#nablopomo #nablopomoed Blog A Day 24 If only Professional Development

#nablopomo #nablopomoed  Blog A Day  24 If only…

… all schools would learn this model, presented in this post, and the comments, by Tracy Watanabe

Why?

  1. They respect teachers by empowering them to solve the issues regarding the school’s vision through teacher-led Instructional Rounds.
  2. They consider the shift in instruction required by the Common Core State Standards  and focus on project based learning.
  3. They provide the time and resources needed for collaboration to build a culture of learning for students and staff.

If you have read any of Daniel Pink’s work, you will recognize his research shining through Apache Junction Unified School District’s vision and work:

“The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.”

“the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose”

Tracy’s school district is building a caring, trusting, professional learning community in a shared purpose through autonomy to reach mastery.

I’m sure it’s not always easy; I’m sure there are struggles, but the community will work out the issues together.

If only…

 

2 Comments

on “#nablopomo #nablopomoed Blog A Day 24 If only Professional Development
2 Comments on “#nablopomo #nablopomoed Blog A Day 24 If only Professional Development
  1. Sheri,

    I’m honored that you wrote a post about the take-aways from our conversation and other sources (EG Daniel Pink) of solutions for what works. Your Haiku Deck is beautiful and powerful. I may use it in a future post, giving full credit to you, naturally.

    You are correct, it’s not easy, and it takes a lot of effort to set up, communicate, and continually improve. It’s important to work as a team, tap into each others strengths, and not poke fun at each others areas that need improvement. Truth is, we all need to improve, and we do a better job when we work together to help one another and bring out the best in one another.

    The people I surround myself with are those that live by that motto. I might not be able to distance myself from those who don’t live by that, but I try my best to model what I expect in return with a side of humility and patience. I remind myself that we are all learners, we are all at different places in our growth, and we can all learn from one another.

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    • Tracy,

      I loved the work your district is doing — and you are correct, whether staff or student: “we are all learners, we are all at different places in our growth, and we can all learn from one another.”

      My blog prompt today was “If only,” and after reading your post, I knew I had to honor your work because it is true: If only PD looked like this. It’s also part of my new “blogging conversations” whereby we don’t just comment on blogs, we honor the ideas by writing our own posts to add value to those ideas we appreciated, or perhaps disagreed with. I tried to add some value by linking to things you had mentioned in your comment, and of course, what your work represents: a culture of learning with true motivation.

      I look forward to more of your Depth of Knowledge posts as well, because that’s what the Common Core represents.

      Thanks, Sheri

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