my portfolio "one pager"

On Going Public, not Postal: Reflections on writing collaboratively, with ISI 07 Co-Director Pam Cheng,about programs for professional development.

All the pieces I've selected for my ISI 07 portfolio reflect the challenge of writing, collaboratively with Pam, about that most important and most difficult of topics: professional development programs for teachers.

This writing had two separate but complementary inspirations: my own desire to "go public" in an engaging and honest way with what I'd learned about professional development through my 22 summers co-directing ISIs, and Pam's soon-to-occur shift from being a 3rd grade classroom teacher to being a district level "literacy coach."

Initially, we both felt we were sinking into quicksand as we tried to get a handle on this extremely elusive and even scary topic. We'd talk and we'd talk, with me coming up with possible approaches to this topic (generally pretty spacey and out to lunch, quite frankly) and Pam quietly reminding me that, for her, this was NOT a theoretical question.

The breakthrough came quite unexpectedly, with a suggestion to Pam on my part that she begin with her past year's experience at Cumberland, and with Pam's questions to me about why I was calling teachers "schizophrenic" in their contrasting roles as classroom instructors and participants in professional development programs.

The resulting "matched pair"--Pam's "Police piece" and my "Chicken Soup piece" (both are in the ISI 07 Anthology; we'll be reading both tomorrow) were quite satisfying to write and I hope for you to read. Our next challenge is to figure out how to make what we've written essentially for the twenty of you ISI 07 participants available and engaging to a wider audience of teachers and professional development providers.

Stay tuned. I have every intention of going public and no intention of going postal, at least for the foreseeable future.