Session 9 Professional Development

It's amazing how the idea of professional development varies among colleagues. Some love it and are eager to attend, others feel they are burdens and rather just read about it later.
Depending on the presentation, I like many others fit into both categories. When a training or workshop comes around that I am extremely interested in, I immediately sign up. But when the district's mandated trainings arise, I am the first one to say its a waste of time. Many times I am right on the money when it comes to the trainings, and sometimes I surprise myself when I actually enjoy the mandated presentations and am disappointed in the one I was originally excited about.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the California Association for the Gifted (CAG) Conference in San Jose. This conference is filled with keynote speakers, workshops, and seminars all pertaining to gifted students. This was probably one of the better conferences I have attended. With it being 3 days long, I was sure to get plenty of useful information. And for the most part I did. However, there was 1 seminar that was intended to introduce some new ideas for GATE. I couldn't believe how packed it was considering all of the other workshops being offered at the same time. Like everyone else that I attended, I thought this was going to be an excellent presentation. Unfortunately I was wrong. The presenter stood and read to us what was on the power point as if we were not able to read it ourselves or follow along on the handout. We received no strategies on how to incorporate the new information or even any background on it. We merely sat and listened. This was a rather disappointing seminar for pretty much everyone there. What was suppose to be new and innovating was in reality dull and useless. Perhaps this was do to poor planning on the presenters side, or just lack of quality information.
On the upside of this convention, I attended several motivating seminars that supplied me with numerous ideas and strategies that I would live to incorporate into my classroom. Unfortunately with testing right around the corner, I have no time to add anything new into my program without taking away from the valuable test prep materials I have been instructed to give.
In conclusion, I feel that professional development is an essential part of any career path, whether it is mandated or not, dull or innovating. Regardless of the mood you set for yourself, you'll always come out with new ideas, perhaps on ways to improve the presentation, even if it is a waste of time.