Plan

What It Looks Like

Planning for a professional development trip incorporates the following elements:

• Planning well in advance—four to six months is ideal.
• The development of a customized itinerary, not an off-the-shelf tour company option.
• A focus on a theme that connects all parts of the professional development experience. This theme could be a specific time period (American Revolution), topic (The American Enlightenment), or technique (Teaching with Documents).
• Clear communication with content providers to find a match between teacher needs and what content providers have to offer.
• Realistic expectations about time and travel.
• Built-in time for teachers to explore on their own and reflect on what they are learning.
• Built-in time for evaluation in order to get feedback on the experience from participating teachers.

The coordinator plays a key role in the success of any professional development trip, serving as the bridge between teachers and content providers. The coordinator communicates expectations for the workshop to both teachers and content providers, sharing information on themes of interest and on available resources.