FeedsTeachers prepare for school year
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Educators were grouped by grade level. From left to right: Mary Parvianen, middle school teacher; Joyce Johnson, principal at Central Middle School; Sarah Pawlik, student-teacher at West Middle School, and Brenda Foster.They were greeting old friends, chatting excitedly about the school year ahead and politely raising their hands at East Middle School.
Oh—and none of them took the bus to get there.
Students may have until after Labor Day before they return to the classroom, but teachers across the Plymouth-Canton Community School District are already hard at work.
More than 1,200 teachers and administrators met for seminars and workshops starting Monday.
According to Barbara Rodenberg, the assistant superintendent of instructional services, the district must host five so-called “professional development” days, which usually take place on half-days throughout the school year.
For this year, the bulk of sessions took place this week because of the later start and since there are only two scheduled half-days for students on the calendar.
On Tuesday, about 300 teachers from the five middle schools filed into East Middle School, past signs that read “Welcome back Easties!” for a lecture by Dr. Bob Sornson, an educator and author of “Meeting the Challenge.”
Sornson, one of four speakers who addressed teachers, said despite testing pressures, educators need to establish a positive “classroom culture.”
“Is there any way for those kids to fall in love with learning unless they fall in love with you, their teachers, first and build that connection to learning?” he said.
He said children and teenagers “want adults in their life who can set limits without anger and intimidation.”
“Can we create an environment in your school where every single child feels safe and connected and competent and strong?” he asked.
Teachers need to rehearse procedures and routines and set positive and clear expectations, said Sornson. Students tend to perform accordingly with adults’ expectations.
“This is not just the stuff of fluff,” he said. “This is the stuff that comes from science.”
He referred to Robert Rosenthal, a psychologist who determined that children tend to perform within the limits of adults’ expectations.
“Every time I used anger and intimidation, and fortunately it wasn’t very often, I had to undo that with months and months and months of building connection again,” he said.
The educators also learned about creating “learning communities” and working together.
“We collaborate a lot with the (teaching) staff,” said Linda Orr, a media specialist for 15 years in the district.
Speaker Kristine Gullen spoke to teachers about how to assess a student’s understanding of essential standards, too.
Rodenberg said it would take 22 years for a student to learn everything on a typical curriculum guide.
“The issue in education now a days is there’s so much to teach,” she said. We’re asking teachers to determine what are the most essential things for the course they teach?”
Today, teachers will finish setting up classrooms for the first day of classes. Students will go back to school on Tuesday.
You can be sure of one thing—the teachers will be ready.
