Eat, Talk, Learn - My Favs!

     So...I'm sure your school is as busy as mine.  The teachers work hard, the administration team works hard, and the students work hard.  With all the time consuming hard work, where do we find time for new teachers, career teachers, and those in-betweens to gather to share best practices and support each other?
     For our school, we instituted a Lunch & Learn for our teachers.  They meet the last Thursday of every month during their lunch hour.  (We have 3 lunch times, so we have 3 separate meetings each day.)  During this time, a teacher will facilitate a conversation focusing on problem solving, best practices, or plans for the following year.  Each teacher facilitating the meeting started out by saying this is a time to share and ask questions.  This is not a time to gripe; do not come here planning to do so.  The point of Lunch & Learn is to come and have an open discussion about problems, concerns, strategies, and / or classroom successes.
     Our Lunch & Learn has focused on how to meet the needs of traveling teachers (we have 26), how to start off they year by directing student focus, best practices in classroom management, how to engage students, and how best to use blogs for students.  This is one way we were able to meet our teachers needs for mentors for new teachers, updated strategies for career teachers, the opportunity to share successful classroom experiences for all teachers, and the avenue for teachers to ask for help / support when struggling with an issue.  It has been a great success.

     Having just come back from EdCampOKC 2014, I realize Lunch & Learn is a micro type EdCamp process.  Our teachers are taking control of mimi PDs developed in that individual lunch meeting to meet the needs of the teachers who are present.  What a wonderful way to continue the process of EdCamp and organic PD.