You DO Have Time for PD!

     For those teachers who say they don't have time for professional development I say "Phooey!"  Since most teachers I know exercise and have smart phones I wonder why more don't combine the two in a more productive manner.  The pictures you see at the side of this post are of where a great deal of my professional development takes place.  Yes!  Outside.  I live in San Diego and we have a lot of open space here, canyons and mountains/hills great for running, hiking, and biking.  And of course there are the beaches and the bay.
     But my point here is that as you are listening to your iPhone while working out (even if you are unfortunate enough to have to do it at the gym) why not slip in a podcast now and again?  Most of my SMART Board training took place while I walked my dog.  How to deploy iPads in the classroom... hiking.  Flipping my classroom... weekly runs.  Now I get it, some of you may be couch potatoes.  But not to worry, you too can cash in.  While you are watching the next episode of Dancing With the Stars, pop open your computer and lurk in a Twitter chat.  You don't even have to tweet, just click on a link or two.  You'd be surprised at what you'll learn.  Last excuse, you play team sports...  Well, you should be running to improve your stamina and the podcast will only make the run go by faster.
     As for me, my mind, body, students, and my dog are all happier when I exercise.  ...and my administration is pretty happy as well!  And to those of you who still have excuses I'll tell you the same thing I tell my students.  "No excuses!  You have a job to do, so go get it done."