Hear from Education Experts on PD, Teacher Wellness, and Coaching Best Practices

It’s a great time to reflect on lessons learned from education experts so far this year.

Our free resource site for educators, PLtogether, features conversations with education experts and leaders about topics from professional development to teacher wellness.

We’ve rounded up the best bits of advice and insights from education experts from the past year.

Continue reading for highlights and links, or check out all the educator insights we’ve gathered at PLtogether.

An education expert on why professional development needs structure

Education expert Steve Ventura knows about effective teacher professional development.

Founder of Advanced Collaborative Solutions and author of “Engaged Instruction: Thriving Classrooms in the Age of Common Core,” the former teacher and superintendent is well-versed in how teachers can grow through collaboration.

Here’s what Steve Ventura said about how to make the most of your teacher PD.

“Really good PLCs follow protocols consistently”
-Steve Ventura
Read and watch more: Teacher Sharing is Caring, Especially When PLC Protocols are Involved

“A program will never have as much impact as teacher practice. … Professional development should be about staff, not stuff.”
-Steve Ventura
Read and watch more: Respect Teacher Professional Development by Asking, What is Really Helpful?

Fostering positive teacher well-being and school culture

What do the Global Director of Growth Coaching International and the Auckland Stonefields School Founding Principal have in common?

They both know how important it is for teachers to prioritize their well-being. Here’s what Principal Sarah Martin and Christian van Nieuwerburgh noted about teacher positivity and school culture:

“We want teachers to look after themselves because that allows them to look after others better.”
-Christian van Nieuwerburgh
Read and watch more: Promoting Teacher Mental Health? Ask These 5 Questions to Create a Well-Being Plan

“As a leader, the deliberate work on our organizational culture just can’t be left to chance.”
-Sarah Martin
Read and watch more: One Founding Principal’s Strategies for Building Positive School Culture

Listening is key to effective teacher coaching

Love Teach Bless founder Nita Creekmore and Professor of Education Megan Tschannen-Moran are both very familiar with teacher coaching. The keys to successful coaching: listening and asking questions.

Here’s what the two said instructional coaches and anyone who supports teachers must do.

“Our primary job as coaches is to ask powerful questions that get people to reflect and to think deeply about their own work in order to discover their own answers.”
-Megan Tschannen-Moran
Read and watch more: Help Teachers Grow More: A Guide to Evocative Coaching

“Expansive listening is about empowering [teachers] and being a thought partner.”
-Nita Creekmore
Read and watch more: Fixing Classroom Problems? Coaches Actually Just Need to Use Expansive Listening