Professional Development Forum

Today in a staff meeting, our question of the day was inspired by one of the kids at camp. He had asked his class: If you could spend the day with one person who doesn't exist (fictional character), who would it be?

I loved to hear the answers of all of us in the staff meeting. We had Batman, and BayMax, and Sheldon, among others.

And this reminded me of something else I used to do a lot: One of my favorite parts about being a teacher of reading was that I got to spend time listening to my students think about the characters in the books we were reading. As a class we examined who the characters are and what their values might be based on their actions and words in the book, this hard evidence we could point to and interpret. It was always such a joy to see students connecting with a character's perspective or exasperated with a character.

When I left the classroom for administration, this was one of the things I missed the most-daily conversations about values and ideas and what we learn from each other-even if "each other" is a story or a character within that story.

This spring, this joy came back to me. My wife and I read and discussed all three books in the Blue Ant trilogy by William Gibson. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that I was as wrapped up in the adventures of Cayce Pollard as I had been years ago while teaching A Cricket in Times Square to 4^th graders or while teaching That Night to college freshmen.

We speculated, we ranted, we relished. When one book was finished, it was a race to pick up the next. I loved what the Blue Ant series made me think about-how technology plays various roles (some unknown to us) in our industry and in nearly all things about our lives. But what I remember and take away the most is how much I admired one of the main characters: Hollis Henry. Hollis showed me how to make and keep professional boundaries. Hollis admirably forged ahead when she didn't exactly know how or where to go. She made it okay to waiver and process something and not be sure about a decision she needed to make. What I realize now, looking back, is that I used that experience as a form of professional reflection.

The time I spent on the page with the likes of Cayce Pollard and Hollis Henry was development time, not just entertainment.

And so, I ask you, even if you haven't had the opportunity to read anything fictional in a while, and even if you have to dig deep into a memory of college or high school or earlier, who is character (in a book or show) that you look up to? What values have they embodied? Why do you admire them? 

I'd like to start a little mini collection here in the responses of shows or books to watch and read that can provide an avenue of professional development in a less conventional, but totally intentional, way.

Oh, and feel free to answer the staff meeting question in the comments: who would you spend the day with? Me, I think I might like to spend a day with Michael Burnham of Discovery.

Today in a staff meeting, our question of the day was inspired by one of the kids at camp. He had asked his class: If you could spend the day with one person who doesn't exist (fictional character), who would it be?

I loved to hear the answers of all of us in the staff meeting. We had Batman, and BayMax, and Sheldon, among others.

And this reminded me of something else I used to do a lot: One of my favorite parts about being a teacher of reading was that I got to spend time listening to my students think about the characters in the books we were reading. As a class we examined who the characters are and what their values might be based on their actions and words in the book, this hard evidence we could point to and interpret. It was always such a joy to see students connecting with a character's perspective or exasperated with a character.

When I left the classroom for administration, this was one of the things I missed the most-daily conversations about values and ideas and what we learn from each other-even if "each other" is a story or a character within that story.

This spring, this joy came back to me. My wife and I read and discussed all three books in the Blue Ant trilogy by William Gibson. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that I was as wrapped up in the adventures of Cayce Pollard as I had been years ago while teaching A Cricket in Times Square to 4^th graders or while teaching That Night to college freshmen.

We speculated, we ranted, we relished. When one book was finished, it was a race to pick up the next. I loved what the Blue Ant series made me think about-how technology plays various roles (some unknown to us) in our industry and in nearly all things about our lives. But what I remember and take away the most is how much I admired one of the main characters: Hollis Henry. Hollis showed me how to make and keep professional boundaries. Hollis admirably forged ahead when she didn't exactly know how or where to go. She made it okay to waiver and process something and not be sure about a decision she needed to make. What I realize now, looking back, is that I used that experience as a form of professional reflection.

The time I spent on the page with the likes of Cayce Pollard and Hollis Henry was development time, not just entertainment.

And so, I ask you, even if you haven't had the opportunity to read anything fictional in a while, and even if you have to dig deep into a memory of college or high school or earlier, who is character (in a book or show) that you look up to? What values have they embodied? Why do you admire them? 

I'd like to start a little mini collection here in the responses of shows or books to watch and read that can provide an avenue of professional development in a less conventional, but totally intentional, way.

Oh, and feel free to answer the staff meeting question in the comments: who would you spend the day with? Me, I think I might like to spend a day with Michael Burnham of Discovery.

Today in a staff meeting, our question of the day was inspired by one of the kids at camp. He had asked his class: If you could spend the day with one person who doesn't exist (fictional character), who would it be?

I loved to hear the answers of all of us in the staff meeting. We had Batman, and BayMax, and Sheldon, among others.

And this reminded me of something else I used to do a lot: One of my favorite parts about being a teacher of reading was that I got to spend time listening to my students think about the characters in the books we were reading. As a class we examined who the characters are and what their values might be based on their actions and words in the book, this hard evidence we could point to and interpret. It was always such a joy to see students connecting with a character's perspective or exasperated with a character.

When I left the classroom for administration, this was one of the things I missed the most-daily conversations about values and ideas and what we learn from each other-even if "each other" is a story or a character within that story.

This spring, this joy came back to me. My wife and I read and discussed all three books in the Blue Ant trilogy by William Gibson. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that I was as wrapped up in the adventures of Cayce Pollard as I had been years ago while teaching A Cricket in Times Square to 4^th graders or while teaching That Night to college freshmen.

