When I taught 6th grade, I did an activity with my students on the first day of school called, Touch the Wall (yes, I know, not the most creative title). I would take my class to the gym and line them up in 3 parallel lines facing the wall. I’d ask the first line to stand about 2 ft from the wall, the next line to stand about 4 feet from the wall, and the 3rd line to stand about 6 feet from the wall. Then I told them that they each needed to touch the wall and they could take no more than 1 step toward the wall if they needed to.
Go…
1st line – Joked and laughed and were so proud they didn’t even have to take a step in order to touch the wall.
2nd line – They all had to take a step and most touched the wall with no problem but a few had to really reach out and stretch in order to touch the wall.
3rd line – Some immediately started to say how unfair it was because they’d never be able to touch the wall with just 1 step. Others started asking me questions in order to problem solve or finds ways around my rule of 1 step only.
Now imagine the last professional development session you ran or attended. Did everyone understand the topic at hand? Did people ask questions to clarify? Were people engaged in the learning or were they content with just sitting there? Did everyone get to the wall?
Teachers bring all different areas of expertise. First we have to acknowledge and plan for the fact that some teachers will either already know what you are talking about or catch on very quickly. Others will struggle a bit but eventually will get to the wall. And some will need help, support, guidance, and understanding from you to even THINK they can make it to the wall.
Just like my students who came to me at varying levels all striving for the same wall, I mean goal… some teachers need help getting to the wall. I help them by making relationships, listening, collaborating, adapting materials, meeting 1 on 1, modeling, or some other strategy that works best for them! I don’t give up.
How do YOU get your teachers to the wall?