Presenting staff development

     I think the characteristics of adult learners versus student learners needs to be the focus when administering staff development at a school.  When I'm planning my staff development, I need to make sure I'm presenting/administering a workshop where adult learners are not treated as student learners.  In this article, one of the most important characteristics of an adult learner is that adult learners are skeptical of new information being taught.  New information needs to be "tried out" before it is accepted.  The teaching strategies to address these characteristics are great tidbits to keep in mind when planning staff development.  It is vital to remember to give up the control when working with adult learners, because they want to be self-directed and learn some on their own.


     I also need to keep in mind the various thinking and learning styles of the adult learners.  Each adult learner has a different learning style and to maximize the time in staff development, all learning styles need to be addressed to the best of my ability.  Learners tend to associate their learning success with their learning style.  Therefore when addressing multiple thinking and learning styles, more learners will experience success.


     When reading another article, I learned that when creating staff development I need to reflect on how the staff development focuses on how students learn and how to address the learning of the students.  This will hopefully increase student achievement.  When planning my staff development, I aspire to incorporate the learning of students as my focus.  It is imperative to focus on the fact that teachers need to be able to connect what they are learning in staff development to teaching.  Making sure that the staff development connects to the curriculum, to the district and state standards, and assessment measures, is important for the teachers involved.  It was stated that during evaluation of staff development, the three things that are analyzed as classroom practices, impact on teacher behavior, and the effect on student learning.  Evaluations should be completed throughout the program/staff development.  One last point I need consider when planning my staff development, is that it should be over an amount of time and include a significant amount of hours.  These will lead to the success of the staff development.