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.