Teaching Partner Communities of Practice (with nowhere to practice)
Yesterday, professional learning pulled me away from the hiring and planning work that is in full swing at the slightly strange offices of our not-yet-real school. Teaching partners were invited to join Communities of Practice around APS in order to learn more about our instructional areas of interest. For the morning session, I chose to visit Arkansas Elementary to learn about Number Corner in the Bridges curriculum, and to observe an early career teacher working with students on the first day of a new month. In the afternoon, I opted to visit Dartmouth Elementary, where I observed students writing about a fictional trip to space. My choices of destination for yesterday's Communities of Practice were driven by my desire to learn elementary curricula that teachers will work with next year at our school. I've done most of my teaching and coaching work in the secondary grades, and I've always specialized in literacy, so it is important for me to get the best working knowledg...