I took part in the professional development session entitled "Social Studies Forum: PBS Teachers." This session dealt with the new features of the PBS teachers website. The leader of this discussion explained some of the interesting things that can be found on this site for different grade levels. Others mentioned blogs that can be accessed from this site. A lot of different subject areas are addressed on this site, but the focus during this session was social studies.
I thought that this was an interesting experience. Many of the participants were from the United States so I ordinarily would not have any interactions with them. They are not teachers who I would usually take part in professional development with. There was also a wide range of experience there, from students like myself to experienced teachers. I think this could be a very useful tool for teachers, especially teachers who are in rural or isolated areas where it is difficult to find such a wide range of professional development opportunities. These sessions really allow teachers to meet with others and learn from them, which may not be so easy without technology.
There were also some things that I found slightly irritating about this experience. For example, every time a useful website was mentioned every participant would type "thank you." It seemed that people kept saying the same thing and reading the word "thanks" twenty times is a little tedious. I also feel that the personal interactions involved with professional development are valuable. However, overall I felt that this could be very useful. It gives teachers who do not have other opportunities the ability to ensure that they are growing. I think if I saw a topic that I was really interested in, I would not hesitate to take part in another session.
As well, the PBS teachers site seems very useful. Feel free to check it out by clicking on the link.
PBS teachers
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