If you're tired of the "Driven By Data" agenda of corporate ed reformers, why not take back your professional development days? This year's PD from 440 was designed by administrators that have since left Philly for more money. What they left is a mess. What school staff have always known is that we can do much better because we know what our students, families, and school communities need. Working Educators are growing the idea of grassroots collaboration in schools as an alternative to top-down PD.
September 3rd and 4th are professional development days and the chaos at 440 has left a vacuum of leadership. Many principals may be willing to shorten the district-mandated materials if there is something worthwhile or site-specific for their staff to engage in. Ask your principal to carve out some staff-led PD time - an hour, a day - for staff to design and lead meaningful and inspiring workshops and collaborations before school starts! Here are some suggestions to offer your colleagues:
- Present a book or article you read over the summer.
- Plan ways to address the needs of your ESL students and families.
- Discuss how to facilitate dialogues on race and #BlackLivesMatter.
- Invite community-based organizations to partner with school staff.
- Choose your top 3 priorities for the year as colleagues.
- Share strategies and cool things to use in the classroom.
- "Turn-around" a training that you took over the summer.
- Explore ways to engage teachers and youth in critical pedagogy.
- Develop a year-long PD plan that staff can build on each PD day.
- Address any real needs at your school site. Who knows best what solutions to try!
Once you've created the space for staff-led PD, share the great things you're doing with the Caucus blog or Facebook page. Take photos, video, and share materials to build momentum! Later this year, the Caucus of Working Educators will start to grow and share quality cross-school collaborations on district PD days. Think about the possibilities for upcoming staff-led workshops on all of these days!
- October 28th (1/2)
- November 3rd
- November 25th (1/2)
- December 18 (1/2)
- January 22nd (1/2)
- February 16th (1/2)
- February 26th
- March 14th (1/2)
- April 26th
- May 10th (1/2)
Member-driven Caucus of Working Educators