Well, sort of day 1.
In order for the administration to sign off on the class they want us to better define our individual learning goals for the class. Raising achievement is our ultimate goal so our learning goals need to aim for raising achievement. This is not to say our goals can’t involve new learning as well because that new learning may also lead to improved achievement.
Apologies to Laura Numeroff and her demanding mouse.
If you give a teacher a computer, they will want some software or tools. And once they have the tools they will want to learn how to use those tools. And once they know how to use those tools they will want to apply those tools to their classroom practice…their teaching. And once they see how the tools help them as a professional they will seek to learn how to use technology tools with their students. Once they see the students like learning the tools as well they will focus their efforts with technology to go beyond fun and aim for enhanced learning. Once the teacher sees how technology when done well engages the students they aim for incorporating more technology into their classroom and student projects for learning. And once realize new learnings are taking place they will want more computers for the kids to use and newer and better tools as well. And chances are if they have those tools they will want to learn more about them.PD is sometimes a touchy subject….who decides who gets to learn what. Does the teacher choose what she/he wants/needs to learn or is it the school district? Well, I would have to say both. However, if there is a disconnect between what a teacher wants/needs to learn and what the district is offering the teacher needs to accept what is offered at the district level and then reach out for what they need elsewhere. In our district it is not the quality of PD, but the quantity.
As Richard Elmore said in his influential report for the Shanker institute
Bridging the Gap Between Standards and Achievement: The Imperative for Professional Development in Education:
With increased accountability, American schools and the people who work in them are being asked to do something new – engage in systematic, continuous improvement in the quality of the educational experience of students and to subject themselves to the discipline of measuring their success by the metric of students’ academic performance. Most people who currently work in public schools weren’t hired to do this work, nor have they been adequately prepared to do it either by their professional education or by their prior experience in schools. (p. 3)
Accountability must be a reciprocal process. For every increment of performance I demand of you, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation. Likewise, for every investment you make in my skill and knowledge, I have a reciprocal responsibility to demonstrate some new increment in performance. (p.4)
Sadly we are limited to 2 half days of PD. Some staff meetings can be considered PD, but even with that additional time I would say our “quid pro quo” or “reciprocity of accountability for capacity” arrangement are out of balance.
That leaves you with a few choices.
1) You could just chug along and do what you do. Perhaps what you've always done.
2) You could complain.
3) Or you could do something about it. Reach out and learn something about it.
In our class we will choose the 3rd option as an ongoing assignment. I hope the length of the class allows you to start the habits of seeking external PD on a regular basis.
Bill Ferriter has written an excellent piece in the current issue of Educational Leadership about how educators can fill the gap in PD. Don’t wait for it, go get it.
To those ends we have an ongoing assignment in this class. You will start a blog using the platform of your choice. There are several options. I would recommend Blogger simply because that is the tool I use and the tool I can most easily support.
You will also register for an RSS reader. Once again, your choice. I use Bloglines, but am always considering moving to Google Reader. If you don’t have a Google account, by all means get one. There is just too much good stuff you are missing out on.
Now that you have a blog and a reader I am going to ask you to become a Web 2.0 reader and writer. Each week I want you to post at least three times related to your new learnings.
Three times he says, that is too much. Keep in mind that a post can be short. The writing can be thinking in text…sharing your thoughts.
1) One post will be related to your progress on your project.
2) A second post will be sharing something you read online that you found interesting. Perhaps something related to your project or maybe something you can tuck away for later use or just something about today’s learners.
3) The third post will be about some professional learning you are doing. This can be sharing an article you read in a professional magazine or something in a current book you are reading. In some ways a magazine or journal is best because you can change topics with each article. However, there is the finding of worthy articles. Perhaps a book is easier, because you like to go more in depth. Either way I want you to share your thoughts as you read. It can be as simple as sharing a line or lines in the book and then sharing your reaction. The rest of us will be reading each other’s posts in our feedreaders and hopefully responding to each other.
For magazines I would highly recommend Educational Leadership, Edutopia, Phi Delta Kappan, The Reading Teacher, Teaching Children Mathematics, etc. Don’t have a subscription? No worries, many of these titles are available electronically just by using InfOhio or your library card. Don’t lock yourself into one title, you can search by subject via the journal databases online.
What about books? So many good ones out there. Scott McLeod (a good blog to subscribe to) has a list of books he recommends under different subjects at
http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/reading.htmlAny of the books on that list would be great. I have read a few of them and would highly recommend
Made to Stick. It is not teacher book, but a teacher could take away a great deal from it. I recently finished
Results Now and it was pretty hard on schools and the way we work, but it provides great, useful ideas on how to raise achievement.
Other books you might want to consider include:
Of course you may have your own professional book that has been sitting on your desk, nightstand, or shelf that you’ve been wanting to read. If it is a book that will help your teaching and efforts towards raising achievement I think it would work well.
Me, I’m reading
The Game of School and
Readicide.
