An old story I know…There was once a small village where the nights were especially dark. Each family owned a lantern, but they kept them inside their own homes. The light was enough for each household, but whenever villagers walked the narrow streets, they stumbled and grew frustrated in the dark.
One evening, a child suggested that everyone bring their lanterns outside and place them along the road. At first, the villagers laughed; what difference could one lantern make against such heavy darkness? But soon a few tried it, and then more joined in. As the lanterns lined the streets, the entire village was illuminated. The people realized that each lantern carried its own small power, but when shared, their lights created something far greater than any one family could produce alone.
I often think of this story when I see the way teachers learn from one another. Each of us holds a lantern of expertise: an app we know well, a classroom strategy that works for us, a method we’ve refined over years of practice. Alone, those lanterns make our own classrooms shine a little brighter. But when shared, they can light the way for an entire community.
That is the heart behind our program Teachers Teaching Teachers. It is simple in design but powerful in impact: we give teachers the opportunity to run workshops focused on skills, tools, or strategies they are passionate about and use effectively in their classrooms. The result is a professional development model that celebrates teacher expertise while fostering collective growth.
So far this year we have run two sessions. In the first, four teachers held up their lanterns and shared apps they use for classroom management, including Apple Classroom, SmartPass, Ready Group Go, and Microsoft Teams. Teachers rotated in small groups between the presenters, which allowed everyone to learn directly from a colleague while keeping the sessions interactive and practical. In the second session, six teachers gave a preview of the workshops they will be leading during our upcoming TriConference later this month. Once again, teachers moved between sessions (this time they got to choose 4 of the 6), hearing from multiple voices in a short time while presenters gained valuable practice in their facilitation skills.
The benefits of this format are layered. Presenters receive acknowledgment of their hard work and the chance to strengthen their presentation skills. Participants walk away with new ideas and practical tools to apply in their own classrooms. And as a community, we are reminded that professional growth is not something done to us but something we build together. Each lantern adds light, and together the glow is unmistakable.
We will continue to leverage our incredibly passionate and talented teachers for future sessions of Teachers Teaching Teachers. It is one of the many ways we are working to ensure that professional learning is not a separate event from our daily work, but rather a living expression of the creativity, collaboration, and expertise already present in our school.
And perhaps most importantly, when teachers model this kind of learning with one another, our students see it. They watch as we share ideas, practice new skills, and celebrate each other’s successes. They see that learning does not end with graduation, and that even teachers are lifelong learners. In that sense, Teachers Teaching Teachers isn’t only about professional growth, it is also about showing our students what it looks like to walk in purpose as a community of lantern-bearers, lighting the way for one another.
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