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Professional development (PD) sessions are essential for teachers to continue their growth and development in education. However, teachers often feel that PD is irrelevant and uninspiring and doesn鈥檛 respect their expertise. It can therefore feel challenging for administrators and coaches to engage teachers in professional learning content. But this need not be the case.

In my work with teachers, I鈥檝e found that choice鈥攁n important component when working with students鈥攊s equally important in PD. Choice gives learners of all ages a sense of control over their learning and can help them feel more invested and interested in the material being presented.

To implement choice throughout my work with adults, I鈥檝e used four actionable strategies: choice boards, PD playgrounds, explore boards, and checklists, which I outline below. While each strategy is unique in its purpose and design, they share important benefits: Facilitators can use them to differentiate instruction based on teachers鈥� interests, prior knowledge, and learning goals; they engage teachers in hands-on, active learning; they allow time for coaches to have one-on-one conversations with teachers during a PD session; facilitators can easily modify them to address a range of topics; and finally, they are replicable for teachers鈥� use in classrooms.

Choice Boards 

Choice boards are flexible learning tools that present learners with a menu of activities from which to choose. Facilitators can present these menus through a variety of visual forms, such as a tic-tac-toe board or an , to keep things creative. 

I led a PD session on how teachers could integrate the tool in the classroom, and I wanted participants to brainstorm ideas for how they might use the tool in their work. I also wanted them to apply their learning by creating a video at the end of the session. 

With these goals in mind, I designed a tic-tac-toe choice board that included a 鈥渟tart鈥� space in the middle with a hyperlinked video introducing the tool. The rest of the board comprised spaces describing a mix of activities that allowed learners to explore different use cases for the tool, then apply their learning through video-creation activities. 

I asked teachers to choose two activities to complete their 鈥渢ic-tac-toe,鈥� and they shared their learning on a group board.

PD Playground 

Another engaging strategy, the PD playground, involves a virtual playground鈥攐r shared digital space鈥攚here teachers explore different professional learning topics in depth, at their own pace. They complete tasks to demonstrate their learning as they engage with the program, meaning they have both autonomy and connection throughout.

I created a to introduce teachers to different tools that they could use to build relationships with students and to help them set personal learning goals at the beginning of the school year. 

Through , I created a page for each tool that I introduced. Those pages included resources to help teachers get started with the tool, including how-to videos, lesson ideas, templates, and links to blog posts. At the end of the session, I asked teachers to share the tool that they chose and an activity that they had created to introduce the tool to students.

Explore Boards

The purpose of an explore board (also called a multimedia text set) is to give learners opportunities to explore curated content and build knowledge on a specific topic. The board is typically packaged as a document with links to different types of media (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.) related to the designated topic or theme.

When I led a PD session about how Google Workspace can improve teaching and learning, I knew in advance that some teachers would already be well-acquainted with Google Workspace, while others would be new to it. For that reason, I created an explore board with links to videos and blog posts about the tool to help all teachers build their knowledge. But I also built in collaboration so that teachers could learn from colleagues who had varying levels of familiarity with the program. 

To do this, I created a 鈥攁n online interactive sticky note board鈥攁nd asked participants to share their learning and comment on one another鈥檚 thoughts; this was a great way to kick off a discussion about how technology integration can enhance teaching and learning.

Checklists 

Checklists are a great way to provide teachers with different on-ramps for learning new skills, and they鈥檙e especially helpful when a group of teachers have varying skill levels related to a common topic. 

For example, my district adopted a tool called GoGuardian two years ago, and when I lead a PD session about it, I know I will have teachers who have varying levels of familiarity in the room. I created a formatted checklist that broke down all major features of the tool into four leveled categories of skills鈥攆or example, 鈥淟evel 1: Getting Started,鈥� 鈥淟evel 2: Teacher Commands,鈥� 鈥淟evel 3: Scenes,鈥� 鈥淟evel 4: Classroom Management,鈥� and 鈥淟evel 5: Video Conferencing,鈥� all of which were broken down into subtasks such as 鈥淐reate an account鈥� or 鈥淓nroll students.鈥�  

Next to each skill, I provided links to resources that could help teachers learn more. I also inserted a checkbox to help teachers document and keep track of their learning as they completed each task. To further differentiate the experience, I invited teachers to browse the skills involved at each 鈥淟evel鈥� and choose where they wanted to start.

Designing engaging PD can be challenging. However, providing teachers with choice is a great way to address that challenge and to make the time you have with them meaningful and relevant. And the above strategies often bolster communication and interactivity, meaning that choice and connection are at the center鈥攄riving learning.