ADVIS Opportunities

In support of Germantown Academy’s ongoing diversity efforts, please review the following professional development opportunities offered by ADVIS (The Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools);  the first is in January and the second in April.  If you are interested in attending either or both, please speak with your division head about funding.  Click here for more information.

Digital Library Presentation Rescheduled

The First Thursday presentation on Utilizing Digital Library Collections has been rescheduled for Thursday January 7 at 3:30 - 5 pm. 

Utilizing the Libraries' Digital Collection to Support and Extend our Students' Learning Experience

Colleagues from all three divisions will share how they creatively incorporate GA Libraries digital resources into their lessons and projects in order to deepen and broaden the learning process.  

GA Librarians: Sharing GA's Digital Collections; 

Phy Chauveau:  Discovery Education

Bob Moyer and Mary Fraser:  Exploring beyond our borders: Utilizing global resources to teach critical thinking and the research process.

Sarah Blake and Cory Eklund: Supporting Inquiry-Based Learning with Digital Resources

In response to the 2015 Faculty/Staff Survey, GA has invited Dr. Catherine McGeehan, a professor of education at Kutztown University and an authority on differentiated assessment and instruction, to spend time observing classes and talking with focus groups in each division to help us identify our strengths in teaching and assessing flexibly and the areas in which we still can grow.  Cathy will be here on Monday, November 9^th.

Dr. McGeehan will be the keynote speaker at the Delaware Valley Reading Association Conference on Saturday, November 21, 2015 here at GA. Click here for information.

All effective instruction begins with assessment.  Carol Tomlinson writes in a recent article in Educational Leadership, “ Formative Assessment is-or should be-the bridge or causeway between today’s lesson and tomorrow’s.  Both its alignment with current content goals and its immediacy in providing insight about student understanding are crucial to helping teacher and student see how to make near-term adjustments so the progression of learning can proceed as it should.”  To read the entire article click here.

SMART Training Opportunity

Attention folks new to Smart.  Here’s an excellent opportunity to develop your Smart skills.  Many GA teachers have attended these workshops at Tatnall and would be happy to share their experience with you.  Click here for details!

First Thursday: Digital Library Collection Supports Student Learning

 First Thursday ~ November 5, 2015, in the 

Beard Center for Innovation~3:30-5:00. 

Utilizing the Libraries' Digital Collection to Support and Extend our Students' Learning Experience

Colleagues from all three divisions will share how they creatively incorporate GA Libraries digital resources into their lessons and projects in order to deepen and broaden the learning process.

GA Librarians: Sharing GA's Digital Collections

Phy Chauveau:  Discovery Education 

Bob Moyer and Mary Fraser:  Exploring beyond our borders: Utilizing global resources to teach critical thinking and the research process.

 
Sarah Blake and Cory Eklund: Supporting Inquiry-Based Learning with Digital Resources

Guest Blogger Phy Chaveau: The Discovery Education Network

Discovery Education Blog

Ten years ago, while attending a week-long summit with 99 other recently elected Keystone Technology Innovators, I had the good fortune to meet Lance Rougeux, then an Executive Policy Director at the PDE’s Bureau of Educational Technology. “You love using video, Phy! Do you know about United Streaming?”  Honestly, I didn’t, but over the next year, Lance’s mentoring steered me towards one of the best professional decisions of my teaching career. I became an overnight fan, and soon, I couldn’t imagine teaching without this resource. United Streaming soon became Discovery Streaming, and its metamorphosis over the course of these past ten years to the Discovery Education Network has been nothing short of extraordinary.  

The underlying premise of the DEN, even at its inception in 2005, was that educators are undoubtedly each other’s most valuable resource. This may feel like a given nowadays, but Discovery was there at the forefront of this movement and it continues to set the highest standards when it comes to rich collaborative learning opportunities for school communities. Whether you consider yourself a technology novice or an expert, there is something here for you and your students. 
  

Did you know that we have paid subscriptions to Discovery through our GA Libraries? Students can’t help but engage with the broad collection of instructional videos, articles, images, and multimedia activities in every content area. Whether you visit Discovery twice a week or twice a day, there will be something new to explore.    

I hope to see you at November’s “First Thursday” in the Beard Center for Innovation for a look at how I and other teachers are utilizing the Libraries’ Digital Collections to support and extend our students’ learning experiences. 

In the meantime, if you would like to get going with Discovery before November, please watch this screencast I prepared in August as an introduction for our LS teachers. 

 Phy Chauveau, Class of 1760

Discovery STAR Educator, Fifth Grade Teacher 

Professional Development Offerings: Making the Most of In-Service Day

Thank you for your enthusiastic participation in the many professional development activities sponsored by your colleagues on our recent In-Service Day.  From new Professional Learning Communities in the Middle School to Ed Camp workshops in Lower School to a student/teacher engagement presentation in the Upper School all GA teachers embraced the day and the opportunities for growth.

For many of us, our introduction to the brand spanking new Beard Center for Innovation, already lovingly called the BCI, served as the highlight of the day.  Gaby Russomagno, Director of Innovation and Special Programs, greeted each small group at the entrance to the new space, and eloquently provided the history of the project, its inspiration drawn from the Renaissance artists’ large collaborative studios, the original “ilabs!”

Members of the ED21 team walked us through each section of the Innovation Lab, explaining the purposes of sliding walls; movable, modular furniture; and the computer carts and video displays.  Teachers, like the students they teach, explored the room energetically, responding to the writing prompts displayed on the walls.  My favorite: “What do you notice, wonder, imagine?”

