Playing with Professional Development (Literally) - Gabrielle Santa-Donato, Creative Post

The old Metropolitan Exchange factory in downtown Brooklyn is not your typical site for a four-day, full-time professional development session, let alone a 14-day learning challenge for 18-24 year olds. Picture working amidst a torn-up, life-sized stuffed Santa in one of many old swirly chairs, surrounding a big gardening trough and an old biker sign with Diner-esque lights. But sometimes, putting teachers and students out of their comfort zones can encourage them to interact and design solutions with one another. On June 20th, seven eager teachers with a combined 100 years of classroom experience gathered for the start of a four-day “ride along” professional development session. The “ride along” approach is a part-observational, part-experiential learning experience where teachers watched students tackle real-world challenges (through tinkering with objects) and simultaneously redesigned school and classroom models using many of the same processes that the students employed. http://www.creativitypost.com/education/playing_with_professional_development_literally