Category Archives: Professional Development
Getting out…
What am I looking forward to getting out of my Kenan experience? Hmmm…
At this point, I am mostly looking forward to getting out on the river tomorrow and decompressing a bit. Long term, I hope to become a better teacher for my students, families, and colleagues. I want to gain a deeper understanding of the content underpinning the life sciences strands in elementary school so that together we can make it concrete, tangible, and accessible to students, families, and communities. And I want to be able to build a connection between the women who run the lab and the young girls dreaming of their futures, to help my girls see that their native languages are strengths, not obstacles. I do want to help change my small corner of this great world.
But for now, I want to rest up so that I can be open to whatever the world tosses up tomorrow when we venture out into it.
Teaching teachers
I got to spend the day today with the brilliant, talented, and lovely Katie P. In the morning, we worked with two other teachers, helping our district’s K-2 teachers to use data in order to make instructional decisions about early childhood mathematics. In the afternoon, Katie and I worked with three other teachers and two central office personnel to develop roll-out training for a new interdisciplinary curriculum writing team.
Although the teams were different, the questions kicking around in my head overlapped:
1. How do we develop and communicate a clear vision about the learning/teaching process?
2. How do we effectively support teachers as they begin the process of re-envisioning their practice?
3. How do we continue to provide effective, meaningful support as teachers evolve in order to sustain learning/teaching?
4. How do we support teachers to move towards taking ownership over their professional development?
What has been effective in your experience?