I'm usually not a big fan of professional development. I used to look forward to it, back in the beginning of my career. But my opinion has been tainted over the years after enduring boring PD after booooooooorrrrrrrrrring PD. You can relate, right?
Well, this summer my district is offering a PD Academy for us. I was skeptical, but as I looked at the list of offerings I was pleasantly surprised. Scheduled to be at our high school today was none other than Margaret Searle! If you've never heard of Margaret Searle, you should have. :) Seriously, she's an amazing educator with expertise in differentiation and co-teaching, and since I learned about 6 weeks ago that I will be teaching inclusion next year, I decided this would be a perfect session to attend.
I was not disappointed. In fact, I was so far from disappointed that I swear I would have paid to sit in that class! She was amazing!! Here's a few nuggets of what my co-teacher and I learned today: (By the way, if you have the opportunity to attend a co-teaching class, the best scenario is for BOTH teachers to be enrolled in the class - many of my colleagues did not have their partner with them today, and they definitely felt like they were at a disadvantage.)
1) To be effective at co-teaching, both you and your partner teacher must be both trustworthy and trusting. (Think about the difference between those...)
2) There are 4 types of co-teaching: Speak and Help (one teacher presents and the other supports but stays out of sight), Speak and Chart (one presents and the other takes notes or creates a concept map on the board), Speak and Add (one presents while the other interjects with examples, questions, illustrations, etc), and Duet (both teachers present equally). We should aim to spend 80-90% of our time using a Speak and Add or Duet format, as students will get the most out of these.
3) There are many discussions that need to be had before the start of the school year. Co-teachers should discuss everything from classroom management, to procedures and routines, to personal pet peeves, so there are minimal surprises once the school year gets under way.
4) Instead of extending due dates for IEP students, try front-loading and letting those students start earlier so that their project/assignment is still due with all the rest.
5) Never punish a learner. Reward good attempts and encourage improvement. Allow them to rewrite, revise, and retake. (I feel like a do a decent job of this in my room already, so this was good affirmation for me that I'm on the right track... I don't grade homework that's intended to be practice, and I always allow an opportunity for students to retake their tests and quizzes.)
Oh, there is SO much more that I could share, but I figure if you're still reading by now then I've kept you long enough! If you have some time, go to margaretsearle.com and check out the resources she has to offer. I don't think you'll be disappointed!
Rachel
Oh my goodness, what a crazy end to the school year it was! The last two months were pretty much a blur! It's hard to not feel overwhelmed with testing, field trips, projects, plus my own kids' activities (soccer x2, softball, teeball, and dance! Sheesh!) I had some really great end-of-the-year activities that I wanted to share with you, but to go back and write about it all now would also be a bit overwhelming. ;) (Maybe next year! LOL)
So... now that school's out and I'm in summer mode, I thought I would take some time to share with you some things to do and think about as your own year comes to a close.
1) Buy a copy of your school yearbook and let your students sign it. I've done this every year since I started teaching and it's great to have little notes from them to go back and look at. They absolutely love that I get in on the yearbook-signing action!
2) Have your students help you clean your classroom. This one is a little difficult for me because I'm so particular about how things are taken down and stored. However, my current classroom is the old chemistry room (our middle school is housed in the old high school building) and so there are like 200 storage drawers all around the room. As you can probably imagine, students find those to be convenient hiding places and trash cans, so instead of going through them myself I have a class period or two help me clean them out. Of course, I always reward them with whatever candy I have left over in my candy bucket. :)
3) Choose one area of your classroom in which to "clean house." Last year I did my filing cabinets - I went through and threw out every file that I hadn't used in the past 3 or 4 years, and then I reorganized and relabeled files as needed. It was great when I arrived in my room in August to a completely clean filing system! This year I chose my storage room (which, as a science teacher, can be a daunting task because we're hoarders! We. Keep. Everything. ... because you never know when you can use it for "something"!) But I must say, having an organized storage area again is a great feeling.
4) Reflect and set goals for next year. This one is SO important! I spend a good part of June reflecting on what I liked and didn't like about the past year, and thinking about ways that I can change and improve for next year. A teacher who doesn't self-reflect will quickly become stagnant. My two main goals for next year are 1) to improve on a couple of the units I taught that I felt were rushed and a bit lacking in detail, and 2) to effectively work with my inclusion teacher to teach inclusion classes, which is something I haven't had to do for 6 years! That will be quite an adjustment for me, so I'm actually taking a class this Friday on co-teaching with the hopes of learning some helpful hints on how to be effective in this area.
So I know this is a varied, almost random, list, but I hope it gives you some things to think about as your own year comes to a close!
Enjoy your summer!
Rachel
