With so many interesting sounding simultaneous sessions that compete for your time, attending a PD day or conference can be overwhelming.
Sched provides lots of ways to view, choose, and save sessions. Creating a Sched account is the best way to keep track of the sessions you think are interesting. Here is a short Youtube how-to. While it was created for another district’s event, it will help you make the most of using Sched. You can save more than one session per time slot, helping you narrow down the possibilities. Once you have sessions saved, add them to your calendar, print the schedule, or better yet, access Sched from your smartphone.
To make the most of your day, consider planning with your colleagues to spread out and cover as many sessions as possible. Then, create a shared Google Doc to take notes on. While there are many ways to do it, here’s an example of one created by Carla Dunavan for the Fall CUE. Since it is a shared doc, many attendees can edit at once. Just choose a cell and begin adding text, hyperlinks, and images.
Breaks or lunch is the perfect time to discuss what you’ve learned and what inspired you with your team members. Shared notes is a great way to spark discussion and provides a jumping off point for all of you to plan ways to bring new ideas to your classroom.
The most important thing of any PD is to have fun, to be energized, and for your students to benefit from the stimulating lessons, apps, and ideas you will integrate into your curriculum.
