Some professional development training that I have experienced that I felt was very effective and helpful, and made a difference to my practice. And why I found it helpful

Literacy and Numeracy Training
During the Literacy class, sounds were taught through word displays and enjoyable activities such as writing in the sand, writing on each other’s backs, the ‘What’s in the box’ game and word building games with letter cards. Teachers were enthusiastic, asking questions when they didn’t understand and supporting each other to learn how to teach the activities. Many teachers admitted that at first they found the techniques difficult to implement even though they have been kept as simple as possible. During group work, teachers identified some challenges in teaching the Literacy picked the most crucial challenge as the one they wished to resolve first (“Teachers’ inability to say some of the sounds”). In an attempt to resolve it, the teachers brainstormed and had the following suggestions adopted. Thereafter, the teachers were encouraged to be supporting each other by: saying the right sounds to each other; observing other teachers teach the sounds they are good at and; help others to teach sounds others find difficult to teach where they are not confident enough. The most helpful aspect of the training was the availability of DVDs showing teachers teaching example lessons from lesson plans. This was a helpful resource material.