If you invite them, they will lead
Our district has been increasingly reaching out to have staff lead, and I love it. Some reflections...
Wellness first
Earlier this year we had a professional development day focused on wellness. Rather than bringing in outside programing on a set topic, our wellness committee reached out to utilize talent from within the district and then allowed staff to choose two sessions that interested them. One takeaway: adults clearly value having choice just as much as our students do.
The sessions offered by district staff ranged from yoga to adult coloring to smoothie making to biking. The positive energy on that day was contagious. Not only did we have the opportunity to slow down and learn healthy techniques, but we got to interact with our colleagues in an active, low-pressure way; it was humanizing, and it was pretty much unanimous that it was the best PD day ever.
Technology tricks
More recently, we received a Google form request to submit a proposal to lead a PD session related to instructional technology. Teachers could then choose (there it is again!) from sessions ranging from flipped classrooms (shout out to the wonderful Betsy Long -- @mrslongscience) to EDpuzzle (with the always amazing Oona Abrams -- @oonziela) to creating assessments on Schoology. All sessions were structured with about an hour teacher-led presentation and an hour to play with the new technology and get support.
I ran a session on creating websites with Weebly. During this session I shared the various ways I’ve used Weebly in my classroom. Websites are a perfect way to get students to create something real, public and shared. They allow for instruction on so many important “21st century” skills. (Blog post on this to come.)
I shared websites my students created on issues of injustice (such as this site on hunger) and topics related to The Scarlet Letter (such as this site on gender inequality in Pakistan). I also shared how websites are the perfect way to share student work (such as This I Believe essays and TED Talks) with a broad audience. My slides are viewable here.
Wellness first
Earlier this year we had a professional development day focused on wellness. Rather than bringing in outside programing on a set topic, our wellness committee reached out to utilize talent from within the district and then allowed staff to choose two sessions that interested them. One takeaway: adults clearly value having choice just as much as our students do.
The sessions offered by district staff ranged from yoga to adult coloring to smoothie making to biking. The positive energy on that day was contagious. Not only did we have the opportunity to slow down and learn healthy techniques, but we got to interact with our colleagues in an active, low-pressure way; it was humanizing, and it was pretty much unanimous that it was the best PD day ever.
Technology tricks
More recently, we received a Google form request to submit a proposal to lead a PD session related to instructional technology. Teachers could then choose (there it is again!) from sessions ranging from flipped classrooms (shout out to the wonderful Betsy Long -- @mrslongscience) to EDpuzzle (with the always amazing Oona Abrams -- @oonziela) to creating assessments on Schoology. All sessions were structured with about an hour teacher-led presentation and an hour to play with the new technology and get support.
I ran a session on creating websites with Weebly. During this session I shared the various ways I’ve used Weebly in my classroom. Websites are a perfect way to get students to create something real, public and shared. They allow for instruction on so many important “21st century” skills. (Blog post on this to come.)
I shared websites my students created on issues of injustice (such as this site on hunger) and topics related to The Scarlet Letter (such as this site on gender inequality in Pakistan). I also shared how websites are the perfect way to share student work (such as This I Believe essays and TED Talks) with a broad audience. My slides are viewable here.
The effects of teacher-led PD
Out of the professional day focused on wellness, we now have a teacher who leads a faculty lunch club four times a year. The first menu consisted of carrot ginger soup, teriyaki glazed salmon, soba noodles with veggies, and fresh fruit. Attendees sat kitchen table style and conversed over an amazing, home-cooked meal. Yes, please! We also have teachers leading high-intensity/tabata and yoga classes for people in the district.
More than ever before, I heard my colleagues sharing what they learned at the technology sessions they attended. I’ve also heard many people talk about how they already have implemented or plan to implement what they learned. A German teacher is starting a website project with her students this week; they will be creating websites to introduce themselves and our community to exchange students. (I think she’s even using the Weebly site in German -- how cool!) An English teacher is developing a professional site to organize and share the work for his class.
One of the many, many reasons why I am grateful to have Heather Rocco (@heatherrocco) as my supervisor is that she models the best teaching and leadership practices. Our department meetings involve English teachers sharing book talks, technology tricks, and insights from conferences. We learn from and with each other, and as a result, our meetings are both engaging and productive.
My wonderful colleague George Iannuzzi (@mr_iannuzzi) recently wrote an article about teacher leadership for English Quarterly. In it he shares, “All teachers want to learn from each other and even we newbies have valuable lessons to share.” As a first year teacher, George is already a great example of informal teacher leadership; he is constantly looking for opportunities to collaborate with colleagues -- from writing a grant to publish student This I Believe essays, to having a Google Hangout with the turtles of a biology class.
I love that we’re seeing more “grassroots” as well as more formal opportunities for teacher leadership within our district. The results of sharing and utilizing our collective talents will always be good things.
Out of the professional day focused on wellness, we now have a teacher who leads a faculty lunch club four times a year. The first menu consisted of carrot ginger soup, teriyaki glazed salmon, soba noodles with veggies, and fresh fruit. Attendees sat kitchen table style and conversed over an amazing, home-cooked meal. Yes, please! We also have teachers leading high-intensity/tabata and yoga classes for people in the district.
More than ever before, I heard my colleagues sharing what they learned at the technology sessions they attended. I’ve also heard many people talk about how they already have implemented or plan to implement what they learned. A German teacher is starting a website project with her students this week; they will be creating websites to introduce themselves and our community to exchange students. (I think she’s even using the Weebly site in German -- how cool!) An English teacher is developing a professional site to organize and share the work for his class.
One of the many, many reasons why I am grateful to have Heather Rocco (@heatherrocco) as my supervisor is that she models the best teaching and leadership practices. Our department meetings involve English teachers sharing book talks, technology tricks, and insights from conferences. We learn from and with each other, and as a result, our meetings are both engaging and productive.
My wonderful colleague George Iannuzzi (@mr_iannuzzi) recently wrote an article about teacher leadership for English Quarterly. In it he shares, “All teachers want to learn from each other and even we newbies have valuable lessons to share.” As a first year teacher, George is already a great example of informal teacher leadership; he is constantly looking for opportunities to collaborate with colleagues -- from writing a grant to publish student This I Believe essays, to having a Google Hangout with the turtles of a biology class.
I love that we’re seeing more “grassroots” as well as more formal opportunities for teacher leadership within our district. The results of sharing and utilizing our collective talents will always be good things.