Teaching Social Justice at Rowan University: Register by January 4

Professional Development Workshops at Villanova

Registration is now open for Spring 2017 Professional Development Workshops at Villanova University.  Earn  1 graduate credit which is equal to 30 Act 48 credits for each workshop.  Villanova Loves Teachers and offers a 20% tuition discount for teachers who register for these workshops.  Groups of 10 or more may qualify to have a workshop held at their school.  

For more information or questions please contact Dr. Jerusha Conner, jerusha.conner@villanova.edu 

Registration ends January 15th

In-service Day ExCamps a Huge Success

Sometimes the very best professional development is homegrown. 

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural EXCamp, once again the GA faculty proved themselves to be talented, interested, and generous professionals.  On Monday, November 28^th, GA held its second EXCamp, a gathering of teachers, sharing with colleagues their expertise on a wide variety of subjects. 

In two different sessions, teachers chose from among many presentations pertinent to their work in the classroom.  Some of the workshops included the following:

Standard-Based Grading

Brain-Targeted Teaching

Mindfulness

Padcasters

Digital Duality

Multi-age Classrooms

Teaching empathy through creative writing

Electronic binders

Designing for the laser cutter

Conferring with confidence

Simulations in the classroom

Please enjoy the following pictures of the EXCamp in action.

In order to help the Professional Development Task Force plan for future professional development activities, please take a minute to complete the following feedback form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Iokc-igWVg5JJzg-AZEbxXG7ZZZRD8P8Xkh1SenNo-E/edit?usp=sharing

Getting All Kinds of HYGGE

Sometimes I surprise myself with how little I know.  For instance, just a few days ago I was introduced to the Danish word “hygge,” pronounced hue-gah~ hoo-guh~ heurgha ~ hU-ge (hU is pronounced with the U sound, closer to hyoo than hoo; ge is short, closer to g than geh). I must have been avoiding this word, fearful that I might choke just trying to say it.  Indeed, fearful of a word that has no translation in English at all…just lame approximations, just weak attempts.

Did you know? Hygge was almost chosen to be the word of the year, but lost out to Brexit.  Where have I been that this contender for word of the year escaped me?

Be warned, there are as many definitions as there are pronunciations.  This is my favorite:

“Hygge (“heu-gah”). The art of building sanctuary and community, of inviting closeness and paying attention to what makes us feel open hearted and alive. To create well-being, connection and warmth. A feeling of belonging to the moment and to each other. Celebrating the everyday.

“Hygge happens when we commit to the pleasure of the present moment in its simplicity. It’s there in the small rituals and gestures we undertake to give everyday life value and meaning, that comfort us, make us feel at home, rooted and generous.

“We all hygge – around a table for a shared meal, beside a fire on a wet night, making coffee together at work, in the bath with a single candle, wrapped in blankets at the end of a day on the beach, sheltering from the rain at a bus stop, lying spoons, baking in a warm kitchen, alone in bed with a hot water bottle and a good book.

“In our overstretched, complex, modern lives, hygge is a resourceful, tangible way to find deeper connection to our families, our communities, our children, our homes and our earth. It’s an uncomplicated, practical method of weaving the stuff of spirit and heart into daily life without sentimentality then taking time to celebrate it on a human scale.

Hygge is a kind of enchantment – a way of stirring the senses, the heart and the imagination, of acknowledging the sacred in the secular – a way of giving something ordinary a special context, spirit and warmth, taking time to make it extraordinary.  About Hygge

The application of this phenomenon to our lives at school is clear. 

·           gathering around the Keurig in the morning,

·           copying handouts for a colleague,

·           rooting for students at a game,

·           providing breakfast for your advisees,

·           comforting a disappointed senior,

·           sharing a good laugh,

·           reorganizing your space to feel a little bit warmer and more welcoming to everyone,

·           shaking your students’ hands as they enter or leave your room.

All these actions performed in the spirit of community, in the spirit of being in the moment and belonging, in some very real way, to our school and to each other… generate hygge right here at GA.

I am a big fan of words. Words are wonderful, and a precise word is  a crown jewel.  Still, I find the ambiguity, the inexactitude of hyyge to offer a warm welcome into its mystery.

