High School Progress Teams

Yesterday I spent the day at Copper Hills high school at the High School Progress Team meetings. I have been involved in these three-time-a-year meetings for the past three years, and, although I don't like to leave my classroom in the hands of a substitute teacher, they are really productive.

Every high school in the district (8, and the JATC) sends a 'team' of three teachers, a vice-principal and principal, and a counselor...the day is spent interacting with our 'sister' schools teams discussing things our schools are doing that is exciting, innovative, and that work. It is incredibly motivating and educational. Because secondary teaching is a quasi-monastic lifestyle where we spend almost all of our time with kids, to interact with 'grown-ups' who are gifted leaders in their own schools is really stimulating.

The district makes a good-willed effort to try and demonstrate their support of school reform and pledge lip-service to the changes a lot of us are passionate about; the unfortunate reality is at the administrative level they are as rigid and dogmatic as any huge political organization. But, at least it's a foot in the door, and the ground-swell these types of gatherings create can't be ignored for long...too many teachers on board. At the last meeting we were shown Karl Fisch's 'Shift Happens'...pretty unsettling particularly for the 'suits' (district administrators) in the room...I got the impression it had not been previewed except by Kin Searle, who showed it.

So now what...educational technology has and will continue to be a topic of discussion at these and future meetings...can't be ignored. As Draper says, we live in exciting times...I'm an old dog in the business, and even I'm caught up in the wave...