8. Whole School CPD day

“One you stop learning you start dying” – Albert Einstein

Effective teachers are constantly learning. Teaching is lifelong process of learning how to meet our student’s needs, tips on creating a positive environment and how to assess the students learning. Curriculums are changing and values are shifting. It is up to us to accept education is evolving and to ask how we can change with it. Engaging in CPD workshops are very beneficial. One month before the workshops a survey was emailed where the teachers had to pick 2 topics to learn about. Assessment and Digital Portfolios were the winners. The workshop was delivered by the JCT over zoom and utilises breakout rooms.

Assessment Considerations to Support Student-Cantered Learning was the first module. Learning intentions, Junior Cycle Assessment and its purpose were covered. Leading into Designing effective pen and paper assessments. Looking at Bloom’s Taxonomy was unpacked, which was interesting for me as Bloom’s is very influential to my teaching practice. Hearing how other teachers use his taxonomy and different questioning types used was very beneficial. The discussions were around theory which links to art history and visual culture element of art. Considering the strengths and weakness of selected response items and constructed response items was interesting as I had not worked with these categories before.

The second module was Supporting student learning through the use of Digital Portfolios. Digital portfolios are essential for online teaching. Digital technology and learning is key concept of students engagement and it is important we learn about alternatives ways of using them within our subjects. Discussions about using them and hearing other teachers issues with moving away from the traditional copy was very insightful.