You will have an opportunity to attend FOUR 30-minute sessions during the course of the day. Each Session will be offered twice—once in the morning and once in the afternoon, unless otherwise indicated by (**).
Getting to the Heart of the Story (Melissa Merkling, Amalia Pretel-Gray, HousatonicValley Waldorf School) GRADES PK-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
How can we ensure that students really “get” what we teach? Standard reading comprehension assessment methods tend to test students’ literal recall of what happened in a story. But there’s a way to teach literature that puts the “art” back into Language Arts and fosters creative, lateral thinking. In this Waldorf workshop, you’ll learn to use recitation, dramatization and free-rendering (a unique artistic response) to help students experience a story’s essence deeply, understand it from the inside, and express it in an individually meaningful way. The result is eager, enthusiastic, engaged students… who get it!
Creating Classrooms Without Walls - How to Keep Your Class Connected Outside of School (Terrie Hartsoe, The Country School) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRCULUM
Wouldn't it be great if that exciting class discussion that was interupted by the bell could continue outside of class? And wouldn't it be wonderful if we never had to miss a class meeting because of bad weather or other interuptions? If you are interested in finding safe, secure ways to make this happen, this workshop is for you. During our time together will explore ways to keep your class connected to each other and you outside of the classroom. We will focus on two options: Google sites and Ning communities. Bring your laptop and leave with a class site up and running.
Much More than Drugs and Coffee - Colombia Today, Changing a Negative Public Image. Utilizing this transformation as a foundation for the Spanish AP examination. (Karen Rolfini-Beckenstein, Wooster School) GRADES 9-PG / WORLD LANGUAGE
In this workshop, teachers will learn how to introduce AP themes such as public identity, families and communities, beauty and esthetics, global challenges, science and technology, and contemporary life by using Colombia as a foundation of study.
When Brain Studies Meet Chinese Written Language Learning (Jean Yu, Hotchkiss School) GRADES K-12 / WORLD LANGUAGE
I will present the innovative strategies for the successful learning of Chinese characters, based on unique features of Chinese written system, and on the brain studies of how humans assimilate information more effectively. The primary features of Chinese characters make it a unique language and an extremely fertile area for stimulating students’ cognitive development and the maturation of intellectual development. From this starting point, “Chinese Written Language Appreciation” is introduced, in order to inspire beginners the enthusiasm to learn characters from the first day of the Chinese class. The Chinese character appreciation can be approached from multi-modules, which are image-based; ideograph-based; logic-based; dimension(s)-based; social-functionally based; historically-based; and cultural-specifically based. During the regular course, brain studies are further introduced and shared with students to motivate them to be active learners. Students set up higher expectations on themselves and participated mindfully into developing strategies of decoding and remembering characters. This presentation will summarize the pedagogical strategies of how to motivate students to take challenges of character learning as an intellectual development process.
Notes from an OLE Pilot (Peter Ross, The Foote School) GRADES 6-8 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
A report of an online learning environment (OLE) pilot for the 6th grade using a web-based educational social media platform.
The Duff Center at Greenwich Academy:An Initiative in Project Based Learning and Experiential Education. (Connie Blunden, Ann Decker, Greenwich Academy) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Get your students excited about what they are learning by allowing them to explore areas of personal interest. This workshop will focus on how you can arrange for independent learning opportunities across curriculum. We will explore how to engage students in the design and implementation of original projects and share best practices for communicating outcomes with your school community. Finally, we will discuss important steps when connecting students with mentors.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens (Gretchen White, Miss Porter’s School) GRADES 9-PG / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
I'll be describing, and giving a brief practice of, a mindfulness based stress reduction program we have been doing at Porter's for 9 years called "Club Med." The program is voluntary, and consistently has 20 students sign up for three different sessions (fall, winter, spring). We also take club med to the dorms and offer it before exams. I'll talk a bit about the theory behind the practice--largely based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and Daniel Siegel, MD. The presentation will combine practice with a discussion of how Club Med helps students to manage stress and meet their potential wisely and playfully.
MyClassTalk-Using an iPhone to Promote Equitable Participation (Laura Bridges-Pereira, Chase Collegiate School) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
This presentation will discuss the use of the MyClassTalk iPhone app in the classroom, how it is being used presently, the benefits of collecting participation data and, how the app was developed.
Flipped Classroom! (Matthew Bavone, The Ethel Walker School) GRADES 9-PG / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
This year I have flipped my Latin 1 class so that they now get their grammar lessons via youtube videos that I have created. This has left more time for classroom discussion and activity. I have also adopted the use of "peer instruction" (inspired by Eric Mazur) as a way of reiterating their grammar lessons from the night before.
Project Based Learning Meets Place Based Learning (Bill Sullivan, Suffield Academy) GRADES Pre-K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM (*this session will be offered only once)
Come learn how I create a PBL dynamic among seniors to learn more about an important historical issue that has local as well as national implications. Past topics have been on a local 19th century artist who collaborated with Whistler in Venice to colonial slavery as well as the Underground Railroad. Come share questions and ideas about topics for K-12. We will also review methods for assessments and discuss the peaks and valleys of a project based learning environment. We will finish with different models for student presentations.
