My Why:

According to TEA, a Texas Educator needs to have 150 hours of continuing professional education. If we look closer, that is 30 hours a year that teachers and educators are sitting in trainings, "learning". Yet educators are still bored. Most of the time, the session consists of a "sit and grab" activity. You are being lectured to, but you walk away with little understanding or application to your classroom. However, this new "flipped" style of learning gives educators the power to create their own COVA in learning while also helping their peers grow and become autodidactic learners. In a nutshell, teachers and educators are all ready autodidact learners at heart. That's why they are in the classroom. Teachers are always seeking new and creative ways to connect their content to students.

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One of the things teachers lack is time. Therefore, these sessions should be brief, concise, and to the point. There is no need to spend hours in a PL session and have educators walk away with little to no information. I have taught several PL sessions for our district and several at our campus level. One of the biggest things we have now, more than ever, at our fingertips is technology and social media. We have sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. While I am not on TikTok, I am on Instagram. I have saved so many reels about education, activities, and fun things to do with our students from other teachers across America. Some were teachers at the elementary level who had amazing ideas that I thought would work great for my junior high students. All I have to do is tweak it a little to fit our mental level. I have seen some amazing things from high school teachers teaching English in such a creative way that it made me wish I were teaching English. However, I passed those videos on to fellow classmates, coworkers, and friends who are also in the education field. You see, the thing is, at the core of it all, the two things that bind us are emotion and connection.

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My idea for a PL session is for educators to find a TikTok, Instagram Reel, Facebook video, or any other type of social media video that resonates with them. Something they have seen someone else do in their room, or a great idea that another teacher had. Something that moves and excites them. They get excited to try it, even if they fail. In that lies the passion educators have for teaching both students and adults. Even if the session "flopped," did it really? I don't think so! You might ask me why, and I would say, because in that very moment of something not working out or not going as planned, in that very moment is where you truly learn. The other teachers will rally around the "presenter" and discuss it with them. Some will sit there quietly, listening, while others will speak up and engage with the presenter; however, both will learn from that very moment. How do I know?? Because I have led those moments, and I have sat quietly in those moments. Those moments are where I learned new things, and sometimes it came from other teachers not presenting. It was in that moment when we all talked, connected, and collaborated.

The goal is for educators to find something that speaks to them, such as something they have seen on social media that others are doing, or something they have posted themselves that gained great attention and followers, or something they can resonate with. Ultimately, the sessions would last around 10-15 minutes and be on the teachers' conference period. They can pop in, share their reel, and then discuss. I think that is autodidacting at its core.