Continuing professional development is a commitment that all educators should make to their practice. I try to pick a focus for my professional development for the school year so that I do not get overwhelmed. Setting a goal for myself helps me pick which PD to do and what to look for.

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Structured Literacy Instruction

To learn more about the Science of Reading and structured literacy instruction, I took a few different classes and read a few books.

Courses

I took the IDA of Ontario’s The Reading Teachers Top 10 Tools and The Six Shifts. These were two great courses, but the IDA’s course was much more intensive and went deep into understanding how students learn how to read. The Six Shifts course would be better suited for educators looking to find some simple ways to can adapt their current classroom practices.

There is also a free course from Reading Rockets that does an amazing job at introducing what the science of reading is and how to implement it in a classroom.

Books

I had the opportunity to participate in a book club for Shifting the Balance. I loved being in a group and discussing the different shifts in the book together. We were able to talk things through and see how they fit into our instruction.

Outdoor Learning

Learning about meaningful outdoor learning while embedding an Indigenous lens has been a focus of a lot of learning from me. I’ve used the book Natural Curiosity 2 and followed them on social media for even more information.

Anti-Racist, Bias Aware Teaching

I have a full blog post related to anti-racism resources for educators. I add to the list when I find more professional development related to the topic.

What is the best professional development that you have taken? Let me know in the comments!