workshops

Over the past 3 years, I have taken countless workshops sponsored by the city where I work. In the teachers' lounge, there is a blue binder that is always full of postings, including job opportunities, presenter opportunities, classes, and workshops. All one needs to do is submit a resume and a letter expressing interest in the course and be one of the first X people to sign up. Whenever I see a workshop that is in the least amount applicable to my position, I always sign up. They are usually on Saturdays for several hours and we are paid $28 something an hour to attend. I assume that I will always learn at least something I can use, and even if I don't at least I am $100 something dollars wealthier.

Having been to my fair share of these paid workshops, I have noticed many trends. People tend to arrive late, the workshops never seem to be as helpful as they may appear in the listing, and teachers in my city are frustrated and feel powerless. The same complaints are issued by various teachers at every workshop. They don't feel supported by administration, they feel very guilty that the system is not helping their students, they have problems with the way things are run, and they have conflicts with the other adults in their buildings, to name a few standard discussions.

Yesterday I attended at workshop that was aimed at behavior management strategies in the classroom. I was very much looking forward to the workshop and few friends from other schools were also on the roster. The workshop is two Saturdays from 8-1 and there are about 15 secondary teachers involved. It is run by the 3 behavior specialists for the city, at least one of whom I have attended workshops with on prior occasions.

The workshop began with an activator activity where each teacher needed to write down what they would change about themselves, their job, and their approach to handling challenging behavior. It was during this unnecessarily lengthy portion of the workshop that I began to become very frustrated and started wondering whether or not this was going to be worth waking up earlt for two weekends in a row. Certain teacher (some of whom I have had workshops with in the past) dominated the conversation and spoke excessively about their own school's problems. Overall, people failed to correctly read and answer the questions in the activator. They instead complained about factors outside of themselves, like their coworkers and their administration. The assignment was meant to focus on yourself as an individual, and many failed to realize that.

If I am going to be spending my time attending a workshop with behavior SPECIALISTS, I want to listen to them teach - not listen to a bunch of teachers complaining about their own schools. I am going to write a letter to the presenters in hopes that next week's class will be a little more tolerable.