Walk the talk...

Time for me to Walk the talk...

I attended a fabulous workshop on the Spirals of Inquiry two weeks ago - it has really helped me refocus my thinking - or my questioning? I came away from the workshop knowing that I had to go back to the scanning and focusing phases of the inquiry and think through exactly what we were trying to achieve by investigating this.

My first big question (inquiry) this year was/is: How can we move our appraisal process at OLA to focus on improving our practice rather than proving?

I created a google doc for each teacher in sheets. This doc has the RTC and the Spirals of Inquiry, an observations area and an area for reflections. After creating this - I realised that a better way to  curate all this information would be on a blog - and a blog would be a much easier way to post reflections - teachers could share the blog with their team leader and me, and the comment feature would be a great way to record our discussions.

I found this  document " Setting up your blog" when researching how we should set up our blogs. Thanks to the Principal from Oroua Downs School  for this resource. I modified the document to suit OLA and then shared the link through the appraisal document with each staff member.

The idea of adding labels to the blog allows the teacher to show how they are meeting the RTC.

A staff meeting followed where I explained the new process to the staff - delivered to a lot of blank stares ("What does she want us to do now?").

If I had written this reflection straight after the meeting it would probably be a little negative as I did not get a great feeling at all. However - now at the beginning of Term 2 I am excited about how well this is going. 

Some number crunching:
All bar one of the full time teachers have created blogs. Of those that have created blogs - only two are yet to publish a reflection/ post.
Some are publishing prolifically.

Our part-time staff have not yet created blogs - to be fair they did not think this expectation was for them. I intend to meet with them and help set up their blogs so that it is a little easier for them to get started. Question: Should part time teachers be expected to participate and document Teaching as Inquiry? I think yes - especially as in order to renew their registrations one of the questions is whether they have participated in regular PD. Anyway we have decided this is a requirement in our school. We are trying to create a culture where we are all perceived to be life long learners.