Week 2

Happy National Radio Day

August 22 - PLC Team Meetings

August 28 - School Pictures
August 31 - Collaboration Day

September 3 - No School
September 5 - PLC Team Meetings

September 12 - PLC Team Meetings

September 18-21 - Mid Quarter Grades
September 19 - PLC Team Meetings
September 20 - Air Evac Sign Ups
September 21 - Staff Tailgate Party @ Fellowship Christian Church

September 24 - Collaboration Day

Thank you for a smooth start to another school year. Aside from some KidAccount issues, things went really well. 

The sermon at church this Sunday was about how to grow in your christian faith. You need to find an example. You need to find a group. You need to find someone you can eat with. And you need to center these relationships on Christ. So, I got to thinking about the similarities of this and growing in your teaching abilities. 

You need to find an example. The pastor said that you need to find someone who can be a role model/accountability partner. This is true for teaching as well. Find a friend you can bounce ideas off of or talk through an issue with. Teaching can be a lonely profession if you let it.

You need to find a group. Of course the pastor was talking about bible study groups, but our PLC process follows the same concept. It is a small group that studies best practices. Your small group/PLC team studies best practices and keeps you all on the same page.

You need to find someone you can eat with. Here he was talking about fellowship with other christians, but we need fellowship, too. Take time to eat with your friends and just talk and have fun. It makes the stress of teaching a little more bearable.

The last thing was to center these relationships on Christ and while that can be true for anyone, I think for educators it's important to maintain a balance between school and your personal life. We pour so much of ourselves into what we do that it can become difficult to determine where school starts and our personal lives end. Maintain the balance.

Most of you know that I am a fan of Jennifer Gonzalez. She is the writer of Cult of Pedagogy which has lots of useful articles about different educational topics. This article is about Pineapple Charts.

I fully believe that the best forms of professional development are those that get teachers thinking and talking. "Sit and get" is not the kind of PD that develops people and encourages conversation. 

Pineapple Charts are a great way to encourage that conversation between professionals trying to improve their craft. If you would be interested in starting a Pineapple Chart at PBMS, let me know.

By the way, Jennifer Gonzalez will be in Columbia on November 14.