Social Justice: How to be Kind in an Unkind World (Toni Storlazzi, Cold Spring School) GRADES 6-8 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Sixth grade is the final grade level in our school, and during the year we do the best we can to prepare our students for the next phase of their lives, both academically and socially. The philosophy at this school sincerely embraces diversity; any prejudicial or discriminatory behaviors are addressed immediately. In preparation for their entering a world that is not as appreciative of differences, our class participates in a yearlong study of discrimination, prejudice and the fight for social justice. Last year was our first foray into using this topic as a thematic study and it was so successful we’ve decided to incorporate it into our yearly plan. We begin our social justice study by viewing films that explore discrimination. These films focus on the bullying of gay youth in schools, the Jewish experience of the Holocaust, Black Americans’ fight for equality during the bus boycotts, the experience of Muslims in America, and the treatment of Japanese Americans before and during World War II. We also explore the use of words in poetry, spoken word, and song to fight for social justice. This year we are incorporating a slideshow on visual art as a means of expression as well. The students in our class are asked to research a group of their choice, including, but not limited to a full-length autobiography or biography. They also write a three to five page first person, historical fiction piece reflecting their research and create an accompanying visual piece. As the culmination of our study, we invite guests from local agencies and host a panel that explores the issues we’ve learned about I’d like to share the bound copy of the students’ written pieces from last year, as well as highlight some specific excerpts. I have a syllabus I can show that gives details and timelines during the study. I’d also like to discuss what we learned during the process as educators and the changes we’ve made as a result.
Experience Matters: Combining the Analytical and Personal into a “Hybrid” Essay (Ben Gott, Greens Farms Academy) GRADES 6-8 / ENGLISH/WRITING
Many middle-grade (6-8) students have difficulty writing formal essays because they see no connection between the literature they are reading and their own “background knowledge.” In one sixth-grade classroom, the “hybrid” essay, a piece of writing that contains components of both formal and personal writing, can serve as an effective tool to get young students excited about writing and better able to understand how to write about literature at a deeper and more meaningful level. These “hybrid” essays allow students to use their own experiences to inform their analysis and to draw a meaningful personal connection between literature, writing, and their own lives.
Collaborating with Students on a Central Blog (Bill Sullivan, Suffield Academy) GRADES 9-PG / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM (*this session will be offered only once)
I have created a blog where students access curriculum, respond to teacher posts and create their own posts. With all students holding “authorship” on the blog, this collaborative learning environment changes every day. Come learn how the publishing aspect of blogging adds a new dimension to the writing process. We are in the words of Will Richardson, working in a “write-read-write” environment. http://willrichardson.com/
Gaming the Classroom (Paul Caginalp, Suffield Academy) GRADES PK-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
We Teachers were the best game in town until video games grabbed many of our techniques. Come see what game designers use from educational theory, and what teachers can use from game design to get our student's attention back. We will look at educational theory that reinforces what game designers use, and we will look at game research that may be able to inform educational practices. My experience, classroom, and data are from an inquiry based chemistry classroom setting, but techniques will be applicable across disciplines and classroom types.
Unleashing Excel for Grading and Communicating (Joshua Lake, Pomfret School) GRADES PK-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
I will demonstrate and tutor attendees on the power of Microsoft Excel to record grades, communicate with students, advisors, and parents, and save dozens of hours with compound equations. Excel can be a major component of a completely paperless classroom, and I will discuss the benefits and considerations of switching away from paper.
Class Blogs are the New Killer App! (Joel Backon, Choate Rosemary Hall) GRADES PK-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Class blogs have become the most powerful communication and collaboration tool for all of my classes. I use them to help students crystallize their reading assignments, provide formative assessments to guide class discussions, to improve writing skills, to begin class discussion before class begins, and to hear from students who don't speak in class, to name a few uses. This presentation will illustrate why the class blog is so powerful.
Coaching as the New Leadership Skill (Marek Beck, Greenwich Country Day School) GRADES PK-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Research supports professional development that provides opportunities for active, hands-on learning. Instructional coaching can be the most crucial change agent in a school. When instructional coaching and teachers interact equally as partners, good things happen! This partnership is about shared learning as much as it is about shared power. The coach is a thinking partner for teachers, and coaching is the meeting of minds. People will not embrace learning with the coach unless they're comfortable working with the coach. This presentation is designed to offer a framework for successful coaching models at any school. This presentation will focus on: • Coaching vs Evaluation • What Good Coaches Do • Modeling Lessons • The Formative Coaching Cycle • Learning from Instructional Rounds
IPads for Everyone - (Judy Soto and Jennifer Krayewski) GRADES K-5 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
See how iPads have been effectively used with our Lower School curriculum. Their mobility, interactivity and ease of use embrace 21st century learning standards. Fun activities, applications and ideas for usage will be shared.