Teacher Retreat

This past Saturday until Sunday afternoon, I was at a retreat in the San Bernardino Mountains, not far from Big Bear. We were way up in the mountains at about 6000 feet elevation. Needless to say it was beautiful and quiet.

The retreat was optional for any teachers interested in participating in Professional Learning Communities within our school. We will meet weekly during our prep periods to discuss anything we need to that will help us learn and grow as teachers. The purpose of the retreat was to introduce new teachers to PLC to the PLC process/tuning protocol. Additionally, and most importantly to me, it was to build bonds and relationships with other teachers. Being new to a huge school can leave a newbie feeling isolated and alone. My school has 200 teachers, 4800 kids, and I don't know how many other staff (admin, kitchen, library, stock, etc).

This weekend was wonderful. I was able to get to know my fellow teachers on a personal AND a professional level. I work with some amazingly talented, fun, down to earth, passionate and dedicated teachers. There was much laughter, jokes, smart-ass times, cursing, sharing student stories and just about everything else.

Some of the team building things we did were: The tangle game. This is where you have two teams who all link hands mixed up and then the team who untangles first wins. Ummm, my team won twice, we rocked! We also did a game called "Two Truths and Lie". In this game we sat in groups of four. Each person has to tell two truths and one lie and the group members have to guess what the lie was. My three were: 1) I'm flying to Canada to meet some guy I met on the net. 2)Before becoming a teacher I was a narc at a high school. Because I look so young the police department placed me undercover to catch kids in high schools. 3) I was once arrested by the state department in Beverly Hills. Can you guys guess which is the lie? If you're a regular reader, one is quite obvious. Anyway, 1 out of 3 group members guessed right. That was a great game and one I could use the first week of school for sure.

Other activities were centered specifically around teaching. We examined our assumptions that we have about ourselves, teachers who succeed, teachers who don't, administrators, parents, students who are successful and those who are not. Great activity that left us with a lot to discuss. We also did a creative/thoughtful "homework" assignment which had to do with what foundations/principles we live by, sharing something that we would be reluctant to share, and much other valuable stuff.These more personal things we shared in our small groups which will be the people we meet with weekly. This allowed us to REALLy talk and discover each other.

One of the final activities was sharing with the whole group one thing you learned about someone else this weekend. This was a great time of feedback for me because two people shared about me. This means I was open, honest, having fun, and being myself. Julio shared how he, after I warned him to not fall back on a chair, how he fell back, broke the chair, and we all got a good laugh. Later that night we were playing the card game "Spoons". When he won he jumped on one of those same cheap plastic chairs and yelled, "I'M KING OF THE WORLD!". I comically said, "Julio, you already broke one chair, be careful". It was quite funny. Later that night he said he never realized what guts and courage and sarcasm I had. When he shared this with the group he made a comment how he's the "fat guy" of the group. At first I thought he was offended by the chair joke so I talked with him about it and he assured me he thought it was great because most people wouldn't be so upfront and real. :)

The other person who shared what she learned about me was someone with whom I've had tension with the couple of times we've interacted; which is like 3 times. I made it a personal goal to try to connect with her and get to know her. So last night we sat outside and talked about family stuff, issues, struggles, etc. It was great and we both now have a special respect for eachother. I was happy she felt that too because I think this person is a phenomenal teacher; one whom I can learn and glean from.

Overall the whole thing was a wonderful experience. We slept in tight cabins with bunkbeds and futons. All responsibilities around cleaning and food prep were split amongst the group so we had real cooperation going on. I sincerely believe that EVERY school needs to find a way to get teachers out of their comfy zones, get them together, and let them bond. I can't wait to go to school tomorrow and know people, and faces, and stories; and I'm happy knowing they know me now too.