Being a teacher means continuously learning. We love to learn. We love to model learning to our students.
We also need credentials to keep our day job.
After receiving a teaching license, most states require several additional hours of learning every five or so years to renew the license. For example, in Ohio, you’re required to have 180 hours of professional development.
Now obtaining 180 hours of professional development over five years is not difficult. Schools and districts offer countless opportunities for growth (not to mention all the other ways teachers can grow like graduate programs, book studies, professional conferences, etc.).
If anything, the challenge for educators is finding professional development that is relevant to their particular needs. That’s why many states encourage teachers to develop an individual professional learning plan. This helps teachers have agency in determining how they will grow.
Tracking professional development, however, often gets messy. Creating a system that is consistent, verifiable, and uniformed takes intentional planning.
The most common solution I see is a big binder of sign-in sheets tallied at the district office. Or teachers dumping paper certificates into a file folder.
Too often, I’ve seen teachers run into a wall of panic when, at the time of license renewal, they realize they’re missing certificates and hours.
Abre makes the entire professional development process super easy. We do this through three simple steps.
- Learn. The ability to find opportunities to grow in the profession.
- Record. The ability to track this growth.
- Create. Transcripts and evidence of learning.
Learn
As a platform, Abre offers many professional learning courses educators can take. Schools can also create their own professional learning courses.
Create
When an educator goes to renew their license, they use Abre to filter the points earned during a particular time. They download this transcript of learning as their evidence of professional growth.
The next steps vary a bit, depending on the state. Some states ask local committees to do a final approval of the transcript, while others simply ask for a printout of the transcript.
Either way, the process is clean, simple, and easy with Abre as the platform for enhancing professional growth.