Free Alternative Ways To Fulfill Professional Development Requirements

Kathy Roberson offers tips for gaining professional development
credits without the expense, and without the boredom! Did you know you
might be able to earn ceu's from your vacation or writing a newspaper
column?

We’ve all been there…  the mandatory workshops arranged by our school
districts in which the speakers are talking about subject matter that
has absolutely no relevancy to our current teaching assignment. Many
of us have no interest in the subject being addressed but we are
forced to attend.  In those situations, it’s a torturous 6 hours we
have to endure in order to get our daily pay and obtain the all
powerful “evidence of completion” paper to add to our file for
certificate renewal.

Then there are the voluntary workshops offered during the school year
(usually on a Saturday) or the summer workshops that your Regional
Office may arrange.  Both can offer a little more choice in your
particular interests and if you are lucky, your school district may
pick up the tab for you to attend.  In many cases, the budget in some
school districts is being cut in this area, due to monetary
constraints.

So how can you fulfill some of your Professional Development
requirements and still make it interesting for you with no out of
pocket costs?  Here are a few ways that you might want to consider: