A Few Ideas for Sharing Information

Why This Matters: Substitute teachers are a hot commodity in our school district these days, and therefore, professional development days rarely happen unless students don’t have school. The days of pulling a group of teachers together for a day or a half-day are becoming distant memories. Necessity is the mother of invention, and so I’ve been working on other ways to bring snippets–or more– of information to teachers. Here are a few of them, and you’re welcome to use them and add other ideas in the comments! 

1. Office hours with the writing coach

This idea involves only one building sub for the day, and I create a schedule of one-hour blocks. Teachers sign up for those slots, the sub rotates from room to room, and I work with teachers about whatever they feel is most helpful. 

What I like about this: It offers teachers the opportunity to choose what they want to learn. Many of them come with specific students in mind, so the focus is on student learning which is always my favorite focus for coaching. 

What’s been tricky: Not everyone gives me a heads-up about what they want to talk about, so I have to be ready for anything. Therefore, I have to bring a lot of resources with me that don’t end up used at all. Additionally, when all slots are full, there’s no break from thinking and talking. I’ve been tired at the end of these days! 

Tip: Walk around the building and invite teachers personally to sign up for a slot! 

2. A bi-monthly newsletter about writing

Much like the bi-weekly recaps we’ve been doing at Two Writing Teachers, this idea involves curating content and providing pictures or links. I have a growing collection of “newsletters”– here is a recent one, and you’re welcome to the template!– and my hope is that teachers are getting used to finding a tidbit or two that they can use within their practice. I use Google Slides as a template, so it’s easy to change it up and share it. 

What I like about this: Teachers can access resources at their own readiness. If they want a lot, there’s a lot there. If they want nothing, they can delete the email before they even open it. Furthermore, principals have been great about including the newsletters in their faculty meetings or communications to teachers. 

What’s been tricky: I don’t know how much this resource is used, other than when people mention it to me in passing. 

Tip: Include a regular feature that highlights a teacher’s practice– important for so many reasons! 

3. A Convention Corner

Conventions are a constant challenge for me, and I have written about my quests for capitalization and end punctuation in several posts. One strategy I’ve started is to share a “Convention Corner” every couple of weeks. Here is an example of one, and you’re welcome to the template! These show up in the newsletter (see #2), but they also show up as their own line item in principals’ messages to teachers. I’ve created a template, so they look consistent and predictable, and my hope is that teachers use some of the ideas with students. 

What I like about this: The template provides consistency, and the ideas are generally ready to be implemented right away. 

What’s been tricky: As is the case with the newsletter, it’s difficult to know the impact of these. Sometimes, a teacher mentions one to me, and what a great feeling that is! Most of the time, it’s like throwing darts while wearing a blindfold. 

Tip: Keep the idea simple and transferable. 

An Invitation: Again, I welcome other ideas for professional development that don’t involve substitute teachers. Please feel free to share!