The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching is a residential facility to which career teachers come throughout the year to refresh themselves intellectually. As they attend sessions of a seminar they have chosen from a wide range of topics, they are put at ease, treated as the professionals they are, and engage in introductory activities that help them relax and build new friendships and trust with colleagues. Staff members work to maintain group cohesiveness throughout the week. They listen to teachers and address their needs. By the end of the week, a sense of community develops, along with the personal and professional renewal of each individual's spirit.
Participants come to realize that teaching is still an important and respected profession.
May 2000, Vol. Video clubs can provide unique opportunities for teachers to investigate their teaching practices. In video clubs, teachers can focus their attention on a specific type of classroom interaction, reflect on what they observe, and explore their observations with other teachers. The author offers suggestions such as selecting a focus and what types of classroom video to view, two key issues in developing a video club. By exploring a particular theme or focus, club participants are better able to explore what happened rather than what might have happened in the classroom.