Today I spent my morning in a really good meeting. It's not often I can say those three words together in a sentence, but this was one of those rare occasions. The meeting was of my districts Lab Teachers, and we were meeting with Diane Sweeney, author of Learning Along the Way, who works with our school district on our coaching and lab programs. We spent the morning discussing a chapter from her new book and talking about the evolving role of the district lab teachers.
The best part of the meeting was when Diane asked us what WE wanted to learn more about, a subject on which to engage in deep study so that when we felt ready we could open our classrooms or provide other professional development with others in our school district. As a group, we brainstormed a list of five or six possible topics, and then we each had to choose ONE. It was so difficult! Even though I've been teaching for seventeen years, I am always seeking to learn more and to become a better teacher. Ultimately, I decided to embark on a study of struggling readers (and consequently how to use our Fountas & Pinnell Assessement data to help them) with several of my junior high colleagues. I'm excited to work with my group to explore this area that I feel is one of my weakest as a teacher.
How lucky am I to work in a school district that values professional learning and encourages me to always push myself to learn more. And my professional learning will end up helping my students. What could be better?