Skål!

Maggie

Sometimes You Just Have to Wait: 1st Thursday Cancelled

We will forgo November’s 1st Thursday due to the unusually pressing amount of work to be completed in late October and early November.  

Not to worry, we will resume in December!

Be in the Know: Guest Blogger, Jim DiFranco

Be in the know @GA

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There’s so much going on at GA, it’s almost impossible to keep up! Ever wonder how some colleagues know things before you? Wish you could get a weekend Patriots’ sport update? Or wonder what cool things are happening in other divisions? With other colleagues? Well, here is your starter guide!

*Disclaimer, by no means is this intended to take the place of attending events, cheering on our teams, engaging in conversations, or good ole collegiality.

Blogs:

Subscribe to some of GA’s blogs! We currently have six operational blogs utilizing Blogger. In order to “subscribe” to a blog once you’ve found one you’re interested in, scroll down and locate the “follow by Email” box. From here, fill in your email and click “submit.” When that particular blog gets updated with a new post, you’ll get an email and a link!  

To follow GA’s professional development, subscribe here:

http://gacrafted.blogspot.com/

To follow all the happenings around GA’s green spaces, subscribe here: http://gagreen.blogspot.com/

To follow Art Across the Academy (A3), subscribe here:

http://gavisualarts.blogspot.com/

To keep current on all the innovative things happening at GA, subscribe here: 

http://gaed21.blogspot.com/

See GA from a student’s perspective and subscribe here: http://gapatchat.blogspot.com/

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Twitter:

If you haven’t already, consider getting started with Twitter. To follow someone or something click on the “Follow” button once you’ve found what (or who) interests you. Here are some GA Twitter addresses to consider:

   Follow                    Twitter Handle

GA	@GA1759
Lower School	@ga_lowerschool
Middle School	@ga_middleschool
Upper School	@ga_upperschool
GA Sports	@GAPatriots
GA Arts	@GA_Art3
Follow me!	@jdifranco27

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Instagram: If you’re on Instagram:

 Follow GA: Germantown Academy

Facebook: Do I even need to say anything on this one?

 Like GA: Germantown Academy

The New Community Project:

Learn more about one of GA’s innovative US classes:
http://www.thenewcomproject.org/

Good Luck!

Penn Charter Hosts a Roundtable on Biracial and Multicultural Perspectives

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Penn Charter extends an invitation to the community to join them for the following event:

"Biracial and Multicultural Perspectives:

         A Student and Parent Round Table." 

Balderston Commons (Middle School)

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 6:00 pm




To help springboard the conversation, please complete this short survey. Your voice is important to the discussion!

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The GA Salon

Have you heard…or have you said…

“There’s so little time at school to talk about important ideas with our colleagues.”

“I wish teachers would get together socially more often.”

“Who is that?  They work here?  I’ve never seen them before.”

“All of our meetings are about how to use technology.  What about just discussing an idea for its own sake?”

It seems we want to talk to each other…about interesting ideas simply because they are intriguing.

Voila!  The GA Salon was born, an informal gathering of interested and interesting people who share a passion for ideas across a broad range of topics.  Each meeting of the Salon will begin with a five to seven minute presentation by a colleague on a topic/concept/idea of interest to her or him.

A glass of wine (or beer or seltzer), and some snacks, a provocative topic, a smart group of people: what could be better!  I’m hoping that many of you will have ideas that spark your interest, which you would welcome discussing with colleagues: gun control, dream analysis, climate change, veganism, the paranormal, retirement, what defines a civilized society.  To keep the conversation fresh, the topic and presenter remain a secret!

So…here’s the date:  Thursday, October 20^th, 3:30 p.m. -5:00 p.m.

Other dates below.

·            IMPORTANT! We need numbers for delicious hors d’oeuvres and beverages.

·            Let me know if you have an idea you’d like to discuss with your colleagues.  You can lead a Salon sometime this year.

Thursday, October 20, 2016      3:30-5:00 p.m.               

Thursday, January 19, 2017       5:00-6:30 p.m.               

Thursday, March 16, 2017                 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 20, 2017          5:00-6:30 p.m.