I recently read Katie Martin's blog post about whether or not we need PD. It's a good read and you can read it HERE. One of the examples that she cited in her post was about how a group of teachers got to go to a lab an see some authentic work being done there. With those experiences, they returned to campus to begin designing some engaging, authentic lessons and experiences for their students based upon what they had seen and experienced that day.
The idea that PD should experience a dramatic shift is not new. I loved this idea of teachers going to visit actual work places to see how the concepts they teach are being applied on a daily basis. The question is how do you grow that from isolated instance to movement? My idea came to from something totally unrelated. This week someone came in with a note regarding their absence to participate in Take Your Child To Work Day. That's when it came to me, we need a Take A Teacher To Work Day. It might be so great that we need to move "day" to "week." Instead of teachers trickling in over the course of several weeks in the summer to hear another stand and deliver session or participate in another gallery walk, let's get a movement going where teachers can routinely see how the skills, content and concepts they teach are applied on a daily basis; particularly those of us that live in a larger metropolitan area like I do. Here in DFW, Texas we are home to some of the largest corporations in the world. ExxonMobil, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, AT&T and many more have their headquarters right here in our backyard. We need to foster partnerships and learning opportunities with them; not just as places to take our students on field trips, but for our teachers to learn and grow as professionals. I'll admit we might have to work on the name over time, but the concept behind Take A Teacher To Work Day could really be one of the innovative practices that we're always seeking.
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Don't blame standardized testing, a tear in the fabric of traditional families or anything else. In fact, let's stop wasting so much time with the "Blame Game" in general. It's not productive and has no track record of producing improved results. In a manner of speaking, it's the Diet Coke of dieting.
What we need is balance, focus and a willingness to not just push the pendulum all the way to the other side in the name of solving a problem. In THIS ARTICLE from the Washington Post and reprinted on the mySA website, Jeffrey J. Selingo points out the top job skills schools aren't teaching well. Ironically, it's not our curriculum or learning objectives that are the issue. It's the soft skills. In a world focused on standards, higher order thinking and STEM/STEAM many are asking for professionals that have skills like "critical reasoning, creative problem solving, collaboration and basic digital fluency." Bottom line: they're looking for people who generate creative solutions, ideas, and approaches, not right answers. There's a key difference between the two. A right answer means everyone should arrive at the same place. There's no variation and often times many take the same path because it is obviously the most efficient one. Creative solutions bring about new meanings to old understandings. They push boundaries. If answers are generated, they're often unanticipated or push beyond what was thought to be possible. We've got to push students past answers and regurgitation. We've got to create avenues for students to develop the soft skills in conjunction with the technical. I highly recommend reading the entire article. If you ask a teacher what they want from any school administrator you'll probably get answers along two lines. Some will say they want to feel supported and trusted. That's really what instructional leadership is at it's heart, an ability to support people, teachers included. The others will say that they want a way to be able to give administration feedback in the way that they receive feedback from administration.
This week I will be starting a How Am I Doing feedback form. I'm going to put it in my email tag line and collect data through a Google Form, Instead of posting it on a QR code or in any public forum. Instead, I am going to put it in my email tagline. I'm also going to open this up to parents, students and anyone else that wants to give me feedback. Names will be optional and the prompts will be simple:
I am looking forward to what I find out. Hopefully it will be humbling. Hopefully I will find out where I really need to grow and improve. Regardless, I am excited to put myself out there and see what I can learn. Want to participate? Just click on the link and feel free to let me know how you think I am doing. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGw5J5-tepb6K-0imJ28Wd1f5CKaSPNH_DsOuQExCX5nJhYw/viewform?usp=sf_link |
AuthorJeff Lahey Archives
January 2020
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