Day 2 at the Institute

Source: Pixabay/Joan Gonzalez

This morning started off much like the previous morning, with the caterwauling of the alarm clock. The difference was the mini-Schnauzer looking eye to eye with me, his cold nose pressed against mine. There would be no hitting the snooze bar.

Two fed dogs, two fed cats, and a shower later, I was on my way back to the University for Day 2 of the Summer Institute. I stopped for breakfast at the same Burger King, and arrived early, again, at the University. This morning, though, the staff was ready for arrivals with all the laptops up and running for attendees to check in on.

There was no big group seminar this morning. Instead we went straight to our first breakout sessions.

The first breakout session I attended covered the concept of using an online learning system to flip the classroom. The concept behind flipping the classroom, which you can read more about here, is an excellent one but it is predicated on the idea that all students have a computer and access to the internet at home. Unfortunately, computer ownership and internet access is not ubiquitous among my students. Fortunately, there is another way to employ the online learning system to do what I will call a modified classroom flip.

In this modified classroom flip, the students do the lesson preparation and examples on their own in the classroom using school computers or iPads while the teacher facilitates and answers questions. Once the teacher feels confident most of the students have grasped the concept the class moves on to the practice stage where the students work independently to complete assignments based on the material they studied.

For my school and students, the second scenario will be the most likely style of flipping undertaken. The software package the School District has adopted will work well, based on what I learned in today’s session, in implementing this.

Teacher Artifacts was the subject of the second session I attended this morning. Teacher Artifacts refers to the documentation a teacher collects throughout the year as evidence they are doing their job. Some of the basic items are lesson plans, correspondence with parents, and staff development certificates. Other items may include meeting agendas or minutes, proof of use of technology in the classroom, correspondence with other teachers showing collaboration, and samples of student work. This is not an all-inclusive list, but it provides some idea of the types of documentation a teacher should keep up with during the year.

What was most beneficial about this session was the suggestions as to how to catalog and organize the artifacts logically according to which of the Teaching Standards they apply to. Doing so is especially helpful when it comes time for the teacher’s annual evaluation with the school Principal.

The session that was the real reason for my attendance at the Institute this summer was the 3-hour-long session I sat through this afternoon presented by a representative of the textbook company from which the District bought our new math textbooks.

The young lady giving the presentation was energetic and knowledgeable. Three hours went by as if it were only a few minutes. It was amazing how many online resources are available to support and extend upon what is presented in the textbook. One of the best aspects of the online material accompanying the textbook is how well in can be incorporated into the online learning system I learned about in today’s first session.

Besides the training sessions, there were also local community representatives on the site today. Everyone from local pediatric offices, to Boy and Girl Scout representatives, to the Public Library, and others were there with tables set up to answer teacher questions about what types of services they provide. I spent some time talking to the representative from the Public Library and wound up donating a set of my books to the library for inclusion in their local author section.

I was also approached by a representative of a local organization that works to promote reading among young students about doing a reading for them. The young lady told me the group likes to invite local authors to come and read to the children in the hope meeting a local author may inspire them to read more. Of course, I told her I would be glad to take part.

By the end of the day today, I had completed my 10 hours of staff development and do not HAVE to go back to the Institute tomorrow. I haven’t decided yet whether I will or not. Perhaps I will spend the time here at home putting together my first flipped classroom module.

As always, I remain,

The Exhausted Educator