The Staff Book Club started two years ago by Thurston Middle School science teacher Ina Inouye Wu meets monthly, allowing teachers to share instructional methods and discuss creative classroom strategies.
This year, the club’s reading finds focus around the Common Core curriculum, allowing for discussion on how to teach the material, said Principal Jenny Salberg. “Our amazing staff continues to discover new ways to collaborate and share ideas.”
Last year the club focused on the book, “Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement.”
This year they are reading “Formative Assessment & Standards-Based Grading and Navigating Implementation of the Common Core State Standards: Getting Ready for the Common Core Handbook Series, Book One.
Collaboration and the opportunity to learn from a variety of perspectives and approaches are important benefits of the club, whose participants include staff from most disciplines.
“It is a truly diverse group with so many perspectives, yet we are all dedicated to learning new techniques or strengthening our trusted ones,” said language arts teacher Laura Silver. “Our staff book club is great. The group instills professionalism and sense of camaraderie in each of us. Personally, I don’t want to become complacent and want to keep up on the research; this group addresses both those pieces.”
