Mark Clements

Just a reminder, educators: Creativity atrophies over time if we don't exercise it. To be effective and find meaning as teachers, especially if we teach the same thing year after year, we have to feed our intellectual and creative selves each year we teach. Doing so also helps us build empathy for our students and their first-time eyes. It's quite humbling and to professionals, that's Oxygen. So, take a course in a passion area, learn a new instrument, take up world-building online, write young adult or children's fiction or non-fiction, join an improv group, develop better metaphors/analogies for what you teach, mentor young teachers, and attend conferences. Here, there be Mojo!

It's August and that means there's a lot of professional development for educators happening. In case it helps, here is a healthy list (with descriptions) of activities, experiences, and formats for processing and applying all that content experienced during the training, conference, or while watching instructional videos. This year, I'm sending this to each school and organization with whom I work as a clear and urgent reminder that the follow-up to formal and informal PD experiences is often where the individual is the most receptive, has the most applicable insights, and makes the greatest professional gains -- and that follow-up to training is a doable and purposeful act that's just as much a part of the PD program as the day or hour of presentation itself. If you are a presenter, consultant, coach, leader, classroom practitioner, or paraprofessional, feel free to use any of these or to pass them along to those who might find them helpful -- and feel free to add your own ideas to the list! @amle @ascd @solutiontree @stenhousepub @aeiSpeakers @ILAToday @NSTA @ncte @NCSSNetwork @NCTM amle.org/just-did-some-profe…