Anne Jolly's Diary

Entry 1: Maybe people should schedule annual mental exams with a psychologist in the same way they schedule annual physicals with a doctor. Sort of a preventative measure against making some decision that will wake you up in a cold sweat at 3 a.m. to confront repeated echoes in your brain demanding, "You wanted it. You got it. Now what?"

I can still shut my eyes and recall my principal suggesting that I take a year out of the classroom to design and implement an ongoing, self-sustaining professional development process - one that could be used as a model for Mobile middle schools. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable suggestion. (Hence my recommendation regarding the annual mental exam idea.)

I never doubted the need for this project. I wholeheartedly support the demands for higher standards and quality teachers in every classroom. But demands don't equal better prepared students. We teachers do that. And teachers, already overwhelmed by the demands of our current jobs, need new support structures to improve their professional performance. Certainly, the time is right to reinvent teacher professional development!

So I wrote the grant to fund this project, and I wondered who would understand the importance of what we are trying to do. Two wonderful organizations funded it - the Mobile Area Education Foundation and the SouthEastern Vision for Education (SERVE). I wanted a chance to be part of this change process - to make a difference for teachers and students. Now I have this opportunity. And now I wake up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat.

Entry 2: For weeks I've been reading all sorts of research on professional development models. Not exactly fast-paced reading. I'm looking for research rooted in something more substantive than the traditional"hit-and-run" workshops. This professional development process needs to focus directly on curriculum, instruction, and student learning. It needs to involve all teachers in a school. I feel a sense of urgency to get a better handle on exactly what this particular process will look like! The only thing I feel certain about at this point is that it needs to involve the formation of a truly professional learning community. All that reading about learning communities caused me to wonder what would happen if a whole school focused on instruction - if instruction were the "hot" topic of conversation. Since I have an office at the school, I spend time visiting with teachers during lunch and during team planning times. I listen to what teachers are talking about when they get together. Most conversation right now centers around the mechanics of starting school, giving out textbooks, dealing with forms. Teacher frustration is palpable. The first few days of the meager175 days our students have for instruction are flying by, and the noninstructional tasks are still center stage. No wonder there's presently little discussion around instruction. Any professional development initiative worth its salt will have as it's aim an entire school galvanized around instructional issues!

Entry 3: A new wrinkle has caused me to break out in a cold sweat - it looks as if I'm going to be working directly with four middle schools - each one quite different from the other - to develop this process. One school in particular will be a challenge in every sense of the word - academically and otherwise. In fact, you could call it a "school in crisis." That concerns me, because the credibility of this project will be established by the data it generates in May. It must have a measurable impact on students. So I keep asking myself, should I really initiate this process with a school in crisis? But in my heart I know that if I come up with a process that doesn't help teachers and kids in that school, it's no good. So I'm going to go for it.

Entry 4: Okay! Bingo! I found a real possibility! In a moment of unaccustomed clarity, I dug out some information I got last year from a Hayes Mizell Middle School Conference. There it was - a session by Carlene Murphy on Whole-Faculty Study Groups! Now, there's a process I can adapt! It focuses on involving whole faculties in study groups organized around a central school focus dealing with instruction and learning. I ordered Carlene's book from Amazon .com. (it was on back order, of course) and then zipped off an email to her. That'll teach her to include her email address on her handouts!

Entry 5: I couldn't believe it! Carlene responded to my email by this morning. She is interested in the project, and willing to give some advice. What a wonderful resource! I shared the whole-faculty study group idea with my principal, and he likes it as well. His first response was to insist that the teachers be the ones to determine the areas on which to focus. It's great to work with a principal who believes that teachers are the professionals who should make the instructional decisions. I feel like things are starting to come together. The plan and the process will change as we go along. Some things won't work, but some will. I wanted it, I got it, and now I have at least some idea of what to do with it! I must be doing something right. Now I'm sleeping until 4 a.m.