Back-To-School 2011-2012

School officially starts on Monday, so I thought I would put down my thoughts before I leave my classroom today. We have been "hard at it" for the last eight days here at Cameron Elementary with inservice workshops and staff developments. It was GREAT! I don't mean to be sarcastic I am really and honestly excited about what we have been doing since August 10th. Our inservice was based primarily around technology, and we learned a boatload of things that are actually applicable to our classroom immediately! I am so excited to begin the new year, more excited than I have been in a long time.
In fact, so excited that I stepped back and examined, "Why, I had such a high feeling during this inservice?" And I have come to understand that because the inservice and workshop was applicable to my classroom as well as everyone else's. I took ownership of what we learned about LIVEbinders, ProjectShare, plus numerous web 2.0 tools, therefore I can say that I will retain this information and actively implement my learning in my teaching.
So my message is that to remember as an administrator you are still a teacher and want to make your staff development practical, applicable, and meaningful to the teachers who are going to be required to sit through it, just the same as we ask teachers to make their lessons practical, applicable, and meaningful to students. More so now than ever before I can understand why it is essential for a teacher to facilitate her teaching and learning in this fashion because it is the deciding factor in success and long-term achievement for our students and faculty alike.