CHANGEd: What if we scrimmaged and rehearsed more – like teams? 60-60-60 #48

Well, I’ve bumped another scheduled post! Yesterday, I enjoyed a great time in the Junior High math-science PLC (Professional Learning Community) that meets four days a week during Period 4. The math-science PLC has been working on lesson studies for PBL (project-based learning). One of the teams created a lesson on the Fibonacci sequence and [...]

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CHANGEd: What if we valued teacher teams as much as sports and music teams? 60-60-60 #5

What if we valued teacher teams as much as sports and music teams? How often does your school football team practice? How often does your band or orchestra rehearse? How often do your teams of teachers rehearse and practice together? Do you even think of your teachers as collectives of teams? School transformation will happen [...]

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PLCs, Westminster JH, Randolph, and Learning Together

On Friday, February 17, Jill Gough and Bo Adams worked with The Randolph School faculty to share the story of PLC (Professional Learning Community) development at The Westminster Schools’ Junior High, as well as to facilitate a small piece of Randolph’s continuing, multi-year efforts to transform their school with the PLC ethos. Below, Bo and [...]

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New creation: culinary, jazz-fusion luminescence in teaching – PLCs as surgical-musical-chefs

Working to understand better the functions and processes of PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) – this is a constant pursuit and area of deep investigation and learning for me. I am coming to believe, more and more, that high-functioning PLCs are like some hybrid-cross consisting of the following parts: chefs, surgical teams, and jazz musicians. The [...]

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A riff on school thinking…inspired by “There are no mistakes on the bandstand.” Stefon Harris

Listening. Responding. Refusing to bully one’s ways. Pulling ideas. Improvising. Innovating. Working with the color and emotional palette. Collaborating in concert with one’s team and one’s band. Making beautiful music. [Watch the TED below, and more of those phrases may be put into greater context.] I think a lot about what school could be like. [...]

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