MiddleView

 Whose Staff Development is it Anyway?

(cross posted at Ed LeaderWeb)

Staff Development.  These two words can strike fear in many a’ teacher’s heart!  When I was teaching I vividly remember sitting through some staff development sessions wondering if this was the end as we knew it.  There seemed to be no connect to my job and there was definitely not anything sustained.  We all know the catch words, “sit and get, hit and run”, but many of the offerings were more like sit and wonder how this impacts your job!

This of course is not only for teachers.  As an administrator I have sat through some strinkingly similar staff development sessions.  Most, if not all, of these sessions educators attend are well meaning and have wonderful points.  The sustaining factor is what hurts us most.   I know this is nothing new and we have all heard this before.  The high school I worked at in Florida always had a staff development theme for the year.  We tried to connect as many of the offerings together.  To me, it was sustained and continuous rather than a hit and miss approach.  I only hope the teachers felt the same way!  However, we all know this and this is not the point of my post.

This year we are focusing solely on curriculum mapping.  It is a sustained effort that directly ties to the everyday job of our teachers.  In our district, we have a series of late start days and the usual teacher works days.  Our teachers also meet as grade level  departments twice a week.  All of this time (or as close to 100% as possible) is spent on curriculum mapping.

When a new or recycled “thing” comes out, it is easy to present it to the staff and forget it.  Everyone hears about the glossy parts of the program and then moves on to the daily grind of education.  Even at my last school, when I was in charge of staff development, the “sustained, themed” approach was still a bit scattered and at times disconnected.  This year has been devoted to curriculum mapping.  The teachers know this and know they will have ample time to complete this tough task.

I think this is working.  Our teachers are hard at work and are engaged at our sessions.  They already know what is expected and we give them TIME to actually work on it.  It is no longer an administrator talking to a group of teachers.  It is teachers working together on a sustained goal. I love the idea of curriculum mapping and I think it will improve our school.  Teachers are working almost daily as teams to determine what should be taught and the BEST method to teach it!  As far as the staff development concept goes it is rather simple. Our plan is not diverse, glossy or complex.  It is simply sticking with one concept and giving our teachers the time needed to work on it.