Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Professional Learning Advisory Updates
by Debbie Yonke, Coordinator, Quality Assurance in Learning

We are excited to announce the newest members of the Professional Learning Advisory, who will begin their three-year term with the 2014-15 school year.
-Barbara Wormington (Field Elementary)
-Cassie Downs (Robberson Community School)
-Thomas Maerke (Pleasant View Middle School)
-Tabitha Eutsler (Jeffries Elementary)

Please join us in welcoming these new members.  This Advisory joins with the Department of Professional Learning to empower educators and ensure student success. 

The primary focus of the Professional Learning (PL) Advisory is to…
-review the yearly Professional Learning Needs Assessment.
-use the Needs Assessment data to develop a Professional Learning Plan which is submitted to the School Board on a yearly basis.
-use the Professional Learning Plan to guide setting Professional Learning priorities for expenditures.

In compliance with Missouri mandates and regulations, PL Advisory members are teachers who are employed full-time by the district and serve staggered three-year terms.  The PL Advisory also includes appointed representatives from teacher organizations and administration as well as facilitators from the PL Department. 

We would also like to recognize the following teachers who just completed their three-year terms:
-Dr. Melissa Albright (Wilson’s Creek)
-Dr. Gwyn Burns (Twain Elementary)
-Nicole Bueno (Cherokee Middle School)
-Laurie Sullivan (Hillcrest High School)

We appreciate the professionalism and service of these individuals, and we look forward to working with our new team to support Springfield’s educators and students.
Refresh, Rejuvenate, Reflect
by Martha Doennig, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

With Independence Day just around the corner, I am reminded of many vivid summer childhood memories. Decorating bikes in red, white, and blue for the annual neighborhood parade, long days at the community swimming pool engaged in diving contests followed by the carnival and fireworks, and spending the dog days of summer sprawled on the couch under the only window unit engrossed in book after book. July 4th marked the midpoint to the much anticipated arrival of a new school year.  Now, Fourth of July signals the arrival of school supplies and back to school promotions at local retailers. As exciting as school supplies are, don’t let the retail world cut your summer short.  Maximize your time to refresh, rejuvenate, and reflect.   Should you have already exhausted your summer goals, here are some ideas to recharge for the coming school year.
Retreat.  Many of us tend to be like Carol Ann Tomlinson.  In “Architects of Summer she refers to herself as a certifiable education addict.   Teaching and its demands consume and sap mental and physical energy.  As a child, it was easy to turn off the school brain, but certainly easier said than done in adulthood.   Granting the teacher brain an opportunity to rest and focus on other elements of our lives that contribute to joy inspires rejuvenation.

Do Something Just for Yourself.    During the school year, we often neglect our basic needs.  Restroom breaks, lunch, and time for appointments go by the wayside.  In “Take Time for Yourself-and Cultivate Learning,” Rick Wormeli discusses the importance of being physically present and in good health to be a teacher.  The personal energy needed to move our students forward is intense.  Our well-being is crucial for the impact we want in the classroom.  Therefore, take this time to tune up your body, and possibly spoil it a little bit, too.
Try Something New.   Taking the risk to experience something new has multiple benefits.  Tomlinson indicates that newness allows a deepening of self- identity beyond an educator, as well as the opportunity to “refashion the old in promising ways.”  

Reflect.   Now that you have had a break from the school year, it might be time to look back.  Consider what you did well to make it go well.  Make comparisons to what you hoped would happen in your classroom and what actually happened. Consider who you are as an educator compared to a few years ago.  

Grow.  Once you have reflected on the year, it seems logical to hone in on knowledge or a skill that you feel would benefit your future students. It may seem ridiculous to even mention it, but find time to cultivate your own growth this summer.  Tomlinson argues summer to be a great opportunity to take the time to study teaching and learning.  We are fortunate to have collaboration built into our professional learning during the school year, but adequate time to grow is hard to find during the school year.  A small nugget of learning from the school year could become a catalyst for extensive thought and growth during the summer. Choose something of interest and commit to knowing more.  Commit to growing in new knowledge and find ways to make that new knowledge relevant to what you do in the classroom.
Create.  Creativity has been at the heart of much recent research. Sir Ken Robinson, in Out of Our Minds, states that “creativity is the greatest gift of human intelligence.  The more complex the world becomes, the more creative we need to be to meet its challenges.”  What evidence might you have of creativity in your life? Recombine the familiar into something unfamiliar; let new ideas simmer. Ignite and unleash your inner creative self. If the 20% project is familiar to you, you know that Google encourages employees to spend 20% of work time on a pet project.  This can be a challenging task during the school year, but might be a perfect fit from the summer. 3M and Google have had great success with this approach; post-its, masking tape, and Gmail are all a result. Imagine what might materialize with energy focused on a personal interest project. 

Stay Connected.   A successful school year requires investment in relationships.  Collegial relationships are as important as those with students.  Although you will all be reunited soon, it is still beneficial to stay connected to your colleagues.  The simplest of texts, emails, or notes or a more dedicated time for coffee or lunch reaps benefits that are immeasurable.  
Disconnect.   To flip the coin, find time to disconnect.  In a recent Educational Leadership article, Thomas Hoerr explores what might happen if you disconnect from your digital world for three days.  It might feel like you miss out on something substantial, but chances are, life will go on, and you will be given the gift of hours to do something spectacular with your time. 

Explore.  In Brain Rules, John Medina explores twelve things that we know about the brain. Aside from the deep understanding of how exercise, sleep, and stress affect our brain, he discusses the natural need for exploration.  Humans are by nature curious. In fact, curiosity is everything.  It seems most prevalent in our younger children who begin most questions with “why?” but quite truthfully we never outgrow the desire to know why.  Think about your lists of “why?” and take this as an opportunity to explore what intrigues you.
Smell the Roses.   Finally, slow down.  The school year does not always allow for time to enjoy the beauty and simplicity the world has to offer.  Allow your senses to be overloaded, your mind to drift to a place it has not visited in months.  This sense of serenity might be all you need to recharge your emotional and physical self.

So before the retail world trumps summer vacation, enjoy the opportunity to refresh, rejuvenate, and reflect.    Relish in the time to invest in your personal and professional growth, as it will certainly influence who you will be as an educator in the coming school year. 

Hoerr, T. “Principal Connection-The Top 10 To-Do List for Summer.” Educational Leadership. May 2014: 88-89.
Medina, J. (2014). Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.
Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds: learning to be creative. West Sussex, UK: Capstone Publishing Ltd.
Tomlinson, C. “Architects of Summer.” Educational Leadership. June 2013: 8-12.
Wormeli, R. “Take Time for Yourself-and for Learning.” Educational Leadership. June 2013: 14-19.