“Another teacher in service? Didn’t we just have one of those last month?”
“These in-service teacher training days feel like such a waste of time! I have SO much I need to get done in my classroom!”
No matter how hard a school district tries to find teacher in-service training opportunities that are relevant and helpful to teachers, their efforts often fall flat, leaving teachers feeling burdened and inconvenienced. This is because most events are not exciting; however, our team of facilitators at Group Dynamix can help you turn this around.
Group Dynamix offers teachers and school districts the best team bonding opportunity during teacher-in-service training in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Our Event Facilitators lead various team building exercises that help teachers understand the importance of teamwork, time management, and creativity.
The objectives of in-service teacher education typically fall into one or more of the following categories: elemental objectives, which provide teachers with specific information about the subject areas they teach; relational objectives, which guide teachers in determining clear relationships between their students’ needs and abilities and the content they teach; and creative objectives, which encourage teachers to create a product for use in the classroom, such as a test or a course outline. These are all important objectives within the world of education; let’s explore five steps we can take to help ensure the teacher in service is beneficial.
1. Giving Teachers a Say in the Process
This step happens well before the training; it might happen before the school year begins. Teachers are individuals, just like the students they teach, and they have different needs and concerns that they bring into the school year. An administration can survey teachers about their current professional development needs – and even if all needs can’t be met within a single school year, making teachers feel “heard” goes a long way toward providing a positive learning environment.
2. Communicating Objectives of In-service Teacher Education Clearly
This step in creating a positive environment for an in-service teacher training experience also happens before the training begins. Teachers, like their students, function better when they know exactly what will happen in a teacher-in-service training experience and what outcome they will be expected to produce at the end of the training.
3. Meet Teachers Where They Are
A presenter of teacher in-service needs to understand that teachers come with different ability levels, understanding, and attitudes toward training. As much as possible, differentiation of experiences is necessary, just as teachers are expected to provide differentiation for their students in the classroom. At the same time, teachers need to be recognized as adults who are capable and willing to make many of their own decisions regarding their professional capacities.
4. Give Teachers Practical Tools They Can Use Right Away In Their Classrooms
Time is of the essence for busy teachers; they will see value in the time they’ve spent away from the classrooms if they have something practical they can implement right away with their students.
5. Give Teachers a Chance to Evaluate their Teacher In-service Experience
Allow your teachers to evaluate their experience at the in-service training as well as their professional development experiences. As mentioned previously, this method acknowledges the importance of a teacher’s voice in the professional development process.
At Group Dynamix, we understand the challenges facing Teachers, Administrators, and school support staff. We have events to break the ice and grow relationships as well as programs to help teachers work more collaboratively to boost student performance. We excel at fun, purposeful activities that help you make the grade.
Leave a Reply