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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