Too often, teachers teach in isolation and don’t have much contact with their co-workers. They’re busy teaching their own students in their own classrooms, so there’s not a lot of time for collaboration. That’s regrettable, because teachers can learn so much from one another. When teachers do get together, be it in the lounge or during a planning period, oftentimes gripe sessions ensue, and very little that’s productive is accomplished.
A teacher shared the following with us:
I teach with so many wonderful teachers, but we rarely have time to collaborate and share our ideas with one another. One day, some of the teachers were discussing the fact that we really could learn a lot from one another if we only had the time to do it. Our principal overheard the conversation and said, “You’re right. Let’s make time for doing that.” He called a meeting of the faculty and asked each of us to bring one idea or story about something that was working really well for us in our classrooms. The topic was student behavior. The only rule for the session was that no one would be allowed to complain about students or student behavior. Instead, we were to share techniques that were working well when dealing with behavior issues. We all sat around and shared our successes. One teacher had the task of recording the ideas and then putting them into a document to share with everyone.
That one meeting was more productive than any meeting we had ever had. Many of the teachers were amazed at how much there was to learn from people they work with on a daily basis. One of the keys to the success of this sharing session, of course, was the structure. Each had a turn to share one idea, and no one was allowed to gripe. I hate to admit that it was the first time (and I’ve been teaching a long time) that I’ve ever been a part of such a positive, productive sharing session. Since then, we have decided to hold these sharing sessions monthly. The topics include behavior issues, instructional strategies, getting parents involved, etc. I believe we can all learn from one another, and I have to say that I have really filled my bag of tricks with many of the suggestions from my co-workers. It also makes me feel really good when one of my co-workers says, “I’m using the technique you shared last week, and it’s really working great. Thanks!”
For this inservice, you will be bringing all your teachers together to share suggestions and stories about what is working well for them in their classrooms. You’ve got a wealth of information right there on your own faculty. Why not afford everyone the opportunity to tap into this valuable resource?
Prior to this inservice,
Please note that as the administrator or staff developer, you will complete your portion of this inservice in ten minutes or less, but the teachers should be allowed to stay as long as they’d like in order to discuss ideas with one another.
Begin the inservice by sharing the teacher’s story that we just shared with you. Next, share a few successful classroom management strategies you’ve recently observed. Here are a few examples:
Add some of your own ideas here.
You might choose to lead the sharing session yourself or have a teacher facilitate it. It is likely that not all of the teachers will have the opportunity to share their techniques aloud, but all of their techniques will go into one document that will be shared with everyone. You have already given someone the task of compiling this document. A good idea is to have everyone email strategies to this person. Then, with a little cutting and pasting, all the ideas can easily be compiled into one document and emailed to you and all the teachers.
For the assignment, have teachers return to their classrooms to try at least one strategy they have learned from today’s session. We feel certain that after realizing the benefit of such a sharing session, you’ll soon begin scheduling even more of these. You don’t have to facilitate these types of sessions. Instead, assign a different teacher each time to be the facilitator. You may also want to schedule grade-level or subject-area sharing sessions.
Again, the key to the success of these sharing sessions lies in their structure. Gripe sessions are to be conducted elsewhere, because there is no place for griping in positive sharing sessions.