this is what faculty meetings should look like.

From Untitled Album

yesterday i was lucky enough to spend the day working at the home of one of my colleagues with my fellow lead teachers and the new teachers. it was so re-energizing to be out of the building for the day and to have stimulating conversations with adults about teaching. the energy was consistently positive and calm throughout the day. i feel so grateful for this group's love and support.

we began by sharing what we're calling brags'n'snags...high points and low points in our teaching lives. many of the snags focused on time management, getting everything done, and having a life outside of school. we brainstormed ideas about how to streamline planning and grading. one teacher even shared his system for giving comments on papers orally using a feature on word. this amazed most of us. so cool. another teacher talked about grading papers for only one thing at a time...grammar, spelling, etc. 

after sharing tips we worked on developing units and plans together in small groups. mariah and i brainstormed about her photo 1 curriculum and talked about how to do more with less. i remember learning this strategy from caroline who came into my classroom 6 years ago and said whoa there new teacher, you're trying to do too much. the kids are overwhelmed and so are you. so we boiled down all of her lovely ideas to about 2 essential questions and 3 units for the term, which is only 11 weeks long. 

we ate a wonderful lunch together and got to know each other better. i think everyone left feeling closer and energized. i feel lucky to work for a school that supports this kind of thing. we're hoping to do it a couple more time over the course of the year.