The Write Professional Development

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About Colette Bennett

Colette Marie Bennett is the Curriculum Coordinator for English Language Arts, Social Studies, Library Media, and Testing for the West Haven Public School System in West Haven, Connecticut. Previous to this position, she served as the Chief Academic Officer (7-12) for Regional School System #6 in Litchfield, Connecticut. She has 23 years of teaching experience in English Language Arts from grades 6-12, including electives in journalism, drama, and film studies. A graduate of the Alternate Route to Certification, Bennett also has a Masters in English from Western Connecticut State University a 6th year in Advanced Teaching and an 092 Administrative Certificate from Sacred Heart University, and graduate credits from the GLSP in Social Studies at Wesleyan University. She holds a Literacy Certification (102) from Sacred Heart University for grades K-12. She has presented how technology is incorporated in classrooms at the Connecticut Computers in Education Conference (2010, 2012, 2014), the National Council of Teachers Annual Conference (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015), and the Advanced Placement Annual Conference (2011) the Literacy for All Conference (2012), and the ICT for Language Learning in Florence, Italy (2014). She blogs about education at Used Books in Class: http://usedbookclassroom.wordpress.com/ She tweets at Teachcmb56@twitter.com

Weigh in on Cardona? Better to Weigh in on Connecticut - January 3, 2021
Still Learning from Kindergarten to Say "Yes" or "No" - October 4, 2019
Toni Morrison: Spilling over the Corners of Text - August 6, 2019
Marie Kando Your Classroom - July 24, 2019
MCAS Whitehead Test Prompt-What Were They Thinking? - May 28, 2019
If They Are Choosing the Family Car, They Are Going to Want Choice in the Classroom - February 27, 2019
Teachers Pay Teachers-The Fast Food of Education - February 22, 2019
Yes, Breaking Up (with a text) is Hard to Do - October 8, 2017
Copying the Nation’s Founding Documents by Hand - September 24, 2017
A Comic Book Helped to Inspire the Civil Rights Movement - August 7, 2017

Now that school has ended, I have the time to reflect on how well writing on my own blog or contributing to other blogs has served as my own professional development for the past 36 months. In writing or responding to a post, I have tried to find links that support or refute a position. I have searched and researched all elements of the Common Core State Standards; read journals or policy statements from educators and education reformers; and cited hundreds of quotes, graphics, and statistics to support my ideas. Even if no one read this blog post, the writing experience has been important.

Many of the ideas for blog posts come from links provided by other educators on Twitter. Many ideas come from the students in my classes or from news stories that are related to education reform. Then there are the ideas I have while I walk with fellow educator on weekends.

For example, I will notice how the ripples on the pond create an interesting pattern, and I will casually remark, “that reminds me of how students can create ripples when they discuss their book choices!” “Well, that’s a great idea for a blog post!” she will respond.

I have discovered that I have little control over my need to write; that the impulse to set things into print is hard to ignore. In addition, the motivation to write comes at the most inconvenient times, often late in the evening, and I have seen many digital clocks click into the AM hours of the morning as I polish a piece.
“Are you still awake?” my husband complains. “Just finishing,” and I huddle to hide the glow of the screen while I reflect and revise.

Nothing has taught me more about how to teach writing than my writing a blog. Nothing.

Nothing has made me appreciate how hard it is to meet the deadlines and requirements of assignments given to students. Nothing.

Nothing has made me more aware of how important developing confident writers is in preparing students for the real world. Nothing.

My friend, who also writes on her own blog, often quotes the scientist Louis Pasteur who said,

“In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.”

On this third anniversary, I am confident that writing on this blog has helped me to become a more informed educator. Writing what I think about education prepares me to say what I think when I am at leadership meetings, or department meetings, or when I am teaching. I am primed to discuss any number of issues related to education because my mind has been prepared, and the chances that I will talk about these education issues is more than good.

The best professional development I have is to write what I think,; that is the write PD.

In addition to her regular articles for The Educator's Room, check out Collette's blog Used Books in Class!