This
year, January's full-day professional development was a
building-based combination of theory and practice, with a variety of
opportunities all connected to equity and teaching all students. Educators
in all four buildings were energized and engaged, and came away with
perspectives, skills and knowledge that will benefit all students. Here
are a few highlights from each building:
BHS: High School educators focused on equity using an EdCamp format in
which teachers, and in this case students as well, run workshop sessions for
other teachers. There was a variety of offerings, including "Restorative Justice
Circles"; "Unpacking the Themes of Fiddler on the Roof and
the Importance of Having Courageous Conversations," co- facilitated by
teacher and student; "The Trauma Sensitive Classroom";
"Navigating Bedford Public Schools as a Student in the METCO
Program," co-facilitated by Superintendent Sills and two students;
"Exploring High School Life through the Lens of Student from a Military
family," which included a panel discussion by students.
24 students participated, and the sessions
were all very well received by faculty, with many wishing the sessions were
longer or there were more of them. It is clearly a model that works well and
will be developed further.
JGMS: In the morning Middle School educators participated in Keys to
Literacy training focused on comprehension and note-taking using work educators
have been doing since the fall. Faculty members broke into departments in
the afternoon to coordinate their implementation in greater detail across grade
levels and subject areas. The afternoon sessions were led by teacher-coaches
who have participated in additional training in the Keys approach to
literacy. Plans are underway to assess the effectiveness of the Keys
implementation and refine it moving forward.
Lane School: Lane School faculty began the day with a keynote
presentation from Superintendent Jon Sills focused on equity and how it
integrates into all our work with students, their families, and the larger
Bedford community. Jon talked personally about how he became involved in and
committed to this work and integrated questions from the faculty. Faculty moved
from that address to discuss what they value as educators, and connected those
values as they met in smaller groups to collaborate on addressing difficult
conversations with students through various school scenarios faculty had
negotiated this year.
Faculty moved from those scenarios to
school-wide behavior expectations supported by their work in Responsive
Classroom. After lunch they heard from METCO assistant director Kristen Johnson
about her experiences as a METCO student, along with reflections on what she
has observed in her early months in Bedford. Teachers went on to complete an
exercise helping them to identify which students are connected, both to other
students and to faculty, and which are not, because we know students must
be connected to the community in order to learn and thrive.
Davis School: Davis School classroom teachers worked in vertical teams (teams with representatives from each of the three grade levels, K-2) to analyze and reflect upon reading data over time for current fourth grade students. Taking this longer view enabled them to move beyond individual students to the reading instructional practices that have been in place now for four years. These practices are connected to the Fountas and Pinnell reading benchmark assessment system now in place through grade 5. Because the data was disaggregated by sub group (such as special education, or traditionally underserved groups), it allowed educators to have deeper conversations about student growth and achievement in reading and how that is connected to instructional practice.
Team leaders will return to the leadership
group with their observations and findings, which will help to inform the
school improvement plan and professional development for the 2019-2020 school
year.
MLS
