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The Best Way to Grow as a Teacher
Nothing Else Even Comes Close
When I was a coach at a middle school, I was lucky enough to win a grant for my school. The grant entailed that teachers could apply to observe someone else across our district doing something they really wanted to learn more about. Observing other teachers is where it’s at, in terms of bang-for-your-buck learning.
Don’t get me wrong: professional development is great. I’ve attended many a session that I walked away from with great ideas, excited to experiment with my new learning. I’ve also delivered numerous PD sessions. As a coach, that’s a big part of my job. But the best learning, again and again, happens when a teacher wants to learn about a particular approach or strategy and they are able to see it in action.
Why? Because when you see it, you believe that, yes, you can do it, too.
For the grant, teachers had to tell me: What is it that you most want to learn? What are you wanting to be able to do in your classroom? How are you wanting to grow? Once they told me their wishlist, I went out and hunted it down by asking other coaches at other schools — who had a teacher who did X really well? Who did they have who did Z? I was able to match up my teacher’s wishes with great examples for them to see.
