Today marks the 8th Anniversary of the release of The Four O’Clock Faculty ! The ideas of the book still resonate, and to celebrate, I’ve compiled all of the strategies from both The Four O’Clock Faculty and the follow-up ROGUE Leader to switch up your staff meetings this school year.
Move beyond the traditional agenda and transform your staff meetings into dynamic, engaging, and impactful professional development experiences. Here are more than 20 powerful ideas to inspire collaboration, innovation, and teacher leadership.
Category 1: Empower Teacher Choice & Voice
Give staff ownership over their learning by letting them choose the topic and format.
- VCR (Voice, Choice, & Relevance): Host mini-edcamp sessions where teachers determine what and how to learn, ensuring the content is directly relevant to their roles and needs.
- Genius Hour: Dedicate meeting time for teachers to learn about or create something they are passionate about. This personal investment in learning often finds its way back to students.
- Use Centers / Chat Stations: Set up 4-5 stations around the room, each with a different topic, activity, or discussion prompt. Allow staff to choose which stations they want to attend.
- Tip Jars: Label two jars with potential meeting topics. As staff enter, they place a marble into the jar of the topic they prefer, creating a democratic choice for the day’s focus.
- A PD Challenge: Provide a menu of professional development activities and let staff choose what they want to work on. They can collaborate with accountability partners to deepen their learning.
Category 2: Foster Collaboration & Peer Learning
Leverage the incredible expertise already in your building and district.
- Partner with Another School: Connect with another school for joint PD. You can alternate locations, have teachers share expertise, or even do a “Mystery Staff Meeting” where you virtually connect and try to guess the other school’s location.
- Problem-Solving Summit: Start by brainstorming a list of school-wide challenges. As a group, focus on 1-2 of them and collaborate to develop actionable solutions.
- Speed Dating for Ideas: Teachers pair up and have 2 minutes to share a resource or instructional strategy. After several quick “dates,” they can meet with someone whose idea intrigued them for a more in-depth discussion.
- Appy Hour: Select several useful apps, websites, or tech resources. Have different teachers (or students!) lead short tutorials on each one, allowing staff to learn about new tools.
- PD LIFT (Learning & Innovation From Teachers): Gather once a month with teachers from other local schools to share successes and challenges. This provides a fresh perspective and builds a wider professional network.
Category 3: Get Active & Hands-On
Break the monotony of sitting by getting people moving, interacting, and doing.
- Walk and Talk: Take the meeting outside! Present a discussion topic before you start, or let participants choose from a list, and have conversations while walking.
- Picnic PD: Each teacher brings an instructional strategy to share. Staff travel from “blanket to blanket” to learn from each other. Pairing this with actual picnic food is a winner!
- QR Code Scavenger Hunt: Place QR codes around the school. Each code links to a clue, a discussion prompt, or a task asking them to share a specific resource with a colleague via a shared Google Doc or social media.
- The Silent Classroom Walk: Staff walk through various colleagues’ classrooms to observe the environment and instruction. They record observations on sticky notes and then gather to share, reflect, and learn from the local experts.
- Human Hungry Hungry Hippos: For a fun brain break or team-builder, play this hilarious game. All you need are a few scooters, plastic balls, and laundry baskets to leave everyone energized. Look it up on YouTube!
Category 4: Rethink the Meeting Format & Structure
Challenge the assumption that a meeting must be a 60-minute, sit-and-get session.
- Slow PD / Focused Discussion: Instead of rushing through a packed agenda, start with one powerful question. Dedicate 30-60 minutes to a deep, meaningful conversation around that single topic.
- 15-Minute Standing Meeting: If a long meeting isn’t necessary, get everyone together for a quick, standing meeting. Share only relevant and meaningful information efficiently.
- Model a Lesson: Don’t just talk about a new strategy—show it. Model what is expected, whether it’s a writing lesson on mentor texts or a new science lab protocol.
- Dot It (Self-Reflection): To gauge the implementation of a strategy, give each teacher several colored dot stickers (e.g., Red=Never, Yellow=Seldom, Green=Frequently). Have them place dots anonymously on a chart paper prompt, leading to an honest discussion about performance and needs.
- No Staff Meeting. No Problem: The ultimate switch-up. If you don’t have something meaningful to share or a problem to solve, cancel the meeting. Respect your colleagues’ time and let them use it to accomplish something meaningful for their students.
Category 5: Involve Students Directly
Gain invaluable insight by bringing student voices into the professional development process.
- Student-Led PD: Invite students to be the experts. Have them lead an “Appy Hour,” share websites they find useful, or co-lead a discussion on a topic like homework during a “Genius Hour.”
- Student Feedback Loops: Give students the chance to share their authentic opinions about the school. Ask them: What do you like/dislike? How can it be improved? What should we keep/get rid of? This feedback is crucial for improvement.
Hope these suggestions spark a change to your traditional staff meetings! For more ideas, pick up a copy of The Four O’Clock Faculty and ROGUE Leader !
Rich
