As students and educators across Philadelphia prepare for the first days of school, we have several invitations for you. The first is to participate in an easy campaign that will help you and your colleagues make your professional development meaningful:
Reclaiming PD
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!
For a list of great teacher-led activities, check out our blog.
End of Summer Happy Hour / Book Series Finale
This summer, hundreds of educators participated in twelve different book clubs. Celebrate the end of the summer, and hear back about the intersectional explorations of the summer reading series!
- Celebrate a summer of learning and organizing together with TAG and the Caucus of Working Educators!
- Learn about the books people read in the 2nd Annual Summer Reading Series
- Meet other passionate educators and allies
- Share your ideas and get energized about the movement to defend and transform public education.
Thursday, September 3rd // 3-5 PM
Tierra Columbiana
4535 N. 5th Street, Philadelphia
Caucus General Membership Meeting
A must-attend event for all caucus members (and anybody who would like to join -- you can sign up at the start of the meeting!) Several committees will be sharing their summer work with suggestions for the coming year.
Wednesday, September 9th // 5-7 PM
Calvary United Methodist Church
815 S. 48th Street (at Baltimore Avenue), Philadelphia