEPS) in my second year of teaching.
Having successfully completed the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program (KTIP), and still being one more school year away from beginning my Ed.D. program, I was on the hunt for something new, something more. I knew I would need motivation to actively reflect on my practice and then thoughtfully engage with research to find ideas and solutions for my problems. My CTEPS journey truly began with a simple conversation amongst members of my professional learning network. A random tweet, not intended for me, altered the course of my entire school year. At the behest of more knowledgeable educators than myself, I applied, responding to that tweet despite my trepidations. I worked up to the deadline, trying to perfect my thinking. Ultimately, I was accepted into one of the most important cohorts of my career. It would prove to be the singular form of professional learning that has changed me for the better.
For those that don’t know, CTEPS is a year-long program comprised of teachers from across the great state of Kentucky. We all come into First CTEPS with a problem for which we want to find a solution. At our first meeting, some of us had vague ideas of what that solution may be, others had none at all. We broke down into smaller cohorts, dubbed bird groups. Mine decided the phoenix was the only appropriate moniker considering we wanted to resurrect our buildings and colleagues from the listlessness we were witnessing. All of us had different backgrounds and experiences; we were a menagerie of educators looking for something better, more substantial and real than what we had been given access to in our respective districts.
As was the case with many of my fellow Phoenixes’ projects, my own problem forced me to evaluate the culture of my school and to find a positive solution. For what was one of the first times, I was forced to analyze how my colleagues, my administration, and I interact and work together. The results were enlightening and troubling in equal measure, especially for me as a “new” teacher. Being in only my second year of teaching, my rose-colored glasses have yet to have the tint chipped off of them.
However, my findings didn’t necessarily support my innate beliefs about schools and the school culture therein. The outcome of the entire experience has left me with some important take-aways, not only about the work I have been doing but about myself as a professional. My work required deep reflection at various points throughout the school year. Not all of this reflection brought me to a positive space. Much of it was confusing, and I had to fight to understand and create spaces of comfort for that understanding to occur within. Other times, it was simply exhausting. Without my fellow Phoenixes and our fearless leader, I wouldn’t have survived this process.
Follow along with my learning here.
My learning cannot be whittled down to a single moment in time if I’m participating in an experience. And my learning is important. I have students that depend on it. Many teachers probably think a moment is all they owe; after all, if it’s all the contract demands, why do more? I disagree with this notion. My job is too important. My kids, their futures, and their lives are too important for me to take my learning or teaching lightly. For these reasons, I pursued acceptance into Classroom Teachers Enacting Positive Solutions (CTEPS) in my second year of teaching.
Having successfully completed the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program (KTIP), and still being one more school year away from beginning my Ed.D. program, I was on the hunt for something new, something more. I knew I would need motivation to actively reflect on my practice and then thoughtfully engage with research to find ideas and solutions for my problems. My CTEPS journey truly began with a simple conversation amongst members of my professional learning network. A random tweet, not intended for me, altered the course of my entire school year. At the behest of more knowledgeable educators than myself, I applied, responding to that tweet despite my trepidations. I worked up to the deadline, trying to perfect my thinking. Ultimately, I was accepted into one of the most important cohorts of my career. It would prove to be the singular form of professional learning that has changed me for the better.
For those that don’t know, CTEPS is a year-long program comprised of teachers from across the great state of Kentucky. We all come into First CTEPS with a problem for which we want to find a solution. At our first meeting, some of us had vague ideas of what that solution may be, others had none at all. We broke down into smaller cohorts, dubbed bird groups. Mine decided the phoenix was the only appropriate moniker considering we wanted to resurrect our buildings and colleagues from the listlessness we were witnessing. All of us had different backgrounds and experiences; we were a menagerie of educators looking for something better, more substantial and real than what we had been given access to in our respective districts.
As was the case with many of my fellow Phoenixes’ projects, my own problem forced me to evaluate the culture of my school and to find a positive solution. For what was one of the first times, I was forced to analyze how my colleagues, my administration, and I interact and work together. The results were enlightening and troubling in equal measure, especially for me as a “new” teacher. Being in only my second year of teaching, my rose-colored glasses have yet to have the tint chipped off of them.
However, my findings didn’t necessarily support my innate beliefs about schools and the school culture therein. The outcome of the entire experience has left me with some important take-aways, not only about the work I have been doing but about myself as a professional. My work required deep reflection at various points throughout the school year. Not all of this reflection brought me to a positive space. Much of it was confusing, and I had to fight to understand and create spaces of comfort for that understanding to occur within. Other times, it was simply exhausting. Without my fellow Phoenixes and our fearless leader, I wouldn’t have survived this process.
Follow along with my learning here.
Jazmine is a third-year English teacher with a passion for cultural competency and professional collaboration. She is a member of JCPSVoice and CTEPS and is an avid contributor to the teacher leadership movement of JCPS.