My principal just asked me to be the science department chair for next year. I’d like to change the format of our professional development (PD) days and the once-a-month afterschool meetings to do some PD or other departmental projects.
—Melanie, Indiana
We teachers complain we have no opportunity to collaborate, yet if we’re not careful, faculty meetings become gripe and gossip sessions. I once worked with a chairperson who began each meeting with “I don’t have anything to talk about, but the contract says we have to be here until 4:30.” He would read some announcements aloud and then grade papers. Needless to say, not much was accomplished during those meetings, and he did not last long in that position. I’m glad to hear you want to facilitate something more productive.
For your monthly meetings, you can send out an agenda a few days in advance with a copy to the principal. The agenda should reflect issues of importance to science teachers or the district (e.g., safety, grading policies, instructional strategies, technology, inventories, parent communications, and assessments). Use e-mail or an attachment to the agenda to communicate information items so the meeting time can be spent more productively. Rather than a bulleted list of items to address, phrase them as questions for your colleagues to discuss. For example, instead of “Safety,” ask, “What do you do to ensure students work safely in your lab?” Set aside a few minutes to recognize new issues or other concerns. Celebrate any successes or accomplishments, too, and some munchies might be appreciated at the end of a long day.

I know of some schools where the teachers hold book groups at faculty meetings. If this would not work with your time constraints, you could distribute journal articles (such as those in NSTA’s publications) or video segments ahead of time for discussion during the meetings. Initially, you might have to prepare some conversation-starters. Perhaps teachers will eventually suggest articles or topics of interest.
You could also rotate the location of the meetings, asking a different teacher each month to “host” the meeting in his/her lab. The host would describe some of the student activities, and the other teachers have a chance to learn more about what happens in other classrooms. It might be possible to have a combined meeting with another department to discuss common interests or questions.
Occasionally, you could set up a virtual meeting using Skype (or a similar program) to interact with a scientist, museum curator, or other resource person.
I once worked with a social studies department chairperson who came up with an effective PD project. After getting administration approval, he arranged for the teachers to tour a historic site during the summer. The teachers rented a van and traveled together. A docent gave them a comprehensive behind-the-scenes tour, and they had the opportunity to handle and examine some artifacts and documents up close, with the guidance and insights of a professional curator/historian. They had lunch in a historic tavern, took lots of pictures, and during the ride home discussed how what they learned applied to their teaching. Each teacher submitted a written summary of the day. The teachers did this on their own time and at their own expense, and in return, they were excused from a PD day in October. It was a win-win situation: the teachers had a content-focused learning day, there was no expense for the district, and the teachers had a “day off” during the school year. This became a model for other departments: I once spent a day studying plate tectonics with colleagues at a natural history museum and another day with the state fish commission as they studied fish populations.
As a new chairperson, you may encounter some resistance from teachers used to the status quo. Being expected to participate in discussions or group activities may take some getting used to on their part. If meetings in previous years were seen as a waste of time, you may have to be persistent to let people know that things are going to be different.
Perhaps our colleagues would like to share comments about their challenges and successes as department chairs. Good luck!
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsbrennan/4222955364/