Questions for Reflection:
How can we design professional learning opportunities that have a high impact on practice?
What do you think of the idea of modeling professional learning on the kind of learning we want to see in our classrooms?
Does HOW we do PD affect our teaching practice?
The CCBE and DBE programs talk about competency-development and student-centered learning. So doesn’t it make sense to use the same approach for teacher professional development?
Variety, movement, and the small group conversations that stations provide can have a high impact on professional learning as well as student learning.
There are many models of stations that can be used. No matter the model, the underlying rationale is the same – teacher-centred professional development that offers choice, conversation, and meaningful, embedded use of technology as we develop our professional competencies in teaching.
Teachers working in a station-rotation model at AQIFGA 2016
Stations à la carte allow participants to choose where they want to work and how long they want to stay in each station, this was used at a Provincial PD day about formative assessment in Adult Education in 2016.
Impact on Teaching
When we design our professional learning opportunities using stations, we model effective technology integration for learning as well as high-impact learning strategies for our students.
When teachers experience these strategies first-hand, it is easier to see their potential for the classroom.
Presentations about Stations
This presentation on teaching in stations was used at AQIFGA 2017. The presentation was about stations and delivered via stations.
This presentation about teaching with video was also used at AQIFGA 2017. It was presented in a stations format.
Read more about how small group conversations and stations have been used in teacher professional development in Quebec. This article includes resources to help you organize your own Stations PD or to use Stations in your classroom:
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Learning resources created by Shanna Loach (Teacher and Pedagogical Consultant, ETSB), Kelly Ryan (Pedagogical Consultant, NFSB), Avi Spector (RECIT Consultant, RSB), and Tracy Rosen (RECIT Consultant, CSSMI), 2016, 2017.
Thank you!
If you would like more information about these resources or have something to add, please contact Avi Spector or Tracy Rosen.
All materials are expected to be reused and shared according to this Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0