This is that most wonderful part of year--the school year, that is--that warms the heart of many an educator:
the week of staff development before school starts.
Whether you have five days or just half a day without students,
you can bet your Smartboard that every minute will be
filled with engaging instruction--i.e., lectures on
district policy, campus policy and procedures, new technology, and those endless programs and laws otherwise known as
STARR (the Texas assessment instrument),
ELPS, LEP, AEIS, FERPA, TEKS, ARD, AYP, CIP, ELL, IEP, BIP,
LRE, NCLB, RTI, TELPAS, AND CRAP. . .
(I'm just kidding about the last one.)
With all those acronyms, no wonder we stay confused. Then they expect us to actually remember what each one stands for and
what it means in the classroom!
For a brand new teacher, even one coming fresh from college, all the information crammed into those few days before school starts is enough to send him or her screaming back into college.
Thankfully, there are seasoned veterans willing to take the poor young things under their wings and at least help them
flounder less conspicuously.
It's exactly what I have always said: "Staff development?
What are we developing?"
For me it was impatience.
Impatience to get out of all those blasted meetings
and into my own classroom where I could test the validity
and usefulness of all that staff development.
Happy week before, everybody!
Ap ril
xoxo
Labels: classroom, education, staff development, STARR, teacher, Texas
