Speak Up In Class!

Yesterday I wrote about how I like PD and all that.  Well I was at another PD event last night with about twenty people in the room and after every question from the facilitator you could pretty much hear a pin drop.

It was the same in school, and in the school setting where it happened for hours on end.  Every day I got fed up quickly and just blurted out what I had to say off the top of my head serious or otherwise just to get the ball rolling.  I am not all that surprised that in a room full of teenagers and early twenty-something girls that this happened.  But in a room full of adults, who all work at the ‘same’ job for the same company this should not be an issue.

I come to PD to learn and share ideas and discuss things, if I am the only one talking besides the leader I do not learn as many new things as I could be if people would just say something!  If it frustrates me, who is just showing up and attending, it must really aggravate the leaders who spend time planning and designing these sessions!  

I think that besides myself and the other pedagogical leaders that were there, there was maybe two people that started off answers to the facilitators questions.  Don’t be shy folks, there is no one that is going to fire you for opening up in this environment.  Half the time in school when Mary Lou would ask for ideas on how to guide behaviour I would make a slapping motion when no one would put up their hand.  There was a couple of reasons I did this.  I knew Mary Lou would scold me and I thought that was funny, it would make a few people laugh, and then *any* answer anyone had in their head was better than what I had just done so people would speak up a bit more.  The edge was off and it was OK to say something that might not be right on the mark.  I graduated just fine (and with good marks) being shy is not a requirement for the job, any job really.

In a professional realm I’m not as inclined to be as much of a goof when it comes to getting the ball rolling, but by the end of the PD last night I was about ready to just let loose any time a question was asked just to hear what other people had to say after.  And because it is really awkward waiting for people to speak up!