4.5a

Coaches plan, provide and evaluate the impact of professional learning for educators and leaders to use technology to advance teaching and learning. Coaches:

A. Design professional learning based on needs assessments and frameworks for working with adults to support their cultural, social-emotional and learning needs.

The Professional Learning Facilitator standard puts a coach into the role of planner and facilitator in a way that I was not used to prior to working in the DEL program. Through the inquiry processes related to these indicators, I was able to reflect on my previous experiences with professional developments, and see how those experiences could have been deepened and expanded upon. Indicator a really leans into the idea that professional learning should be needs based, and be geared specifically for adult learners. There were two specific opportunities that I had that helped to develop my understanding of ISTE 4.5a. 

1. Planning Impactful Professional Development. In this first attempt at wrapping my head around the Professional Learning Facilitator standard, I look back at my history attending PDs. I was able to pinpoint the aspects that were helpful for my development, and generalize what I would have liked to have a little (or a lot) more substance in. Through this process I found a wonderful article by Vicki Davis, 8 Top Tips for Professional Development in which she states, “It’s not enough to teach the right things to your teachers – you have to teach your teachers in the right way.” This article helped to break down the critical aspects of impactful PD. Read more in my post Planning Impactful Professional Development.
   
   
2. Davis’ quote stayed in my mind throughout the rest of my journey researching the Professional Learning Facilitator standard. I began looking at tackling the second piece of indicator a, looking at adult frameworks of learning. In my post Using Adult Learning Theories to Plan for Professional Development I learn and reflect on the main learning theories that specifically target adult learners. This was such an interesting switch in my brain to go from student centered learning to adult centered learning! I found how important it was to take into consideration the unique learning methods of adults, and how that can help to create professional development targeted for teachers.