We will be meeting this Wednesday in Eddy 5. Our guest speaker will be Barbara Wallner, sharing her wealth of knowledge on teaching the Millennial Generation:
"Honoring Generational Characteristics: Millennials, how should you be taught?"
At our last meeting Anne DiPardo from the University of Colorado shared some insights on what to look for when seeking a healthy school environment in which to work. We discussed how a healthy culture is more than just the school level - certain elements (inclusion, generosity) can be found along with other more visible elements. When you go to interview at a potential school, check for these elements:
A good school environment has:
1. Good leadership - which leads to collaboration and empowers good teaching. We can find this by discussing with the teachers of the school at which we are interviewing "What is daily life like here?" or "Describe your role as a teacher" and watch to see how they respond to and refer to their leaders.
2. Unspoken norms of institutional behavior - is collaboration a usual occurrence?
3. Openness to Questions - cultivates hope and curiosity in a school.
4. Get a sense of immediate body response. Do you feel tense? Stressed? Or does the school make you feel safe and relaxed, ready to grow?
5. Ask what protection the school offers for first year teachers. Any mentoring or support systems in place to help ease your first year?
6. Quality of Professional Development Opportunities Ask: "What's going on in inservices?" Positive inservices lead to teachers who not only survive, but thrive.
and most importantly, observe:
7. Attention to Kids Are the students the focus of the school? Of the teacher's energy? Listen to the casual talk between teachers: is it caring talk focused on the kids?
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