Thursday, June 28, 2007

Commute

Today I feel like a commuter. I'm on trax - just as if I lived in a big city. Except, you'll notice, my trax car is a tad empty. I'll pretend. I'm off to woth jordan to attend a 3 day conference on professional learning communities. I preach that you should always set a purpose so you get something out of "learning" opportunities. I'm still trying to come up with one for myself. Maybe it's because I really would rather be shopping, or doing something wasteful

6 comments:

St. Jon said...

I like that, Ward... setting a purpose (agenda) so you get something out of "learning"

I'm usually just trying to focus and not let my mind wander (I know, how lame... MTV generation syndrome)

and speaking of "rather be doing"... I'd "rather" be at home in bed listening to the rain outside

plainoldsarah said...

jon - that's the secret to focusing! setting a purpose gives you something to set your focus on. plus, you're supposed to regularly check and see if your purpose is being met or if you need to set a new purpose. try it! it's a reading strategy but it works for learning in general.
it's good to hear from you jon!

Jules said...

Ooh, ooh! Tell me all about it! Seriously--I went to a 3 day conference a couple years ago about PLCs, and I want to know if it's the same thing. We ended up implementing in our high school quite a bit of what we learned at the conference, and saw some good results.

Dainon. said...

Whereth Woth Jorthan?

plainoldsarah said...

how funny - I think I was typing west and south at the same time but the truth is i'm in sandy!

julie - I bet it's the same! dufour is the head guy. my school needs some serious help and I think it will be a miracle if we implement plcs in any effective way. my principal refuses to be a leader thinking it will keep faculty from buying in, but we really need some leadership.

Jules said...

YES!!! It IS the same thing! The hard part is convincing the dinosaur teachers that it can work, and also to realize that most of the schools that are successful with the program commit to long-term implementation. Too many people think it's going to be a quick one-year result turnaround, and it's just not true.

Our principal was totally on board, the principal at the other high school was not, and both staffs (staves?) could tell.