Teaching Teachers

One of my jobs as an instructional coach is to plan and implement professional development. This is no easy task. I don't mind speaking in front of groups and there are lots of topics I find interesting enough to research and present. It's the buy-in factor. I think the most important part of my job is to get teachers to want to be part of my sessions, to want to learn about the idea that I am presenting on. Teachers are a tough bunch. I know, I have been one for a while now. I am just as judgmental about district meetings and professional developments that I sit through as a participant. I have been part of the group that talks in the back because it is so boring I would otherwise be asleep. I know, not my best side. 

About 5 years ago I was asked to participate in a cadre of teachers that would get together and plan the professional development for our school site. This was a win-win for me, I got to get out of my participant chair and also got to have input on what we focused on as a school site. This model has worked well for us. Our teachers are more invested, there is more input on what is focused on, and this cadre played a large role in JBMS being named a 2017 Gold Ribbon School. 

As I moved from teacher to teacher leader to instructional coach, I have taken on more of the day to day responsibilities of instruction at the school site. It has been eye opening and at times challenging. Early in January, fresh from the 3 week holiday break, I faced one of these challenges. I am part of 3 person team that oversees instruction. My math/science counterpart went on maternity leave a bit earlier than expected. The assistant principal who oversees instruction, and who is also my rock at school, went on bereavement leave. This left me. With three Tuesday professional developments (PD) in a row. The cadre of teachers stepped up and helped where I needed it but I knew it fell to me to get the job done. So I did the best thing I knew how to do - I baked. I spent an entire day baking cupcakes, big ones, small ones, and making frosting. I had planned a hands-on, Design Thinking professional development and I wasn't going to fail. 

The day went smoothly. More so than I thought it could. At the end I not only had fun, I learned a lot. I learned that everyone likes hands-on activates, not just kids. I learned that candy and cupcakes make learning more fun, and I learned that I have grown so much in my 18 months out of the classroom. 

The PD was based on the story of the Gingerbread Man having survived the holidays without getting eaten. He now has a bucket list of things he wants to do and needs an vehicle to do it. The parameters were simple:

• The vehicle must be able to travel on land, air, and water
• The vehicle must have a power source
• The vehicle must have a navigation system. 

The teachers were put into random groups as they came into the room, they were given all kinds of candy, cookies, and cupcakes and set loose. This is where it got interesting for me. I had anticipated that each group would take 1 cupcake and put wheels on it, make a seat and that would be that. What I didn't see coming was the scope of vehicles that were designed. This afternoon showed me that listening and putting ideas together from multiple people of different backgrounds can result in amazing things. I was truly blown away by the designs and the thought that the staff put into their designs. 

At the end of the activity, each group did a 30 second presentation, recorded on their iPads and submitted it to the student leadership at our school site. The students watched the videos, made a video of their own to showcase the winning group that was announced the next week, we also gave out $5 Starbucks cards to the winning teachers.

This past week I went in to a science class to pick up a student that I needed to speak with and the students were working in groups with pipe cleaners, fabric, tape and lots of fun things. I asked what they were working on and it turns out they were creating an all terrain vehicle with a power source and navigation system. This is why I left the classroom. Not because I wanted to stop teaching. I wanted to reach more students and by teaching teachers, I can do that.