Professional development doesn’t always have to come from a conference or a new book. Sometimes the best inspiration is already in your pocket—literally.

Like many teachers, I’m a collector of great ideas. I hit save on Instagram posts that inspire me. I pin classroom strategies and eye-catching infographics to Pinterest boards I haven’t visited in months. I bookmark tweets that I know might be useful in the future, I flip my favorite sleep articles to Flipboard, and I have a camera roll full of screenshots from all manner of sources.

And yet… I rarely go back and intentionally revisit them.

So here’s a simple idea for your next bite-sized professional development moment:
Scroll your own archive.

Set aside ten minutes this week—just ten—and revisit the treasure trove you’ve already curated. Pick one place to start. Maybe it’s your saved folder on Instagram. Maybe it’s your “Teaching Ideas” board on Pinterest. Maybe it’s that screenshot album in your phone. Just go digging. What did you save? Why did it catch your attention in the first place? How might you bring that archived image or resource back to life?

You might rediscover a forgotten gem—something that made you pause because it meant something in that moment. Maybe it was a video of an activity that you know your students would love. Perhaps a simple assessment idea that seemed do-able on a busy week. A spark of creativity that felt like something your students would love. Before I started my (slow) transition away from Twitter/X, I revisited my archived tweets to pick out the ideas that I really should weave into my teaching.

When we save things, we’re reacting to potential. These little snippets made you stop scrolling because something about them felt useful, exciting, or fresh. That’s worth paying attention to. Trust your judgement – if you knew then, that this was a great idea, then it’s most likely that it is still a great idea.

Let this be a low-pressure opportunity to reflect and recharge. You don’t need to implement a massive overhaul—sometimes the best growth comes from tweaking something that’s already working. Use this time to rethink a lesson that needs a refresh, try a different approach to a skill you’re already teaching, or simply to be reminded that your past self was out there collecting inspiration for a reason.

If you find something that still feels exciting? Set yourself a goal to incorporate it into your planning. Share it with a colleague. Drop it into your planner and see where it takes you. Post it online and tag me.

Because sometimes, the best PD isn’t something new—it’s something you already noticed. You just have to scroll back to find it.

This microblog post was a featured post in #slowchathealth’s #microblogmonth event. You can search for all of the featured posts here. Please do follow each of the outstanding contributors on social media (including Andy Milne, the author of this post) and consider writing a microblog post of your own to be shared with the global audience of slowchathealth.com

Pair this blog post with the following:

Multicultural Appreciation Through Music by Dom Servini

Creating Classroom Playlists by Andy Milne

Something For The Weekend by Andy Milne

Free Professional Development by Andy Milne

Have you read the latest Book of the Month recommendation?