Another PD day or Learning?

As we meet and complete our professional development day on Sept. 4th,   I challenge each of you think about what learning means to both you and your students?  We have all sat through PD days before and either come away from them with great new ideas or strategies or sat through such days and questioned whether we learned anything at all.  I know I have been there.  It is my goal to not waste this opportunity to for each of you to learn but will this actually happen and what might be the outcomes if learning does occur at all?  I like to think of such opportunities as professional learning opportunities rather than professional development.  However what would true learning look like?  What would have to happen to know that learning was actually the outcome of our time spent together?  Well I can think of experiences that have caused me to learn and what took place in my own mind as well as what was the result of that learning.  Professional learning is not professional learning unless it changes the way you think or behave.  Most of the experiences that are most valuable to me and where I learn something new is when I am challenged to rethink my beliefs or behaviors by someone whom thinks and behaves differently from me but it does not stop there that is only the start.  Taking those challenges and changing the way I think and behave then putting them into practice determines whether professional learning really occurred at all.  For this to happen my mindset must be open to both challenge and change.  I cannot have a fixed mindset where I might think "but I already do this" or "this will fit nicely into what I already do"  That fixed mindset will not lead to change in my thinking or behavior thus any real true learning on my part.  So as we embark on or reflect upon Fridays learning ask yourself did any learning actually occur or was my mindset one that will lead to learning (change in thinking or behavior) and ultimately impact student learning?

A look ahead:

Teachers goals should be uploaded to SFS by the end of the day on Friday September 11th.  We will then begin getting into classrooms to observe teachers.

Leadership meeting Wednesday morning 7:00 in the lounge.

Math and Humanities teachers select students for intersession by September 11th.  Criteria for selecting students is classroom performance.  Look for students that have shown skill deficiencies thus far or are failing your class.  Keep in mind that the target should be students that can't not necessarily those that don't.  Fill out this form to select your students.  Each Humanities team and math teacher may select up to 10 students for intercession.  We will then look at other data such as 2014 ISTEP and Aimsweb to select students.  Students will receive a letter to their parents that explains that their child has been selected.

Intersession will be for 3 days over Fall Break Oct. 19-21 from 8:00 to 12:00 each of those days.  Teachers interested in teaching intersession should see me and contact Mr. Tyree.  If you have further questions please let me know.

Have a great long weekend! Go Rockies!