Have you gotten to the end of the year and realised you haven’t completed the required hours of Professional Development for your Teacher’s registration? It happens to me EVERY year! Don’t let this year be the same panicked rush and get on top of your PD hours now!
It is much harder as a Supply teacher to get access to PD but it is an important part of teaching in order to keep up our skills. There are some great courses and information out there to help keep us up to date with the changes going on in schools and classrooms and to keep our skills current to ensure we stay employable!
Remember you need to have a balanced selection of PD to cover all the Teaching Standards. 20 hours of “Professional Reading” won’t suffice, unfortunately. You also need to check your state’s requirements as they all differ slightly.
Here are some avenues where you can access free or low-cost Professional Development –
1. Your State’s Teacher Governing Body should have many free online courses available such as Student Protection, Code of Conduct, Behaviour Management etc.
2. Ask schools you are familiar with if you can sit in on their Professional Development meetings or Pupil Free Days.
3. First Aid and CPR is required as part of your registration and helps knock out a few mandatory hours.
4. Online videos can be found at Teachingchannel.org where they have an abundance of online video and training resources all for free.
5. Platforms such as The Educators’ Hub provide peer and mentor support from experienced teachers PLUS PD delivered by experts in their field covering a wide variety of topics to help educate, inspire and motivate teachers. PD is interactive with the each guest speaker allowing for question time and sessions are recorded for later viewing with certificates available. PD and Mentor sessions run weekly during the term and will cover a variety of topics from Behaviour Management, Maths, Literacy, Mindfulness, Teacher Wellness, exploring the Finnish Education System, starting a tutoring business, demoralisation of teachers, neurodiversity and more, delivered by experienced educators, authors, doctors and other professionals in their field. This new platform is aiming to meet the needs of teachers by providing support and a wide array of experts to help bring up to date practises and strategies direct to teachers to help them continue improving their teaching skills. Membership is less than $5/week, billed quarterly.
6. PD just for CRT is a thing! There are some great sites specifically for our casual teaching role. CRTPD.com by the Teacher Learning Network as plenty of courses, webinars and on-demand PD that you can do with memberships starting at $250. EPC Relief Teachers has online courses, PD plus lots of other resources for Relief Teachers all for $47/year. Relief Teacher Association via Class Cover gives you access to online webinars and courses with unlimited access for $99/year.
7. Special needs is a great area to cover with some of your PD hours. Positive Partnerships have free workshops, Sue Larkey and Tony Attwood often hold free online workshops, readings on inclusion in the classroom by Paula Kluth is a great way to get some more knowledge, along with low-cost courses on Autism from iBehavioural Training
8. Diversity is an interesting area to help build your knowledge of intercultural education and understanding in the classroom, especially if you are in an indigenous or multicultural area. You can access free modules through Difference Differently.
9. Podcasts are a great way to educate yourself on the go. Podcast options are endless but some of my faves have been Teacher Talk, Finnish Perspectives and something not solely Education focused but brings lots of gold nuggets as and educator thinking from a parents perspective that I’ve enjoyed is Pop Culture Parenting.
10. Professional Reading is ideal for keeping up with the latest teaching trends and also a great way to cover the last few hours remaining for your PD requirements.
11. Facebook groups will often advertise upcoming PDs that are usually free or low cost.
12. Lastly, Teacher for a Day offers a FREE webinar that teaches you the “Secrets to Supply Teaching Success” geared toward Primary Teachers. It has helpful and practical tips to help you feel more confident stepping into the classroom as a supply, relief or substitute teacher. You will receive a certificate upon completion and should be able to use it towards your “teacher directed” hours but check with your governing body as to their requirements. Get access to it here.
Don’t get caught out by not completing your requirements for your Teacher’s Registration.
Happy learning!
Kelly
