Our district moved to the HMH “Into Reading” language arts curriculum this year. After experiencing some success the last few years with a homespun writing initiative, there have been growing pains, for sure. So when our Assistant Superintendent asked me if I wanted to lead some writing work, I jumped at the chance. Today, a colleague and I taught two half-day sessions on writing, with a focus on bringing back some of the joy and choice teachers helped foster.
My partner and I laid out our plans:
– have teachers engage in writing
– discuss what the experience felt like
– connect that to the work we do with students
– examine how we can streamline practices to allow student independence and choice
– engage in sustained, collaborative planning
Sounds simple, right? Well…that depends. Let’s just say one group was game, and the other…not so much. I was about a half hour into one group and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was ACTIVELY BOMBING, with very little hope of shelter or retreat.
And here’s the thing: I’ve run dozens of workshops, and I’ve dealt with weirdness from participants. Not everyone is up for every PD all the time. Some activities and discussion questions are a swing and a miss, at best. Teachers, too, are notoriously terrible class members. There’s also educational “baggage” teachers carry into meetings or training.
I can’t lie, though. Seeing it come from colleagues I work next to every day? That’s hard. I’m not surprised, because it’s happened to me before with the same folks. So I don’t know why I would have expected today to be any different. I guess I’m just…sad, for all the reasons. At this point, I could dig in and pout that I had a contingent of folks who – for whatever reasons – pushed themselves out of reach.
Or.
I could focus my energy back into the folks – at both sessions! – who brought their hard work, their sincerity, their eagerness to make things better for themselves and their students. I could be proud of the work we’ve done to center students in the learning experience.
Yeah. That feels better. I think I can sleep okay tonight.
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
I think it’s the hardest thing to present to peers. I love your positive attitude about focusing on those that brought their A game. 🙂
Agreed! Actually, I usually love presenting to peers because we have a relationship. I know more intimately where they’re coming from, and I can picture the kids they’re serving. Today just wasn’t the day for everyone though, I guess..
I agree that it is hard to present to your own colleagues. I remember giving a Writing Project workshop to teachers in a district we’d never worked at before. We gave a prompt and expected teachers to really write quietly and meaningfully for maybe 10 or 15 minutes. After like 3 minutes some teachers stopped and started talking to each other. It was really surprising. They were acting like … students? Also, we tend to focus on the negative. Driving home from open school nights, I would run through in my head the one conversation with a parent that wasn’t positive and ruminate over that, instead of all the other positive interactions that occurred through the evening. I hope you sleep well tonight.
Teachers make the worst students. Yes, focus on those wanting to learn and willing to try something new. Their students will benefit.