I’ve written here frequently about Thoughtful Classroom and the instructional strategies I’ve learned. I’m extremely excited about the 30 teachers who have signed on for our Randolph Learning Clubs! Teams of two teachers will lead learning clubs for two hours per month after school in which other teachers participate. The teachers in the Learning Clubs will be learning new strategies, trying them out, observing and helping one another to implement best practice. We will be building capacity within our own staff in an on-going meaningful way, not just one stop workshops that may or may not take hold in the classroom.
Investing in our collective knowledge as educators, talking about what’s working and asking for suggestions with what’s not–we’re so much better together than apart. And I’m delighted that 30 of our 82 teachers signed on for this learning opportunity. That’s a great response right out of the gate. It’s not the way teachers have typically done business with one another. There’s a risk in sticking your neck out and saying “hey, I did this and it was wonderful” and an even bigger risk in saying, “this lesson totally bombed, how could I have made it better?” and I’m loving that 30 RCS teachers are on board. Thank you Randolph faculty, I can’t wait to see what you learn together and from each other.
P.S. –thanks to our dynamic curriculum coordinator, Tiffany Giannicchi, for helping to put it all together and working with our Teacher Leaders to make it happen. Thanks in advance to our Teacher Leaders for your willingness to learn and share–you inspire me to keep implementing new ways of learning here.