CPD sessions in the worst schools are done to staff. Teachers are passive and get bored when presenters talk at them for too long. Yet as teachers, we know that the best lessons buzz with ideas and engagement, and for me, that has to be a key element for teacher developmental sessions in schools – I’m confident that we achieve this within our Teachmeets.
After attending a couple of Teachmeets in Newcastle and Sheffield I decided to ‘borrow’ the format for my school. As a member of SLT, I have been able to calendar 4 after school gatherings across the school year (on top of other Teaching & Learning development meetings/initiatives and ‘C-Magazine’)
Our Teachmeets are informal and relaxed affairs: we drink tea, eat cake and fruit, and teachers from across our school present short bursts of effective practice that we know work for our students – in our school. The emphasis is on developing a collegiate approach to sharing and showcasing teaching & learning ideas. They come from those who teach everyday within our classrooms – and this adds weight to the effectiveness of their ideas: it shows that their ideas work, and this has to be key for encouraging others to take the leap of faith and try them out.
Colleagues choose either a 2 minute or 7 minute presentation slot. This helps to get lots of presentations in within an hour and, after a busy day of 6 lessons, helps to keep our concentration. Colleagues often feedback to me about how nervous they were for standing up in front of their peers, but they are always pleased that they stepped up to the plate – RESPECT!
The focus of the presentation is entirely up to the teachers. I’ve been tempted to focus Teachmeets on school priorities: AfL techniques or Literacy for example, but I’ve refrained from doing so. Interference from myself as a member of SLT would ruin the spirit of what Teachmeets are, and where their simplicity has been the key – showcasing what works for you in order for others to benefit. That’s it.
Staff now ask for sessions to be recorded and presentations to be centralized in order for future access. This is an example of their success: Teachmeets are beginning to evolve due to demand from ‘below’ (classroom teachers) – not from ‘above’ (SLT). Consequently, I am planning to improve the use of the Teaching & Learning Blog section on our school website where presentations can be accessed and referred back to long after the Teachmeet has taken place. Great stuff!
Click here to find Teachmeet locations and dates taking place in the UK and around the world
Reviews of 2010 Newcastle Teachmeet found here & here
* The Teachmeet advertisement below is taken from C-Magazine 1
Jamie,
It is great to hear a member of SLT admit how mind numbing some inset days can be. I am new to the blogosphere and teaching in general as I am starting my 2nd year in the job so I hadn’t heard of the teachmeet model. It sounds very interesting. I’ll be sure keep an eye out for one in the Manc area. I will float this idea to the T&L team for our next CPD day.
Cheers,
CHRIS
Hi Chris – thanks for the comment.
Our recent 1st day back after the Summer Holidays was an INSET day and I was determined that T&L (our core business after all) played its part. At 8:30 the HT spoke for just 15 mins – then teachers had the option to attend four 20 minute workshops, from a choice of 11. Consequently, staff had attended some terrific ‘taster sessions’ on ideas that would be pursued further throughout the year – all before 10:30am!!
If practical T&L workshops or sharing best practice ain’t high on your INSET agendas (at least for a period of time as there is mandatory boring stuff to do) – then what’s the point of them?
Regards
Jamie
This is great! It’s amazing how often we don’t ‘practice what we preach’. We tell teachers to create engaging lessons, to encourage collaborative learning experiences etc then you turn up to a ‘CPD’ session, and it’s someone talking at you for an hour.
NIce one Jamie!
Yep. Totally agreed Gwynfor.
That’s the thing though: we gotta ‘practice what we preach’ in everything we do. It’s something that’s bugged me since I started teaching: people talking at other people for periods of time that clearly go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy beyond even Bamba Gascoigne’s concentration levels. The trade is supposed to know better! But….
“… you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin”
http://bit.ly/qQFOEJ
Jamie
PS: You with me?
Good work Jamie. And brave. I think this the way forward: giving staff more autonomy is very motivating. Have you read my post on INSET? I love idea of Fed Ex days, genius hour and 20% time. Maybe this would be a good way to work with students too?
I’m presenting at my first Teachmeet next month and am very excited.
Spot on Jamie. Big fan of Teachmeets as you know. This extension is great. Firm fan of not having INSET ‘done’ to me too.
David – looking forward to having you speak!
Jamie – fancy broadcasting this idea as a talking head virtual presentation at #tmclevedon? Think many folk would relate to it! Let me know!
Mark
Awesome idea. I’m going to look at organising one of these at my school.
Couldn’t agree more Jamie! CPD being “done” to staff is far far less effective than CPD that teachers are engaged with and own. We organised a TeachMeet in Brighton last week, which was a real success! Looking forward to the next one! All of the videos are up on our blog (http://www.irisconnect.co.uk/company/blog/) so everyone who couldn’t make it can have access to the great ideas that were being talked about.
Great post Jamie. I recently read a post about how a head teacher welcomed his students back for the new year with a projection screen showing a live Twitter feed with message from around the world to his students. A great way to interact. Why can’t the presenters/talkers plan ahead so well and have some visual effects whilst involving the teachers that they are talking to.