In the Maker Space, the second workspace that makes up the Beard Center, we learned about the potential of this collaborative environment with its Maker Bots 3-D printer, laser printer, Lil' Bits, BeeBot, Dash and Dot, and 3Doodler and its numerous opportunities to get charged up about engineering projects for students from PreK through 12^th grade.

AS the BCI educators receive more training during the fall on the potential for 21^st C. teaching and learning in the BCI, upcoming In-Service Days on November 30, 2015 and February 12, 2016 will provide the time for all GA teachers to learn first hand how to maximize this signature teaching environment: a new space enhancing the age-old GA tradition of close student and faculty relationships leading to life-long learning.

Professional Development: New Faculty Tech Training

 

 

A big shout out to the teachers and administrators who gave up a recent afternoon to provide one-on-one support to many of our new folks as they learn to navigate the various applications, programs, and portals essential to our work with students and colleagues.

 

The VLE, FAWEB, Smart, and Atlas Rubicon!  It’s a lot to learn, but after a brief demonstration by our Systems Administrator, teachers received individual attention and instruction pertaining to their own particular questions.  To a one, new teachers reported a most worthwhile experience.

 

At Germantown Academy we put a premium on accessing and sharing the extraordinary expertise of our faculty.  In addition to monthly meetings for new faculty, GA teachers gather frequently to share their talents with each other. 

 

1^st Thursdays bring together faculty from all three divisions to explore a topic or theme of general interest.  Last year’s topics included executive functioning, research, differentiated instruction, and contemporary reading strategies.  This year our first 1^st Thursday featured Lower School teachers sharing their Kast Grant work on Coding.  Click here for this year’s dates.

 

The GA Salon is another opportunity, occurring quarterly, for faculty and staff to gather socially for refreshments and stimulating conversation about topics not necessarily associated with education.  Click here for this year’s dates.

Differentiated Literacy Instruction and Other Professional Development Happenings

Professional development occurs in many places and takes various shapes.  It could be the first 1^st Thursday where you walk across the quad or up a flight of steps and there you are ~ learning something new about coding.

Or you might hop in the car and go the short distance to the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit to take a FREEworkshop that will help you tune up your everyday instructional strategies or another free opportunity to learn about growth mindset, student engagement, technology in assessment, and ways in which you can make your classroom responsive to all the cultures represented in your classroom.

If you are interested in Differentiated Literacy Instruction please take the millisecond it takes to click and find a wonderful opportunity sponsored by GA and the Delaware Valley Reading Association.

Faculty Summer Research: Bullying, Grit and Self Control

Germantown Academy faculty pursue professional development during the summer months with the generous support of the Edward R. Kast Faculty Professional Development Fund.  Developing curriculum, attending conferences and workshops, writing, and traveling, teachers engage in their own learning so that they can effectively engage their students during the school year.

Dr. Janet Maurer, GA’s Director of Counseling, attended the American Psychological Association Convention, in Toronto, Canada this summer and discussed topics including bullying prevention, grit and self-control, and the impact of Alzheimer’s on families.  Click here for Dr. Maurer’s full report by clicking here.

Cracking the Code: Creating the Code

Coding has come to GA!  Want to know why…and what it is and how, please join us for our first 1^st Thursday on October 1, 2016, in the Beard Center for Innovation (this is a change from previous communications) from 3:30-5:00 p.m. 

 We will hear from Sue McHugh, Dan Stahl, and Zach Posnan, Lower School teachers, who will share their “GA groundbreaking” Summer 2015 Kast Grant work.  Additionally, we are fortunate to have join us Amanda Elefante, GA parent and founder of InspireTech, “a community partnership of tech companies and high schools in the Bucks & Montgomery County area that inspires a passion for technology among educators and local youth.”

“Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path. See more stats on Code.org by clicking here.”  Hour of Code

If you know nothing about coding, please come.  If you know a lot, please come as well and share your enthusiasm and expertise.

"Every Kid Needs a Champion" Rita Pierson at TED

The school year begins, and we create curriculum, set up schedules, build VLE sites, design activities and Smart lessons, and work hard to teach the students we value the subjects we value. Please take a minute to listen to this TED TALK; it reminds us that the foundation of all learning is relationship. Click here.

The People of Color Conference

“The People of Color Conference is the flagship of the National Association of Independent Schools' commitment to equity and justice in teaching and learning.  The mission of the conference is to provide a safe space for leadership and professional development and networking for people of color and allies of all backgrounds in independent schools.”

This year’s PoCC is in Tampa, Florida, December 3-5, 2015.

If you are interested, please send Carol Ayers, Co-Head of the US Modern Language Dept. and US Diversity Director, an email explaining how you believe this conference could benefit you and your teaching.  For more information about the conference click here.

Happy New Year!

At the school’s Opening Faculty and Staff Meeting, Middle School English Teacher, Assistant Director of Athletics for Middle School, and Varsity Track Coach, Pete Jennings delivered a provocative treatise on time and quoting Rudyard Kipling’s poem If, reminded us that “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.” Pete says, “Kipling seems to be challenging us to recognize the hard truth that time moves on, and really our only choice is to cram whatever we can into each of these finite moments.”  To enjoy the whole convocation address, please click here.

Welcome to the 2015-2016 School Year!

Welcome to the newest addition to the GA Professional Development Program:  CraftED ~ evolving the art of teaching, a blog intended to keep you updated on the wide world of professional development at GA.

At GA we strive to connect members of the community with the many different kinds of meaningful experiences that will improve their ability to help GA evolve the art of teaching.

This blog will provide information on a whole range of PD topics including

Ed Tec, Opportunity/News, Travel, Peer to Peer, Mentorship, Lectures and Presentations, Research and Pedagogy, and Professional Learning Communities, Makerspace Ed.