Pirate Tech: A day done right

I had the pleasure of working with the staff of the Aransas County Schools down on the Texas gulf coast yesterday at a "technology" staff development day - Pirate Tech. Now I don't normally blog much about this kind of work I do, but I'm hoping readers can learn something about putting these days together in their own districts if I can describe a model of a good one.

Library media specialist Ann Vyoral and her team did an outstanding job of designing and implementing Pirate Tech. Was there anything particularly new or innovative about the day? Not really. It was just what she and her team did, they did really, really well. And in my dotage I appreciate beautiful task execution more and more.

While one can question her taste in guest presenters, here are some things that I thought made the day go very well:

1. Administrators actually attended the sessions. I do believe I had the superintendent, principals and other admistrators in my session. What a terrific signal this sends to the teaching staff about the importance they give to the day. Support beyond lip service. What a deal.
2. Teacher-led sessions. While the expert from 75 miles away is good for some things (call to action, presenting a vision, new jokes, etc.), the best tech session are teacher and librarian led. The ACISD staff had about 15 different sessions to choose from each time period. (This in a district of only about 3,000 students.)
3. Sessions at a range of levels. The number of sessions meant that whether one considered oneself a novice or expert, a classroom teacher or specialist, or a elementary or secondary teacher, one could find something of interest. Ann honored the individual needs of teachers by asking me to do four separate "keynotes," each directed at a grade level. Pretty cool.
4. Longer sessions. By keeping the opening and closing sessions short, each of the four sessions ran about 80 minutes. Enough time for a little hands on work.
5. Follow-up. The district is asking teachers to use half a day in the coming week to actually practice what they learned.
6. Filtering was suspended for the day. Workshop presenters could get to the cool tools. And I did not see a single teacher surf for porn during the day.
7. Great organization and team work. You just know a ton of work when into this event and that it was team effort. There was a rofessional looking program. The food was good. Equipment worked. Signage was great. Assessment and accountibilty was built in and looked pretty painless for participants. Unless you've actually put a day like this together, you don't know hard it is. Ann and her team get jewels in their crowns.
8. Just plain fun. Door prizes donated by a supportive community were given through out the day. Humorous videos started and ended the day. Good lunch served in house, providing time for socialization. All teacher received a personalized thumb drive and goodie bag with pencils, a can caddy, and other small items. Logo-ed shirts were given to the planning team and presenters to wear during the day. All small things that probably weren't critical. But each helped make the day enjoyable and the participant feel welcome and important. And the tone of a training day IS critical.

I generally work with really good teaching staffs when I present and consult, but yesterday's Texans just seemed a notch above in enthusiam, spirit and making the day joyful. I'll pay Aranasas County schools the highest compliment I know - I'd be pleased if my grandsons attended.

What are your secrets for a successful staff development day whether focused on technology or anything else?

Comments

[A.Vyoral]

I just have to add that Doug gave me way too much credit for our Pirate Tech technology training day. I was merely the person who contacted him; others were in charge of almost every other aspect. We had a hard working team that included librarians, teachers, technologists, technicians, and even administrators. We benefited from a very supportive administration.