Because our world, our selves and our work are intertwined, today’s post offers reflection on what anti-racism means to us as humans and how you can embed anti-racism into your work through your organization’s professional development strategy.

Think about when you wanted to learn how to dice a fresh mango, how to launch your e-marketing campaign or how to facilitate a Zoom meeting for the first time. All of these things were “nice to know”s until they became “must know”s. And THAT is when you sought to learn them. That’s what adult learners do—we learn things we need to know, when we need to. Help your learners get the knowledge they need by starting your own online university.

If you host a virtual happy hour and nobody comes, is it still worth doing? Do you find yourself wondering: What’s wrong? Why am I here in this virtual room, virtually alone (except for my kids playing and dog barking in the other room)? Read on to find out what to do if this happens to you.

You can’t just take the in-person agenda and materials, pop them into a virtual space and then expect it to be just as amazing as it was in-person. But, you also do not have to scrap the full agenda and start over. Follow these simple steps to adapt an existing workshop agenda to the online environment.

You were scheduled to offer an in-person workshop or meeting, but now need to revise it to be virtual. Sound familiar? While you may be prepared to adapt your slide deck and discussion questions for an online environment, how do you ensure that your participants stay engaged during your live web-based session? This post offers five strategies to keep your participants engaged.

It seems like everyone has a learning management system, an e-Learning portal or an app to deliver their online professional development. When you’re planning professional development, how do you figure out if online learning is a good solution and then, what kind of tech to use? Here are some considerations to inform your thinking.

The virtual environment has the capability and flexibility to establish engaging and supportive professional learning opportunities for afterschool leaders no matter where they are located. Get a handle on online learning terms and envision the possibilities beyond the webinar.

There’s a lot of jargon out there and we don’t know many people who have time for deciphering it. When one of our clients asked us how a professional learning community (PLC) and a community of practice (CoP) are different, we dug in to learn more. 

Afterschool professionals are movers and shakers--they are not interested in sitting still and being talked at. And, actually, who is? 

In our weekend training, we explored multiple social identities and how they show up in our work as facilitators. How do your social identities inform your work?

Online learning has changed the field of professional development in a good way. Wanna know why?

When the National Afterschool Association asked us to describe how we build a culture of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication, we weren’t sure they meant to call us.