Reflecting on Education & Training Programs

I have been a teacher for five years now and I have worked for 3 different school districts in that time. With each new school district comes a unique requirement for annual professional development. The first district I worked for did not mandate how much professional development I needed each year, but did require that I attend the district training the week prior to school starting. I was also allowed to attend training during the school year if it was approved by the principal. And, to my knowledge, there was no limit of how much training I could attend during the school year. The second district I worked for required 21 hours annually of in-district professional development. With this school district I could only attend district sponsored training to meet the 21 hour requirement. If I attended any training outside the district it did not count toward the 21 hour requirement. The district I am currently working for allows the faculty and staff to attend 3 out of district training days during the school year. Personnel can attend whatever they want during the summer, but during the school year you must choose between Saturday trainings offered through the district and/or you can attend 3 days of training outside of the district during the school week. I have also been a member of ATPE and NBEA, but have not had the opportunity to attend training sessions put on by either organization.
With each of the above mentioned trainings I was always the participant. I would choose which sessions were most relevant to my teaching role and attend accordingly. The second district I worked for had the worst trainings. Or, the trainings with this district seemed to be the least effective and relevant to me and how I could use what was being taught in the classroom. This was also the worst situation because I was required to attend the district sponsored trainings to receive my credit.
I have just recently stepped into the role of presenter/trainer/faciliator. I am currently working as the coordinator of CTE for my school district. I have already had the opportunity to run 2 days of professional development. One day I presented an hour and half session on how to use technology in the classroom to increase student engagement to anyone in the district who was interested. And, the following day I facilitated the first CTE department meeting for the CTE teachers in the school district.
Having now seen professional development from both the participant and presenter's side I have a new found appreciation for those who present. It is hard to get up in front of your colleagues and make a presentation. The students in a classroom are much less scary to present to and act as facilitator with than it is to present to the teacher you work with down the hall. I hope that the nervousness will fade as it did in the classroom. I remember being very nervous during my student teaching the first couple of days the teacher let me take over. I hope the jitters fade with this new role too.