Stop the drips

Written on 5:26 PM by Unknown

CC licensed photo shared by Flickr user jamiejohndavies

So the faucet in one of the bathrooms in my house has been dripping and I used the extra time of Labor Day Weekend to take on the project of stopping the leak. Even with my limited plumbing knowledge, I knew I could make this repair myself. What I didn't expect was that it took me stops at three separate hardware stores to acquire the materials I needed to address the drip. Driving from store to store, I felt like I was losing my enthusiasm for a small project. Why was it so difficult to find a few small parts for a faucet? As is often the case, my thoughts never stray too far from school and I almost immediately had thoughts about how this connected to education.

Of course, the problem with the drip is watching all that water go wastefully down the drain. It's not just water that is wasted when a system doesn't operate as intended. I know lots of teachers who have vast professional knowledge. I know they each have great ideas to use for their individual classes. Throughout my entire career, I have watched drips go down the drain as teachers with valuable knowledge were not asked to share or validated in other ways. Just as I addressed the drip in my bathroom, I am trying to address the dripping in my school. I'm trying to create PD opportunities to be led by any interested teacher. We're trying to use the "unconference" model to engage and encourage every teacher in sharing their collective knowledge. When we stop the drips, every teacher will feel solid and know the value he or she adds not only to a grade level team but also to the entire building. I won't let any teacher feel like one of those drips; I will make every teacher feel like an important part of our learning system.

Posted in professional development

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