GTD for teachers

Today and tomorrow I'll be assisting with a Getting Things Done seminar here in Albuquerque that is being held just for teachers and administrators. In addition to the standard Roadmap seminar that presents the core GTD material in an intense, one-day format, we'll be brainstorming with teachers about how GTD can work at three levels in their lives: personal, professional, and as a teaching tool.

The separation between the last two spaces may seem arbitrary or artificial but Wayne Pepper, the coach from the David Allen Company who's in Albuquerque to conduct the seminar and I talked about these two perspectives and decided each was worthy of separate discussion. In a certain sense, the 25 teachers we will be working with will act as messengers to their respective learning communities carrying what they learn in these next two days back to share and implement locally. Helping their peers understand the GTD approach to organization and productivity is one conversation. Mapping some of the core principles to the engagement with students in elementary, middle, and high school is another.

I'm really looking forward to this. Bringing GTD into schools has been on my Someday/Maybe list for a long time and it's exciting that not only is it finally going to happen, at least on a small scale, but right in my own backyard as well. This event is being conducted by The Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico and is being underwritten by my former employer, VanDyke Software. I can't think of a finer way to close out my five-year tenure at VanDyke.

About The Golden Aple Foundation of NM: The Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico (GAFNM) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established in 1994 with a mission for recognizing excellent teachers and improving the quality of teaching.
 
Each year the GAFNM recognizes a small number of teachers from around New Mexico with the Golden Apple Award. The selection of these teachers is made through a rigorous, comprehensive process that includes teams of evaluators making site visits to the teachers’ classrooms and their schools. Golden Apple Award recipients receive a stipend, a generous professional development award, a computer system, and ongoing professional development through their membership as a Golden Apple Fellow in the elite Golden Apple Academy.

Golden Apple Fellows give back to the profession through the many ways, both formal and informal, in which they mentor and help prepare other teachers. One significant way they give back is through teaching and mentoring aspiring teachers. A two-week summer workshop – the Scholars Colloquium – was offered 2001 through 2004 and provided practical advice and valuable classroom tools and techniques for college students preparing for student teaching. In 2005, Gateway to Teaching provided a highly supportive and collaborative induction program for 16 new teachers. With state funding, the Golden Apple Scholars Program will grow substantially in Summer 2006 to serve 24 college juniors and 24 new teachers. The Program will include classroom experience with students in an academic intervention summer school and workshops taught by Golden Apple Fellows.