RE: Staff Development Days

I participated in the Governor's Institute (CA Reading and Literacy Program) over this past year and found it to be the best professional development I have experienced.  Last June, we attended a full week of in-service at CSUS with presentations by and discussions with experts in the field.  Then, over the school year, I met with a cohort of other 6th grade teachers in my district.  We met on a regular basis to analyze student work, discuss instructional strategies, and change instructional plans to meet our students' needs and to help them meet the state standards.  In turn, I shared the information with my school site grade level team, my student teacher, and the intern teachers I support through CFASST.

My question is how can we get more teachers involved in projects like this?  Money and academic credit/units to move over on the pay scale are incentives that can make a difference in deciding whether or not to particpate.  However, participation in projects like this is very time consuming.  I am now a new mom and my time is precious.  We need to find a way to incorporate valuable professional development into the regular duties of a classroom teacher instead of making it an "outside" thing that only the over-achievers in the field get involved in.