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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Trust, Things that Suck, and the #PennPDparty


Act 1:  "In 3 hrs, we fed them dinner and everyone stayed around and learned until 7pm, and all but two of our teachers showed up" 

Why this quote matters is a story that starts in my first year of teaching.  I got hired in 2008 and the high schools in our district had just won a 5 million dollar grant around SLCs/PLCs... much of which was to be spent on professional development (PD).  I was shocked to observe how hard of a time our principals (3 in 5 years) had at getting teachers to attend any of the district PD sessions.  I will be the first to admit that this was not "great" PD... however, for a new (relatively crappy) teacher, I figured:

 "If I can pick up one or two good ideas a day, I am doing pretty good"

Since then I have learned that teachers are 'time-poor' and in general will not suffer bad PD.  More importantly, it seems to me that the impact of bad PD has a lasting effect on teachers.  These observations may be the primary reason I am no longer in the classroom.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Act 2:  Things that suck at #edcampsac

I had the privilege collaborating with two bad@$$ educators this in Jan, both of which were engaged in a significant PD experience for their respective schools.  Educator A:  Doing an off site training with a team of teachers and their principal, working as a team and deciding some direction for the school.  One comment that stuck:

"After last week, I am just going to stay quiet, it is not a safe place for me to share and I feel alienated"

What would it take for you to feel that way?  Think style of leadership and measure of relationships between the principal (who was with the group all day) and teachers.  At edcampSac I attended a session called "things that suck", the final topic was PD.  The discussion that emerged was focused around the following idea:

Every time-expensive, bad PD experience, makes a teacher less likely to engage in something new in the future. 

 Bad PD is my number one competitor in my mission to find ways to help all teachers be their own personal version of great.  (read: why I left the classroom)

Act 3:   "Why are you thanking me...you did all the work"

While Teacher A was opting out of contributing his great ideas to the direction of his school, I was answering an invitation to lead a voluntary 3 hour session at a friend's elementary school.  The night was beautiful!  The entire staff (all but two teachers showed up) dedicated their evening to a session on leveraging their modest computer lab.

When I thanked the principal during a quick debrief after the training, she responded with the title quote of this closing act.  I briefly explained how much it says about her school and herself as a leader, that so many of her teachers trust her with their time.  There are few bigger compliments that a staff can pay their leader. The road to making a voluntary training like this happen has been slowly paved through the encouragement, support, and devotion over the time she has been there.

Epilogue:  #Relationshipsmatter

I can say that in both examples I know the principals very well and have had the honor to learn from both of them.  Both are capable, intelligent, and care deeply about their schools.  Why the difference?  What type of relationship should leaders strive for to get the most out of their teachers?  How does one build true and honest trust that keeps people from saying things like....

After last week I am just going to stay quiet, it is not a safe place for me to share and I feel alienated"

I have no answers to these meaningful questions, though I am excited to selfishly surround myself with leaders winning the relationship game.  After all...

"I figure if I can pick up one or two good ideas a day, I am doing pretty good"  

#teamnorthbay

Cheers








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