After a great lunch. We had the opportunity to find out where the other participants come from. There were representatives from New York, Washington DC and Florida.
We began our day listening to Blair Dunivan from America's Choice. He was sharing a study that he is a part of that tracks effective professional development for middle and high school math teachers. He focused on its link to student achievement. Teachers participate in summer seminars that continue throughout the year. It pushes teachers and their thinking in math with rational numbers. He will be giving a full break out session on Saturday. Susan was thinking this would be a good opportunity for elementary teachers to help broaden their mathematical understanding. Especially since elementary teachers are usually not math content specialist but "jacks of all trades".
Next our conversation moved into the pilot program of Literacy Navigator. Different schools were sharing how they are using it in their schools. When to use it (before, after or during school), and how to select students who are to participate in the intervention. Everyone is interested in seeing the student growth after the state tests.
The next speaker at the session Bob(didn't catch his last name), his focus was on the America's Choice School Design in High Schools. There are currently 25 schools who are implementing the school design. It was interesting to hear this former High School Principal share the need for High Schools to implement a professional learning community.
1 comment:
It's interesting that a former High School Principal would express the need for professional learning communities. I understand his feelings. There are so many in our profession who do not understand the term. Many schools think that they have professional learning comminities when they really just have extensive professional development workshops. When teachers become a part of a true professional learning community, great things happen.
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