Japanese teacher Mrs. Higashide using skills the learned at teacher development.
So, what were we all doing on Election Day? Going to the booths to vote or just enjoying a day off? Our teachers had other things to do. It was their professional development day and they all went to do different activities throughout New York City.
Professional development is about giving teachers ideas that they can then apply to their teaching.
The history teachers, for example, took a course on public speaking from Richard Green, author of Words That Shook the World. They learned how the gift of speech, when used properly, can change the world.
“The whole experience was a good way for me to teach US History students about how many of the most influential people in history used words to convey their thoughts on a wide scale,” said history teacher Ms. Mangiero.
Some teachers dove deeper in to what they already know. For example, the math teachers, Ms. Lo, Ms. Li, Mrs. Niederhoffer, and Ms. Biancaviso, remembering to bring their thinking caps, went on a math trail, where they solved various problems.
“This was a way for us to help students connect math to real life,” said Ms. Lo.
The same goes for Japanese teacher Mrs. Higashide, who learned about a new teaching strategy, which is being used by many schools in the European Union. Content and Language Integrated Learning, or CLIL connects language with other subjects. The teacher, and students speak in the language they’re studying while learning their academic subject.
“It would be interesting to try it at our school and study the level of proficiency and cultural knowledge that the students can obtain through the experience,” said Mrs. Higashide.
“I really loved professional development!” said music teacher Mrs. Packowski, who seemed to have loved her professional development the most out of all the teachers. For her PD, Mrs. Packowski stayed on the island, going to Staten Island Yech to work with music students there.
“The rehearsal strategy portion was not as helpful to me because our school has such a unique program,” said Mrs. Packowski.
Professional development was however, more of a way for teachers to improve on their teaching so they can then pass it on to their students, leaving them with more of an experience than just a memory.
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