Newsletter for Faculty Learning Groups
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October 17, 2008
Last year we began a new professional development program for faculty that was built around collaboration and peer feedback: Faculty Learning Groups or FLGs. Each group is comprised of four teachers from three categories: lower school, middle school, and specialist. Groups met at the beginning of the year to discuss their goals for the coming year—differentiated instruction, sequencing of instructions, classroom management, and much more. They also set up schedule to observe another teach and to meet as a group to discuss their impressions.
At the end of last year we solicited faculty feedback on the program, made a few changes, and began it again during the first month of school. Only this year we added another element, which we undertook last Friday during our In-Service Day.
On Friday, each one of our FLGs, as a group, went to another independent school and observed their peer teachers in action. We visited Berkeley Montessori, Head-Royce, St. Paul’s, Tehiyah Day, Park Day, and The Friend’s School in San Francisco. It was a wonderful day and I have heard nothing but positive comments from faculty about their experiences. (To this end I encourage you to ask your child’s classroom teacher about where they visited and what they learned.) This week at our All Faculty/Staff meeting we debriefed on what we observed and learned, with each group presenting some of their key observations and take-home values.
Individual faculty and our teachers as a whole get a great deal out of a day like this. On one level it is an affirmation of what they do everyday. On another it is eye-opening to visit and feel the culture of another independent school—how we are alike and how we differ. But at the deepest level it is an opportunity to look in the professional mirror for a better sense of how we are doing and to identify and clarify some of the goals we hold for ourselves. And for the kind of life-long learners who work and teach at RDS, this is a rich source of rejuvenation and renewal.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mike