We speculated, we ranted, we relished. When one book was finished, it was a race to pick up the next. I loved what the Blue Ant series made me think about-how technology plays various roles (some unknown to us) in our industry and in nearly all things about our lives. But what I remember and take away the most is how much I admired one of the main characters: Hollis Henry. Hollis showed me how to make and keep professional boundaries. Hollis admirably forged ahead when she didn't exactly know how or where to go. She made it okay to waiver and process something and not be sure about a decision she needed to make. What I realize now, looking back, is that I used that experience as a form of professional reflection.

The time I spent on the page with the likes of Cayce Pollard and Hollis Henry was development time, not just entertainment.

And so, I ask you, even if you haven't had the opportunity to read anything fictional in a while, and even if you have to dig deep into a memory of college or high school or earlier, who is character (in a book or show) that you look up to? What values have they embodied? Why do you admire them? 

I'd like to start a little mini collection here in the responses of shows or books to watch and read that can provide an avenue of professional development in a less conventional, but totally intentional, way.

Oh, and feel free to answer the staff meeting question in the comments: who would you spend the day with? Me, I think I might like to spend a day with Michael Burnham of Discovery.

Today in a staff meeting, our question of the day was inspired by one of the kids at camp. He had asked his class: If you could spend the day with one person who doesn't exist (fictional character), who would it be?

I loved to hear the answers of all of us in the staff meeting. We had Batman, and BayMax, and Sheldon, among others.

And this reminded me of something else I used to do a lot: One of my favorite parts about being a teacher of reading was that I got to spend time listening to my students think about the characters in the books we were reading. As a class we examined who the characters are and what their values might be based on their actions and words in the book, this hard evidence we could point to and interpret. It was always such a joy to see students connecting with a character's perspective or exasperated with a character.

When I left the classroom for administration, this was one of the things I missed the most-daily conversations about values and ideas and what we learn from each other-even if "each other" is a story or a character within that story.

This spring, this joy came back to me. My wife and I read and discussed all three books in the Blue Ant trilogy by William Gibson. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that I was as wrapped up in the adventures of Cayce Pollard as I had been years ago while teaching A Cricket in Times Square to 4^th graders or while teaching That Night to college freshmen.

We speculated, we ranted, we relished. When one book was finished, it was a race to pick up the next. I loved what the Blue Ant series made me think about-how technology plays various roles (some unknown to us) in our industry and in nearly all things about our lives. But what I remember and take away the most is how much I admired one of the main characters: Hollis Henry. Hollis showed me how to make and keep professional boundaries. Hollis admirably forged ahead when she didn't exactly know how or where to go. She made it okay to waiver and process something and not be sure about a decision she needed to make. What I realize now, looking back, is that I used that experience as a form of professional reflection.

The time I spent on the page with the likes of Cayce Pollard and Hollis Henry was development time, not just entertainment.

And so, I ask you, even if you haven't had the opportunity to read anything fictional in a while, and even if you have to dig deep into a memory of college or high school or earlier, who is character (in a book or show) that you look up to? What values have they embodied? Why do you admire them? 

I'd like to start a little mini collection here in the responses of shows or books to watch and read that can provide an avenue of professional development in a less conventional, but totally intentional, way.

Oh, and feel free to answer the staff meeting question in the comments: who would you spend the day with? Me, I think I might like to spend a day with Michael Burnham of Discovery.

Today in a staff meeting, our question of the day was inspired by one of the kids at camp. He had asked his class: If you could spend the day with one person who doesn't exist (fictional character), who would it be?

I loved to hear the answers of all of us in the staff meeting. We had Batman, and BayMax, and Sheldon, among others.

And this reminded me of something else I used to do a lot: One of my favorite parts about being a teacher of reading was that I got to spend time listening to my students think about the characters in the books we were reading. As a class we examined who the characters are and what their values might be based on their actions and words in the book, this hard evidence we could point to and interpret. It was always such a joy to see students connecting with a character's perspective or exasperated with a character.

When I left the classroom for administration, this was one of the things I missed the most-daily conversations about values and ideas and what we learn from each other-even if "each other" is a story or a character within that story.

This spring, this joy came back to me. My wife and I read and discussed all three books in the Blue Ant trilogy by William Gibson. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that I was as wrapped up in the adventures of Cayce Pollard as I had been years ago while teaching A Cricket in Times Square to 4^th graders or while teaching That Night to college freshmen.

We speculated, we ranted, we relished. When one book was finished, it was a race to pick up the next. I loved what the Blue Ant series made me think about-how technology plays various roles (some unknown to us) in our industry and in nearly all things about our lives. But what I remember and take away the most is how much I admired one of the main characters: Hollis Henry. Hollis showed me how to make and keep professional boundaries. Hollis admirably forged ahead when she didn't exactly know how or where to go. She made it okay to waiver and process something and not be sure about a decision she needed to make. What I realize now, looking back, is that I used that experience as a form of professional reflection.

The time I spent on the page with the likes of Cayce Pollard and Hollis Henry was development time, not just entertainment.

And so, I ask you, even if you haven't had the opportunity to read anything fictional in a while, and even if you have to dig deep into a memory of college or high school or earlier, who is character (in a book or show) that you look up to? What values have they embodied? Why do you admire them? 

I'd like to start a little mini collection here in the responses of shows or books to watch and read that can provide an avenue of professional development in a less conventional, but totally intentional, way.

Oh, and feel free to answer the staff meeting question in the comments: who would you spend the day with? Me, I think I might like to spend a day with Michael Burnham of Discovery.