Professional Development Day
On Nov. 10, the day school was closed for students, teachers and administrators attended a day of professional development led by colleagues as well as consultants.
Sessions included teaching the new New York State Science Learning Standards, assessing students' evidence-based essays, and creating a safe learning environment for all students.
“The day is designed to expose teachers to resources and experiences that will inform their practice and encourage collaboration,” said Candy Wilmot, district staff developer.
She set up the learning experiences with input from Instructional Leaders, Liaisons, Technology, and Alice Cronin, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction.
Teachers Focus on Best Practices and New Methods
Understanding the new New York State Science Learning Standards
Participating in a Guided Inquiry
Elementary school teachers and administrators gathered around the tables in a science classroom in John Jay Middle School. High school physics teacher Francesco Noschese welcomed them to class.
Good-humored collegiality mixed with interest when Noschese distributed a white balloon to each table. He placed a drop of vanilla extract into each balloon and instructed the groups to blow up their balloon and tie it off.
“Do you smell the vanilla?” asked Noschese. “Draw a model of what you think is going on.”
Participating in this guided inquiry helped the teachers grasp the new New York State Science Learning Standards -- in particular, the shift to emphasize science practices such as asking questions and developing and using models.
“The new standards cover not just science content, but acting and thinking like scientists,” said Noschese.
The Marshmallow Challenge
Meadow Pond Elementary School art teacher Amy Stockfield brought the engineering design process—ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve—to life. She tasked teachers with the Marshmallow Challenge as those teachers prepare to introduce new STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Art, and Math) units of study to their students.
The assignment was simple: in ten minutes, build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow needed to be on top.
“Design thinking requires you to be bold—you have to create something so you can test it,” said Stockfield.
“The KES Music and Art Departments will incorporate some of the techniques we learned from the Marshmallow Challenge when we work with the children on a STREAM project involving sound and musical instrument construction in early 2018,” said Michael Gelfer, music teacher at Katonah Elementary.
the engineering design process—ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve
Improving staff skills to produce outstanding educational results for students
- Guidance counselors began their day at a session called “Unselfie,” named after a book by Michele Borba subtitled “Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World.” They viewed Borba’s TEDx talk “Empathy Is a Verb,” as a starting point for discussion on nurturing kindness, caring, and courage in students.
- Dr. Deanna Spoto, a behaviorist and one of the District’s school psychologists, shared insights in a presentation called Student Anxiety and School Refusal.
- Mark Hyer, Director of Education Markets for Earth Networks, called teachers attention to the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning that can be built around the data generated by the weather station at John Jay High School.
- Dr. Diane Cunningham, Senior Consultant with Learning-Centered Initiatives, offered a class on Process Based Assessments—multi-draft, expository, evidence-based essays used in John Jay High School English classes. These essays help students develop critical reading, thinking and self-management skills along with key content knowledge.
- Almost all teachers attended a presentation from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) on how to best support a safe learning environment for all students. It was led by GLSEN Board Member Spencer Osborn, and volunteers August Cullaro and Peg Breen.
- Dr. Helen Pashley, President of the Science Teachers Association of New York State, provided support for middle school science teachers on the new New York State Science Learning Standards. These standards include the science and engineering practices of planning and carrying out investigations, and analyzing and interpreting data.
- The last hour of the day was spent discussing intellectually engaging methods teachers are developing for their classes.
“It was good to share methods and get ideas from my colleagues, many of whom were in different buildings,” said Daniel Longhurst, high school science teacher.