The use of instructionally powerful techniques to coin a phrase is truly powerful and it is the powerful teacher that makes a difference with kids. I believe that we must move more than one teacher into powerful teaching practices to strengthen the school as whole. In essence, we need to get people thinking as school teachers and not classroom teachers. We have a responsibility to all kids in the school.
Motivation of staff is key. Trust and courage coupled with wisdom make a difference and it is the leadership at the school that plays the biggest role.
I am interested in moving schools forward and wondered what others think about issues such as the staff room dialogue, teachers that refuse to try a strategy new to them, etc.
Thoughts?
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1 comment:
Rich:
I agree totally. Staff need to communicate more with each other about what is working and not working in their classrooms, regardless of what they are teaching. Too often, the doors close and we wonder why the kids can't transfer their learning, say from math to science class. I also think that many teachers don't want to admit they want to improve. So many people treat this job as 8:30 to whatever time the last bell rings, and it's so much more than that. If a doctor never opened another book or read another article or attended another seminar after graduating med school, how would we view him or her? It's almost like some teachers think it's "uncool" to like our job and to want to improve. I have given up trying to convince people about the benefits of powerful strategies. If someone asks or shows interest, I am happy to share what I know. We need to focus on the positive and let the pessimistic, cynical individuals go their own way. Unfortunately, it's their students who suffer the most.
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