SAD 29 adopts teacher workshop plan

Contributed photo
AT WORK —Teachers from SAD 29 attended a workshop this summer to learn more about Professional Learning Groups.
Students to have early release every Tuesday in 2012-13
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — When SAD 29 students and teachers head back to school next month, some radical changes await them.
    The school district will no longer break for harvest recess, ending a decades long tradition that spanned generations in southern Aroostook County. And as such, students will no longer report back to school in August.
    The first day of school for SAD 29 is slated for Tuesday, Sept. 4, which coincidentally will also be the first day of a new staff-training concept. Every Tuesday, SAD 29 will send its students home 30 minutes early so staff members can gather for a new, hour-long training session, known as a Professional Learning Groups.
    In year’s past, the district would have half-days, with students coming in the morning and leaving at lunchtime. Teachers would then spend the second half of the day in workshops for professional development. The district will still have five full teacher workshop days in the 2012-13 calendar — Aug. 29-30; Nov. 20; and March 14-15.
    “PLGs can be powerful vehicles for ongoing professional development in any school,” explained Superintendent Mike Hammer. “They honor the skills and knowledge of each participating teacher, as well as the research and experiences of educators outside the PLG.”
    While Hammer would like to be able to take credit for coming up with the PLG, in actuality school districts throughout the state are making the switch to PLGs for staff training.
    “Essentially, PLGs are structured professional conversations,” Hammer said. “They aren’t gatherings to sit around and talk about their day.”
    Hammer said staff members will review what they did in the classroom, how it impacted students, and what evidence do they have that shows where they can improve.
    Staff members will be broken up into PLGs of six to 12 teachers who share common students, interests or teaching responsibilities. These groups will meet regularly to discuss teacher work, student work, research or data. The goal is to capture and build on knowledge and skills of participating teachers in ways that will help them increase the aspirations and achievements of their students.
    The district originally planned to have students report to school 45 minutes later on Tuesday mornings, but that plan was changed to an afternoon early release to minimize the impact to parents.
    “We’ve done intensive training and we have a lot of support for our facilitators who will be leading these groups,” Hammer said. “They are the ones who will be leading these conversations.”
    “One of the things that teachers have always done is taught in isolation,” added Rae Bates, the district’s new curriculum coordinator. “Traditionally, teachers go down the hall, into their classroom and shut the door. Now, teachers can talk about how they are doing things and hear suggestions on how to tweak things.”
    Bates said the new style of teacher workshops could be a hard shift of focus for some teachers, especially since it involves opening themselves up to critiques from their peers.
    “We have got a committed group of facilitators who are taking a look at this,” Hammer said. “Teachers are all coming with their own perceptions about this change, but I think once it is explained to them and they see it in action, they will prefer it.”