Guest Post: "PD in A Cup" by Paula E. Auble

Another Twist on PD!

At the end of February, I was scrolling through Twitter (like I do every day) and stumbled upon this brilliant idea by Paula E. Auble.  I immediately responded to see if she had a blog post written up about it, but she hasn't started her own blog yet.  So...this was a chance to see if Paula would give "blogging" a chance! Our #PD4uandme chat discusses blogging every month, so I figured this would be another way to encourage others educators to give it a try.  I asked Paula if she would write a guest blog post to get her awesome idea out there for the education world to share and here it is! 
​Check it out and pass it along! Make sure to reply to her on Twitter if you try it in your own school because, sharing is caring! ~Pam & Paula

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PD in A Cup by: Paula E. Auble 

There is no question that teachers are busy.
Teachers also want to learn and grow in their craft but often struggle to find any “extra” time for personal professional development outside of what is provided in school or district meetings and trainings. There are so many articles, blogs, websites, and videos out there, but who has time for all that when there are copies to make, papers to grade, projects to plan...

As an Instructional Coach at a public high school, I am constantly looking for ways to help support our teaching staff, preferably without adding more meetings if possible. I wanted to find a way to expose teachers to some of those articles, blogs, websites and videos without asking more from them. 

Coincidentally, I recently attended an amazing Train the Trainer workshop with Anne M. Beninghof where she had QR codes cut out and sitting on the tables in the morning before the conference started. Some linked to articles, others to videos - and we could look at them on our own time as we were snacking on breakfast before the conference started, or later in the day during breaks. A colleague and I loved the idea and immediately discussed how we could bring this back to our staff during our professional development time. However, our school’s PD model focuses on differentiation for staff as often as we can, so we are rarely together as a whole group. Even then, my goal was still to try to help teachers fit some personal professional development into THEIR schedules. I wanted to find a way to take this idea TO the teachers and make it as easy and accessible as possible. I’ve seen PD in a Box and Learning in the Loo and so many other creative ideas and I wanted to find something that might work for my campus.
 
Sitting on my desk was a plastic cup with our school name and logo on it - and it hit me.

Well, the cup didn’t actually hit me, but the idea for PD in a Cup did!

So I gathered articles, websites, strategies, and videos and turned them into QR codes. I started with relevant resources to support our school’s focus on PLCs, evidence-based grading, and then kept going to share ideas on checking for understanding, other instructional strategies and found some inspirational videos.  

I typed up directions explaining the cup would be in the teacher workroom for a week and then a new cup would follow each week. My campus has five teacher workrooms so I made five different sets of QR codes and directions and plan to rotate them weekly. I can do another round of rotations for the next 5 weeks after that. 

Inside the cup I also included an instructional reflection question they can think about or discuss with peers (teachers in our wings have weekly lunch meetings). The first one was “What are some ways that you have formatively assessed students this week and given them feedback?

I included a “Fill Your Own Cup” question to have them reflect on how they are taking care of themselves. Each week I will swap out the reflection questions for new ones. I gave the whole campus the same questions so they can discuss them with other colleagues in departments or friends in other wings. 

I also included a QR code to a Google Form where teachers could give me feedback on what was in the cup and ask for things they might like to see in future cups.

Maybe some teachers will never look at anything in the cup, but maybe some will. Maybe while a teacher is sitting at the table waiting for their copies, they will read or watch something they might not have otherwise. Maybe something inside can spark a conversation, inspire growth, or encourage someone to try something new. Who knows, but I’m excited to find out!

I placed one in each workroom and hoped for the best. I shared this idea on social media and am thrilled to see other Coaches now talking about it and planning how they could do something similar for their own teachers. After twenty-two years in education, I still get excited to learn something from other educators and I’m eager to see if PD in a Cup can help excite others to learn as well. 

Teachers are busy.  So if I can gather some ways to support, educate and inspire them in an easy, convenient way - that they can fit in to their own time and space… I’m going to try it! 
Feel free to try it, tweak it, and use it too. ~Paula E. Auble 

Connect with Paula on Twitter @VHS_TchrCoach