From Sit and Get to Go and Show: Rethinking Our Professional Learning at Hillcrest

At Hillcrest, we pride ourselves on cultivating a community of lifelong learners—teachers and students alike. Yet for years, much of our professional learning followed a familiar pattern, the 'sit and get. We’d gather for a one-day workshop, fill our notebooks, nod in agreement, and then return to our classrooms hoping something would stick. But real transformation rarely does happen when learning stops at inspiration. Over time, I began to realize that this model wasn’t just outdated, it was out of sync with how we actually teach. As educators, we don’t expect students to master new skills in a single sitting. We provide time, feedback, modeling, and relevance. So why shouldn’t we give ourselves the same learning experience?

Seeing the Shift at Hillcrest

The change began when our team started experimenting with ongoing, active, and supported professional learning, particularly during our implementation of GoGuardian. What began as a tech integration quickly became a lesson in growth culture. When teachers received coaching, modeling, and time to experiment with the platform, confidence skyrocketed. Suddenly, professional learning wasn’t a meeting, it was a movement. This experience showed me what professional learning could be, collaborative, relevant, and sustained. It reflected what we value most at Hillcrest, authentic relationships, student-centered learning, and teacher empowerment.

Presentation From Sit and Get to Go and Show

The 5 Principles That will Change Everything

Through my journey and research, I’ve come to believe in five principles that define truly effective professional learning. These ideas aren’t just theory, they are practices that will reshape how we grow as educators at Hillcrest:

1.  Extended Duration – Learning that lasts over time gives teachers room to experiment, reflect, and refine.

2.  Ongoing Support – Growth sticks when teachers feel supported, not judged.

3.  Active Engagement – The best PD mirrors the active, inquiry-based learning we want for students.

4.   Leader Modeling – When administrators model curiosity and vulnerability, it gives permission for others to grow.

5.   Subject-Specific Focus – Professional learning must be relevant to the realities of our classrooms.

When these principles align, learning transforms from a compliance activity into a culture of curiosity and confidence. This is what I call the 'Go & Show' model, because professional learning should lead to visible, meaningful change in our classrooms.

Why It Matters Now

Education is evolving faster than ever. Between new technologies, shifting standards, and the constant push for innovation, our teachers are navigating more complexity than any generation before. But if our professional learning remains static, our potential remains limited. At Hillcrest, we’re breaking that pattern. We’re moving toward a model that empowers teachers to lead, experiment, and share what works. We’re rethinking PL as an ongoing conversation, one that values collaboration over compliance, creativity over convenience.

Presentation about how we will change our Professional Learnings and Why

A Call to Action

If we truly want our students to become lifelong learners, we must model that same mindset ourselves. It’s time to stop 'sitting and getting' and start 'going and showing. Professional learning should feel less like a lecture and more like a lab, a place where teachers test ideas, learn from failure, and celebrate success together. Hillcrest is already taking bold steps in this direction, and I’m proud to be part of a team willing to rethink what learning looks like, for all of us.

References

Andrews, T. M., Leonard, M. J., Colgrove, C. A., & Kalinowski, S. T. (2011). Active learning

not associated with student learning in a random sample of college biology courses.

CBE—Life Sciences Education, 10(4), 394–405. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.11-07-0061

Desimone, L. M., & Garet, M. S. (2015). Best practices in teachers’ professional development in the United States. Psychology, Society & Education, 7(3), 252–263.

https://repositorio.ual.es/bitstream/handle/10835/3930/Desimone%20En%20ingles.pdf?sequence=1&utm_source

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers: Effective professional development in an era of high-stakes accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from

https://www.basicknowledge101.com/pdf/teaching%20teachers%20Professional%20Development.pdf

Harapnuik, D. (2018, July 14). COVA. It’s About Learning – Creating Significant Learning

Environments. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991

Sinek, S. (2009, September). How great leaders inspire action [Video]. TEDxPuget Sound. https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action