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Our district has a program they use to collect the thoughts, feelings, and ideas of the staff called Thought Exchange. The facilitator of the Thought Exchange will asked questions and then we as staff members are to answer those questions with our thoughts and feelings. After we have done that, we rate the answers of others on a scale of 1 to 5 on how much we agree with their statements. This is all done anonymously. Then after our thoughts have been gathered and rated, there is an AI report sent to the facilitator that shows a summary of the staff thoughts. This is sent out to the team.

I feel that this helps collect our suggestions as a staff in a quick and meaningful way. It has led to many positive changes being implemented to support the staff in school discipline consistency.

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Many of the professional developments I've been to, try and do something at the beginning of the session to break the ice and try to make the learners feel safe within the group. I've seen paper rock scissors tournaments where if you lose you become a cheerleader for the person that beat as they move through the rest of the tournament. I've seen ice breaker questions which everyone at the table shares something just to make everyone more comfortable at least at their own table. If the learner has a connection and does not feel alone, the safer they feel within the group.

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This year, I'm asking our instructional interventionists to observe one of their peers for a 30 minute lesson and try to take at least one new strategy back to their groups and implement. The act of seeing it modeled, applying it and reflecting with feedback to me will help internalize learning. In the past, we have had monthly meetings and discuss best practices but my hope is that the peer observation will help with the internalized learning.

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In the 2024-2025 school year, my curriculum and instruction director (who is in charge of scheduling our school improvement days, SIP agendas, and professional development hours) sent out a Google Form Survey seeking input to what we felt we needed to improve our practice on through professional development/SIP days. She is taking that feedback, and trying to coordinate accordingly. This shows adults wanting agency as we are given a voice in what we want to learn. By doing so, this supports Aguilar’s point: “Find out what team members want to learn about - keep asking and asking” (Aguilar, n.d., p. 3). - Alison Howard/Kovich

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There was one professional development that I attended as a student teacher in my last semester of undergrad. Before they got into the professional development learning portion of the day, they played a few games if ice breakers. Staff were asked to group up by grade level. the principle of the grade school, middle school and the superintendent were also on a team. Each player on the team was voted to play a different game. The games included cup pong, shaking a ping pong ball out of a tissue box, and putting shaving cream on a teammates head and trying to get cheese balls to stick to them. These games encouraged people to let down their guard and have fun with their coworkers. They were supposed to be goofy and make others laugh. I noticed that later in the day, when the professional development was occurring, staff were very willing to share their opinions and engage in the activities that the development had included. I think the games made the adult learners feel safe to express themselves ad ask questions, without feeling like they were being judged. Even for myself, someone who did not work at the school or have any say in how things happened, I felt more comfortable participating in the professional development because the games allowed me to see the the personable side of the staff and not just their professional side.

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I really appreciate straight talk, by which I mean "addressing the room in plainspeak avoiding jargon." As a secondary teacher, I did not have a lot of education courses, and so I do not know a lot of "teacher words." When I attend professional development sessions, nothing makes me feel so immediately isolated and uninformed as that jargon, especially when it is used to describe the goal/objective of the program. If I cannot understand why I am there, listening and learning, I need to know why.

Conversely, when the presenter makes clear, in everyday English, how the program will improve my teacher, improve my students' learning, etc., I am drawn in and become far more connected to what is being said and done. And if the presenter wants to/has to have the objective in edu-speak, that is fine, if they can at least explain it to their learners in plain English.

I am not sure that this is necessarily a strategy as much as an important attitude/perspective that presenters need to have. I may know the names by which they are called, but I have learned and developed teaching strategies. I know what I do, even I do not official names for these strategies. So, for teachers like me, please have mercy and speak to use in a language we understand.

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At the beginning of a professional learning session, our facilitator had the group co-create norms that promoted respect, confidentiality, and active listening. We started with a quick emotional check-in (for example, sharing one word about how we were arriving that day). This set the tone that everyone’s experiences and feelings were valued.

This strategy supports the principle that adults must feel safe to learn. By establishing a supportive environment and allowing participants to voice their state of mind, trust was built, and vulnerability in learning became possible.

When people felt safe and respected, they were more willing to share challenges, ask questions, and take risks in applying new strategies. The session became more collaborative and meaningful.

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Page Lee - Adult Learning Through Choice

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Page Lee - Adult Learning Through Choice

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One strategy I use that aligns with Aguilar’s principles is choice boards for professional learning. Just like my students, teachers are more engaged when they have a say in what and how they learn. At my school, we tried a professional development session where, instead of everyone listening to the same presentation, we offered a menu of mini sessions. Teachers could choose two topics to focus on, like small-group instruction, restorative practices, or technology integration.

This approach supports the idea that adults want control over their learning and need to understand why we are learning something. Teachers could select what was most useful to them, which made them more involved and thoughtful. I noticed more discussions and practical takeaways compared to a typical one-size-fits-all training.

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One strategy I’ve seen work well with adult learners is using Choice Boards for professional learning. Instead of everyone sitting through the same session, teachers choose from several options that align with their goals and needs. For example, one option might be a hands-on workshop, another could be a study group around a text, and another might be a tech tool sandbox.

This strategy supports Aguilar’s principle that “adults want agency in our learning” (Aguilar, n.d.). It acknowledges teachers’ expertise and gives them ownership over how they spend their learning time. I’ve noticed that when educators select the format or focus area that’s most relevant to their work, their engagement and follow-through are much stronger.

Choice Boards also reflect Fogarty and Pete’s (2017) reminder that adults value practical, problem-centered learning. By offering options tied to authentic challenges, the PD feels less like an event and more like an investment in solving real problems.

Why it works:

Builds agency by allowing teachers to choose.

Honors prior experience by recognizing teachers are in different places.

Supports transfer because teachers practice in ways that connect directly to their context.

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I’ve seen and participated in activities where learners immediately apply new skills through hands-on tasks or role-playing. This active practice helps deepen understanding and builds confidence, and helps to make the learning stick.

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Feeling safe to learn is just as important for adults as it is for our students in the classroom. On our first day back to school this year, a day before students came back, we had our "kick off" day as a district. It started early in the morning, with a ton of people and a whole new year coming to a start which can be overwhelming in itself. Our speaker immediately started the day with lots of energy, as speakers should do, but he was also cracking jokes and relating with us teachers by saying things most of us probably felt but would never say in this space about the upcoming year. It immediately made me feel more comfortable and able to really listen in and connect with the topics we were talking about

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In the last few years our district has made a point of discussing the invisible backpacks for both educators and students. It is an important conversation to have. Mostly they are discussing experiences outside of the classroom, but there is also an internal version. Each educator has had classroom experiences with students and each student has had experiences with other teachers that have shaped how they currently interact with each other. Being aware of histories helps us understand why people behave the way they do. Which in turn helps understand how to facilitate necessary change.