Breaking Down the Natural Isolation and Insulation of High School Teachers
A good friend for many years and guest blogger (see here and here), Jerry Brodkey has taught social studies and math for over 30 years at Menlo-Atherton High School (MA) in Northern California. He currently teaches Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus and Integrated Algebra. Well-respected among his colleagues–he has been a member for many years of the union negotiating team that bargains with the district when a contract expires–Brodkey sent out the following email to his colleagues just before the school year ended.
One of the best parts of the school year for me is after the AP test. In addition to some other activities, each student in my AP Calculus classes is asked to speak for approximately 15 minutes about themselves. They may talk about their families, travels, hobbies, sports, college decisions, etc., Some of these presentations are light-hearted, some very serious. We all learn about each other in a gentle, supportive environment. Students seem to love this, and so do I.
I’d like to try this with staff members, too. Even though I have been here many years, I realize that there are many staff I simply don’t know, and even among the members of my own department, I’d like to know them at a more personal level. So I’d like to try this. Some of the best moments I have had at MA have been the results of feeling a sense of community, a deepening of relationships with all who work here.
Although my room is open for students almost every day at lunch, I’d like to dedicate Thursday lunches to this small initiative. I’ll simply tell my students that Thursday at lunch I won’t be available. Instead, I’d like to invite all staff to my room (or some other place ….) for this experiment. We might have a pretty good crowd, or I might be eating lunch by myself. If my room is too small we’ll find another place. I’ll be happy to organize a schedule. Since lunch is short, I think one or perhaps two speakers per week. No obligation, no memberships, Breaking Down the Natural Isolation and Insulation of High School Teachers | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: