Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a special teacher professional development session on a snowy and icy day at PS 20 in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York. (Yes, my home neighborhood.) Even though I’ve technically been out of the classroom for three and a half years now, I still have the opportunity to visit schools on a regular basis. For this occasion, I got to see one of the best educators I’ve ever met facilitate a full room session about multilingual learners to teachers from across District 1. (Disclaimer: The facilitator also happens to be LuzMaria, my wife.)
I’ve always had the perspective that teacher professional development sessions had so much potential to not just demonstrate our capabilities, but to transform narratives about our work. Yesterday, I listened to teachers who work with different types of students all gather ideas about how best to address students’ needs. This became even more urgent after an influx of asylum seekers and other multilingual learners changed the shape of schooling for the district. The comprehensiveness and depth in their dialogue was remarkable to witness.
This all stands in far contrast to the narrative about teachers in more venomous circles.
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