Day 14: Who do you turn to for teaching advice and why?

Teaching is one of those professions that I don't know if you ever stop asking for advice.  You typically have some new situation each school year that you've never encountered before, regardless of how long you have been teaching - new students, new class numbers, new parents, new room, new curriculum, new administrators, new PLC, etc.  Because the situations are endless, I typically ask all sorts of people for advice on my teaching.  Depending on the situation or topic, I may ask more than one or two people.  Teaching is not the island that it once was.  If you aren't turning to someone for advice, you are making things way too hard!!

Here are some situations and who I would turn to...

1.  Students:  I turn to my PLC, ELP, ELL, SpEd teachers for academic situations; PLC, Deans or Administration for behavior situations (and depending...back to ELP, ELL, or SpEd).  I sometimes will turn to our Instructional Coach for advice.
2.  Parents:  PLC and/or Administration, and teachers who have communicated with parents before (previous year's teachers).  If there is a particular tough communication that needs to go out, I either role play the conversation or have an email proof-read.
3.  Curriculum: Instructional Coach, Curriculum Facilitator, ELP, ELL and SpEd teachers.

I also observe a lot - I may just pop into a classroom and just watch for awhile.  This may be for classroom management techniques for a group of kids or when I want to implement something another teacher is already doing and I want to see how it's working for them.  It may be for set up of a station or student work areas or how posters are hung on the walls.

I also turn to the 'experts' (read:  books) when I might struggle with a philosophy or to implement a philosophy that I believe in.  I turn mostly to Wormeli, O'Connor, and the DuFour's...and whatever my above colleagues recommend.

Sometimes I may ask a question to an unsuspecting friend (who is not a teacher) to seek advice from someone outside the profession.  It may sound like this:  "So if (your child)'s teacher did (this), what would be your opinion on it?  What would you need to know about (it) that would help you be more comfortable?"

What resources am I missing that you turn to?