Aloha! Pineapple Chart PD

In the past, many school districts approached teacher professional development with a one-size-fits-all philosophy, much to the dread of faculty who would rather make productive use of their time. More recently, however, school leaders have recognized that teachers need personalized learning opportunities and have made a concerted effort to offer alternative professional development structures (see image below).

image source: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/pd/

Pineapple Charts

Among the alternative approaches to PD listed above is the concept of Peer Observation. A Pineapple Chart facilitates this approach with a system that allows teachers to welcome one another into their classrooms for informal observation (the pineapple is considered a symbol of hospitality). Here's how it works:

• The chart is set up in high-traffic areas and offer teachers the ability to share the activities they think their colleagues would like to observe.
• The chart represents one week of school--days of the week are posted in columns along the top; class periods or other chunks of time are listed in rows along the side.
• Teachers voluntarily share their names and activities on a given date/time.
• When colleagues see something interesting on the chart, they go to that classroom at the designated time and informally observe.
• Teachers are welcome to stay as long or as little as they like.
• There is no note-taking required, no write-up, no post-conference debriefing--it's just a visit in the hopes of learning something new.

Check out the Pineapple Chart from Camillus Middle School, which is located in Team Room next to the Guidance suite. Kudos to Nancy Boise and Beth Lozier for setting this up!

References

Jennifer, G. (2018). How Pineapple Charts Revolutionize Professional Development | Cult of

     Pedagogy. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/pineapple-charts/