Class 11

Last class we went to visit another elementary school library.  My first impression was that there were so many books that fit into the smaller space.  The library was set up in a hotdog shape as opposed to a hamburger shape.  This meant that the students began class in one area and then moved to another area to continue their lesson, which may have been helpful in getting some of the squirreliness out.  We sat with the students as they worked on their online comic projects, and then came together as a class after the students left.

The topic of the day was professional development.  I believe that professional development is very important.  It keeps you up to date on what is current and new in the profession, and it keeps you in contact with fellow professionals in the field.  This encourages the exchange of new ideas and best practices.  It is too bad that some folks do not see the value in professional development, resulting in attending events only to gather the required hours for the session.  Also, leadership of professional development conferences needs to be strong to gather support and continuation of the event.  Only if the event is relevant and meaningful to the folks there will it be considered important enough to keep.  When all parts of the professional development puzzle work together, such collaboration can be extremely beneficial to those in the field, if only because it makes us excited to be a part of that puzzle.