Developing Professional Development for Mainstream teachers/District level

In many of the online educator groups, there are requests for advice on professional development and how to design and/or implement professional development for mainstream content teachers and/or administration.  I have, in the last seven years, had some really intentional and powerful professional development sessions, and some really pointless and overwhelming sessions.  Here are some things I have learned:

1. Treat preparing for your professional development sessions like you treat preparing for a classroom lesson.  Think about the background knowledge of your intended audience.  Do they understand the background of language instruction?  Do the participants understand the standards to which you are working under (in Missouri those standards are the WIDA English Language Proficiency standards). Start with these questions:

• What do the participants need to understand about the students they support that they do not already know?  
• What do the participants need to understand about language acquisition that they do not already know?
• What do the participants already know that I/you could/can build on?  

With this in mind - create your objectives and goals for the professional development you will be providing.  

2.  Decide on the how of the sessions.  Will this be virtual (HELLO COVID-19), will this be a slow learn (book study type environment), lunch & learn, will this be during a professional learning community time?  When structuring your activity understanding how the learning occurs helps keep the objectives and goals on track.  It also helps you plan through any of the circumstances that might arise for the participants and helps you create the norms expected prior to jumping into the actual learning.

3.  What aspects of language development will you be focusing on based on the background knowledge of the participants and the structure of the professional development?  Will you be focusing on language acquisition, how to modify and differentiate, using technology for EL in the mainstream classroom?  This should be based on the answers to one and two (and or how you were voluntold to do).  

4.  What feedback will you ask for?  

No matter what, make sure you remember you are there to advocate and instruct best practices for EL.  If at the end of the professional development you have made an impact on even one teacher - you've done your job.