The One Thing School Leaders Must Do During Their Welcome Back Presentation
One of my favorite education writers, Peter Greene, recently wrote two articles about back to school PD presentations. One, titled Six Unforgivable Sins of Teacher Professional Development, describes the missteps too many speakers take, including my personal pet peeve, the reading aloud of slides to people who are going to find every grammatical error before it’s spoken. The other, a deeply satisfying romp identifying The Thirteen Presenters Who Will Ruin Your First Day Back imagines what some of the worst welcome back speakers would say if they were 100% honest.
Both articles, which have resonated with teachers to such a degree that the ubiquity of such talks are in little doubt, demonstrate the many pitfalls presenters face when welcoming the return of teachers from their summer vacations. Teachers are a tough crowd on a good day. Teachers who are forced to listen to a welcome back speech when they have a thousand other things they need to do to get ready for the school year can be especially critical.
The Worst Speech I’ve Ever Heard
The Worst Speech I’ve Ever Heard
The worst welcome back presentation I ever sat through occurred seven years ago. After some initial pleasantries, the thanking of the kitchen staff for the breakfast that 70% of the staff had skipped in favor of more sleep, and the annual request for teacher contributions CONTINUE READING: The One Thing School Leaders Must Do During Their Welcome Back Presentation - Teacher Habits