Have you ever been asked to lead some kind of professional development for your fellow teachers and all you can come up with is that same thing you did at the last staff training? Let's fold something! Yippee! Let's make another interactive notebook! Yippee! Here's another reading strategy! Yippee! Fun with Data Disaggregation! Yippee!
Same stuff, different day as my father used to say, but he used a bit more colorful language. What if you had close to 100 different types of professional development, almost ready to present as is, at your fingertips, and every one of them was different, for different audiences, for different curricular areas, and every single one of them was absolutely free? Too good to be true? It isn't!
A few years ago, Apple quietly released a series of books written by Apple Distinguished Educators called ""One Best Thing"." The "One Best Thing" (OBT) series was a set of then 102 books, that did exactly what the title said: Took one topic and focused laser-like on it so that a reader would know exactly how that worked by the time they had finished reading the book. Here is the description of "One Best Thing" found in each book:
“"One Best Thing" is a collection of books created by Apple Distinguished Educators (ADEs) that demonstrate the use of Apple technologies to transform teaching and learning. Each "One Best Thing" book shares a unit, a lesson, or a best practice and is designed to help another educator implement a successful practice. It’s a professional learning idea championed by an educator—in word and action—that others can look to for ideas and tips on how to replicate.
Enjoy this "One Best Thing" book, along with others in the collection, and discover innovative projects, lessons, and activities for use in your own learning environment.”
I said they released them quietly. I bet you have never heard of ""One Best Thing"." It was almost like Apple didn't want you to find them. I wonder why that was? That was unfortunate. First of all, they are a really good series made by real teachers. Secondly, they all have the same look and feel, so if you understand how one is formatted, you have figured out how all of them are. Third, they are all short. 20-30 pages tops. A quick read while you are waiting for a “real PD” session to start. Lastly, they cover a crazy wide variety of topics and curricular areas. Math, Science, Social Studies, Cross curricular, Professional development, ELA, Languages Other than English, Ed Tech..you name it, there is a "One Best Thing" that addresses it.
How do you get this incredible resource? First of all, the entire "One Best Thing" series is located in iBooks, a program that is exclusive to users of iPads, iPhones, and Macintosh computers. If your campus has iPads, or Mac, then iBooks is a free download. Don't have any of those devices either personally or at your campus? Well, you are kind of out of luck unless you can get your hands on one. But trust me, it is worth getting your hands on one.
Although the topics are all very “Apple Centered” and do highlight the use of Apple apps and devices, don't let that scare you away. The topics, while maybe specific on Apple, are generic enough that with just a little thought, can be modified to any class, using any ed tech.
Consider this "One Best Thing" title: “Thinking Like a Scientist: Students as Mobile Researchers.” The description of the book is: “When we experience something for the first time, we are filled with a sense of wonder and curiosity. How can we capture these moments to be more engaged and successful as learners? This "One Best Thing" is dedicated to helping students use the variety of features and apps available on the iPad to work as researchers and truly tell their learning story.”
As you can clearly see, even though the specific book is about using iPad apps, the topics is general enough so that it can be applied to almost any operating system or any ed tech toolset.
Consider these science-related books in the "One Best Thing" Series:
- Can You See Sound? Adventures in Film and Animation
- Thinking Like a Scientist: Students as Mobile Researchers
- The Art of Prediction: Publishing Digital Weather Forecasts
- Student-Created Science Animation: Animation Creator HD to Enhance Understanding
- Islands in Time: Creating and Using Next Gen Multimedia
- Digital Data: Apps to Capture Scientific Data
- Connections to Nature: Student-Produced Documentaries
- Visualizing Molecular Geometries: Research-Based Study Using Molecules App
I believe that every single one of these titles can be turned into a professional development topic. What makes these great PD resources is that they are real life examples. They are short enough to fit into a short PD session, or can be expanded to a longer PD, and are written to be easily understood, even by those that do not have a technology or iPad background.
I have created a spreadsheet of all of the known “One Best Thing” titles. Some of the links may not be working anymore, as the apps or software may have been modified beyond how the original book portrayed it, or the hardware may no longer be available. I leave them in however, so that you might be able to find the book elsewhere. Perhaps a colleague actually knew about them and downloaded a few.
The link to all of the “One Best Thing” book spreadsheet is: http://bit.ly/2gY7Es4
Enjoy exploring. Remember these if you ever need a quick professional development topic and are at a loss as to what to present on. (And maybe you could use these as a basis for presenting at a conference!)