Summer: A Time of Learning for Connecticut Teachers
Post by Phil Apruzzese, CEA President
Connecticut’s public schools are on summer break – but that doesn’t mean teachers are taking a break. In fact, this summer and every summer, teachers are often back in the classroom as soon as the school year ends in June.
Teachers are engaging in a variety of intensive summer studies and discussions at seminars, institutes, and colleges around the state to hone and broaden their teaching expertise.
So what are teachers learning this summer? Here’s a sampling of some of the programs:
- analyzing data to improve student learning
- integrating energy and energy conservation skills into science courses at all grade levels
- incorporating engineering skills into core high school math and science subjects
- applying storytelling skills to improve student literacy
- exploring the geography, politics, histories, and economics of the Cold War era in Latin America.
As a teacher for more than three decades, I want to thank all of my colleagues for their continued commitment to our profession – and for taking the time this summer to discover new skills to make learning come alive for students.
Are you taking a course this summer? Leave a comment and let us know what you’re learning.
I have spend a number of hours this summer communicating in Twitter, Nings, and webcasting shows. EdTechTalk offers a number of shows on educational themes where you can log in and listen, comment in the chat (back channel) and even Skype in and join the live discussion from you home computer using a headset and microphone. I have learned so much about how technology is being integrated into the curriculum not only in the US but in other parts of the world. There have been discussions on how techology is impacting the teaching of writing, great links to on-line interactive math resources, information on students running their own radio show, resources for students with learning disabilities, teachers seeking their own professional development opportunities by developing their own personal learning networks (PLN), and the list is endless.
I highly recommend joining a NING of interest. I belong to Seedlings, Classroom2.0, and NCTE. There you are in a niche community of learners where you can ask questions, get support, express your views, etc in a much more selective environment than Facebook or MySpace.
If you are interested in the educational webcasts, go to http://www.edtechtalk.com, and look at the calendar. If you want to join a posted session, you just need to click on “participateLIVE”, put in a login name by which you will be recognized, (no pw needed) and then click on one of the speakers (usually in the A grouping). You should see the chat in the left window, and the audio will load with Real Audio in a separate window.
I participated in TeachersTeachingTeachers at the beginning of July. I didn’t have as much to offer as the other participants, but it was still a rush.
I am also teaching myself the basics of SCRATCH and Moodle this summer.
Carolyn Stanley
computer technology integration specialist
Bethany Middle School