One Last Hurray!

I have spent the last few days in Winston Salem at the Education Resource Group's "Comprehension x3" with Stephanie Harvey, Debbie Miller, and Chris Tovani.  It was a fabulous experience!  Not only was I able to hear these gurus speak on literacy, but I had my three team mates with me! 

I have decided that this is the way to "do" a professional development.  I have gone to many professional developments where we take representatives from different areas of the faculty.  Although this idea is good in the theory that  the representatives will share,  realistically, it seldom happens as everyone is busy with the job at hand to learn something new.  We are all on the same page and have all heard the same message as we forge into our new school year.

Another wonderful part of this workshop was that we were with the lower school faculty!  Being that our middle school is on a different campus, we rarely have quality time to learn what exactly the lower school does.  Every afternoon we "debriefed" about the day's session and were able to hear the prospective of different grade levels. We were able to think about our student's thinking through different lenses...what a wonderful opportunity! Not only did we learn about their classrooms, we also made new friendships...the fun part of teaching!

(Next summer the speaker is Kelly Gallagher, one of my favorites!  Check out ERG.  This wonderful group, based in Winston Salem, put on a fantastic workshop.)