To help grow the capacity of their teachers to maximize the growth of their students, Keller (Texas) Independent School District used video to provide personalized professional learning to teachers across the career continuum, from new teachers to veteran teachers looking to improve their practice. Their decision to use video-based professional…

The mission of the Palau Ministry of Education is to ensure that their students will be successful in Palauan society and the world. Schools are the heart of Palau's communities, reflecting the rich culture of the nation. They incorporate a unique blend of traditional values and modern methodologies to support learning for the diverse and…

This article describes the power of using a brief video clip during one-on-one coaching conversations, which provides teachers intense personal attention about the work that matters to them the most, as even 30 seconds of video can highlight teachers' effective practices. This idea emerged as the most influential component of the…

When the COVID-19 pandemic moved teaching and learning to remote and virtual spaces, teacher professional learning moved online as well. To create consistently high-quality teacher learning opportunities, many online asynchronous approaches need improvement, and they need to be tailor-made for the online setting. That was the authors' goal when…

Professional learning has been a cornerstone of Long Beach Unified School District's approach to comprehensive reform since the early 1990s. The myPD Unplugged podcast series is just one of the ways it is expanding professional learning content and access for educators in the district and beyond. The Learning Professional's editor, Suzanne…

School-based mentors are essential partners with teacher preparation programs in preparing novice teachers to have the knowledge, skills, and professional commitments they need to be strong teachers from day one. In many ways, the demands of mentoring, such as critical conversations with colleagues and reflecting, mirror the kinds of engagement…

One of the challenges leaders face is how to help teachers examine their classroom practice. The use of video technology as a tool for teacher self-reflection, peer collaboration, and coaching has been gaining in popularity for just this purpose. In this article, the authors share how teachers benefit from using a Lesson Analysis Protocol to…

Coaching is an increasingly popular and promising method of professional learning, but unfortunately, many teachers do not have access to high-quality coaching due to geographic and financial constraints. Technology offers an opportunity to increase access to coaching, especially for educators in isolated rural areas. Research shows video is…

Ellie Drago-Severson and Mary Antón have known each other for more than 20 years and have worked together in different capacities to support educators through the lens of adult development. They spoke with "The Learning Professional" about how coaching can help leaders at all levels navigate the COVID-19 crisis and grow in ways that will…

Teacher professional learning is often disjointed and not aligned with the curricula teachers use in daily instruction. This lack of preparation has led to fragmented approaches to teaching young students to read, in part because initiatives lose momentum, teachers modify the instruction beyond recognition, and programs are soon eclipsed by newer…

The cognitive load that a teacher experiences is mind-numbing. To improve, a teacher must begin by reflecting on his or her work, but with the mountain of decisions, where does a teacher find time or have the capacity to notice the way in which students are interacting with lessons? In 2014, the St. Vrain Valley School District Office of…

Formative assessment is one of the most effective tools that teachers use to promote student learning and watching one's self teach on video is one of the most effective ways to improve teaching. As part of a project for the Michigan Department of Education, the authors worked with eight teachers in Michigan who are using videos of their teaching…

Professional athletes spend hours honing their skills through video analysis; attorneys video themselves practicing opening arguments or coaching clients; plumbers, mechanics, and electricians video their craft to demonstrate their work. It could be argued that teachers' interactions have more long-term impact than any other professional skill,…

From 2016 to 2020, a team of K-12 and higher education mathematics educators worked to address the need for high-quality online learning by creating a multisession, fully online professional learning course. As the team worked to design and facilitate online professional learning, the goal was to maintain the core aspects and guiding principles of…

Research indicates that creating a psychologically safe school climate matters for adult learning in the same way it matters for children's learning. School leaders can help teachers feel safe to take risks, share differing opinions, and be vulnerable in front of peers before and during professional learning activities. An example of why…