Leadership

The Only Way to Evaluate Professional Development

This year at the elementary level, the majority of our professional development efforts have focused on Writing Workshop, with the idea that next school year all teachers (and students) will be able hit the ground running with this method of instruction.

With these thoughts in mind, I regularly ask myself, “How will we know if this year’s Writing Workshop professional development has been successful?” (keeping in mind the learning will continue throughout the upcoming years)

The Conversations in Faculty Rooms

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

About a week ago, George Couros (@gcouros) published a blog post, “The Policies in Your Head.” More or less, the piece calls upon a specific experience George had with a teacher/district to illustrate how progress can be hampered when teachers convince themselves an outdated policy is still in place.

So, here are my thoughts based on my experiences.

When Teachers Want Professional Development Hours

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I was notified that a couple of teachers were looking to engage in a book study as part of their required yearly professional development hours. These teachers wanted a book recommendation…

Yes, some argue there are several problems with an hours-based approach to professional development. However, in this instance, I believe we were able to transform the need for hours into an opportunity.

5 Ways Administrators Can Serve as Instructional Coaches

By Ross Cooper 4 Comments

This post was coauthored with Lynn Fuini-Hetten (@lfuinihetten) and was originally published on Corwin Connect.

As an administrator, it is easy to fall into this trap of being a manager who does (almost) nothing but take care of day-to-day (or weekly) issues/problems/events as they arise.

As current administrators, we can definitively say…We owe our students and teachers more than being just managers.

All administrators, regardless of position should serve as managers, leaders, and instructional leaders…or instructional coaches who work alongside teachers to continuously move instruction/learning forward for the benefit of the students. According to Jim Knight, “When teachers receive an appropriate amount of support for professional learning, more than 90% of them embrace and implement programs that improve students’ experiences in the classroom” (p. 4). The majority of this support must come from administrators, as (1) they interact with teachers on a consistent basis and not just during defined professional development hours, (2) teachers often look to them for support/resources/approval regarding their instructional shifts, and (3) a sustainable culture of learning is unlikely to exist if administrators are not modeling and leading the way.

That being said…Here are five ways we are working towards serving our district as instructional coaches:

My Biggest Regret as a Teacher

By Ross Cooper 7 Comments

In June 2014 I officially left my job as a fourth grade teacher, and the classroom, to become an administrator. Since joining the dark side, I continuously ask myself what I could have and should have done differently for my students.

While some of my previous work – such as this post on grading – has focused on how my teaching could have been enhanced, my biggest regret really has nothing to do with actual instruction.

Cheesecake Factory Professional Development

By Ross Cooper 11 Comments

The Problem

Over the past few months, a few administrators I hold in high regard have talked/tweeted/blogged/bragged about the endless options their teachers have for professional development. In some instances, their entire district’s professional learning plan focuses entirely on teacher choice (in an effort to create something like a wide-scale Genius Hour).

This is an approach with which I strongly disagree.

As I have previously tweeted…“We need to balance choice with vision. If your school PD options are all over the place [much like a Cheesecake Factory menu], strong chance there is a lack of direction.”

5 Ways For Teachers to Make a District-Wide Impact

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Classroom teachers can either (1) wait for change, or (2) go out and contribute to it. I encourage teachers to choose the latter. In most districts (yes, there are exceptions), I don’t think teachers realize how powerful their voices/actions can be. The majority of administrators with whom I have worked would love nothing more than for significant change to start with those who are in the trenches.

Based on my experiences as a former fourth grade teacher, here are five ways for teachers to make a district-wide impact:

5 Reasons to Throw Out Mandatory Lesson Plans

By Ross Cooper 6 Comments

While mandatory teacher lesson plans might seem like an idea long retired, I am continuously amazed at how many districts and schools still heavily rely on this approach as part of their master plan to improve instruction. Have we learned nothing from state mandated standardized tests, which also (1) force compliance, and (2) turn our attention away from what matters most, student learning?

In the spirit of Mark Barnes, Starr Sackstein, and Teachers Throwing Out Grades, here are five reasons to throw out your lesson plans.

17 Shares

3 Ways to Promote Noticeable Progress

By Ross Cooper 3 Comments

If you were to take a five-year vacation from your current school district, you would hope that “things” would look noticeably different upon your return…But would they?

The Potential Problem

Would all the glaring differences be worth the time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears? Or, would things look very much the same, despite the daily (and sometimes painful) grind experienced by so many educators?

Progress takes place if/when we are intentional about making it happen, not when the majority of our time is spent on daily managerial tasks with a few forward-thinking ideas sprinkled in arbitrarily.

Rigor vs. Relevance…Who Wins?

By Ross Cooper 4 Comments

Daggett’s Presentation

A week ago I had the privilege of attending a full-day presentation by Bill Daggett. If you ever have the opportunity to work with him, do it! Highly recommended! Prior to the presentation I had heard so much about his ability to engage an audience. So, I was as interested in watching a world-class presenter do his thing as I was in the content that he would bring to the table. In both regards, he did not disappoint.