BENTONVILLE -- Washington Junior High School Principal Tim Sparacino believes his teachers need not go far for some of the best professional development opportunities available.
Two years ago, Sparacino and his staff agreed teachers can learn a lot just by observing each other at work. Their focus on that concept led to a program they call Teachers Visiting Teachers.
Sparacino said the program has fostered a culture at the school that encourages teachers to drop in on their peers' classrooms to pick up ideas they might apply in their own classes. In some cases, teachers will invite other teachers in to observe so that they may get their feedback on a certain project or teaching method.
"We don't have to pay an expert to come in to show us how to teach math to eighth-graders," Sparacino said. "We have experts up and down the hall."
Bentley Fisher is in his third year as an English teacher at Washington Junior High School. He frequently visits other classrooms.
"It has broken down these walls and barriers new teachers sometimes experience," Fisher said. "Without this program, I wouldn't be able to learn as much from my colleagues as I do."
The idea that teachers may grow professionally by consulting each other is hardly new, but few schools emphasize it as much as Washington Junior High does.
Under the school's program, a teacher spends five minutes or more in another teacher's classroom, either at his own initiative or at the invitation of that other teacher.
The school maintains a system allowing teachers to claim one, two or three points based on the kind of visit they made. A record of those points is kept through an online form the teachers fill out after each visit.
The point system adds a "gaming quality" to the program, but the points do not provide teachers any benefits, Sparacino said. The time involved does not count toward the professional development hours the state requires of each teacher every year.
Teachers accumulated 862 points during the 2013-14 school year. Fewer than two months into this school year, they've already racked up 547 points, Sparacino said.
"[The program] hasn't died at all," he said. "It's become part of the culture."
On Aug. 19, for example, Heather Crumpler reported she visited fellow science teacher David Rau's class. Crumpler wrote in her notes that Rau talked to his students about how he planned to challenge them this school year.
One aspect of the program is the "learning walk." Groups of teachers meet for a class period and drop in unannounced on a few different classrooms to watch their peers. They spend a few minutes in each room, then meet in the library for another 10 minutes or so to discuss what they observed.
Sparacino said he has arranged a learning walk for each period of the school day so far this year. Teachers give up their preparation time to participate. Nobody is required to go on the learning walks, but every teacher must be prepared to be visited at any time.
"We all agree your door is always open," Sparacino said.
Briana Rentschler, who teaches English and English as a second language, said the program has made a huge positive impact on the school.
"We can get so wrapped up in our own little bubbles. When you go into the class of another teacher, it's a whole new, fresh perspective on how a class is run," Rentschler said.
Teachers can learn from each other by watching the kinds of lessons being taught and the way other teachers communicate with their students.
"Even the way things are phrased," Rentschler said, adding she had improved her technique of questioning her students.
Kandi Cowart, a history and language arts teacher, said she's picked up tips on "bell ringers," ways of getting students warmed up for her class. Cowart has taught for 17 years, but said she refuses to let herself get complacent.
"I have to keep in mind I have so much to learn yet," Cowart said.
"Yeah, you're never done learning," said Rentschler, now in her 10th year of teaching. "There's always room to improve and tweak and develop."
Some other schools -- including Bentonville High and Mary Mae Jones Elementary -- have taken note of Teachers Visiting Teachers and have adopted the program in some form, Sparacino said. Administrators from Neosho, Mo., also have inquired about it, he said.
Metro on 10/05/2015