The Power Behind Professional Development
We have our first professional development day of the school year this Friday, which is why there will be a noon dismissal. We are a community of learners, students and teachers alike. Professional development helps us improve our craft, utilize best practices, and grow professionally.
Here are the topics we will be addressing in this week’s professional development:
- Social Studies Review: Consultant Allison Zmuda will lead a group of faculty through a process of reviewing our social studies curriculum. As part of our efforts to implement the most relevant and engaging curriculum, we participate in regular reviews and revisions of what we teach. We plan to launch new social studies curriculum units in the fall of 2022.
- Early Childhood (EC) Literacy Session: EC Learning Specialist Angie Myler will work with our EC teachers to explore the science of reading and how it influences instructional practice.
- MAP Report Overview: ES/MS Learning Specialist Jacquie Hunter will lead separate sessions with our ES and MS teachers to dig into MAP Growth Testing results, to help teachers utilize these test results to inform their instruction.
- Specials Teachers Planning Meeting: Our specials teachers play a unique role in our program, teaching across division levels and working with a wide variety of Dragons. This time enables them to collaborate around team goals, engage in curriculum planning for vertical alignment, and discuss best practices around each aspect of the specials program.
- Goal Setting Preparation: The WES Professional Growth System (PGS) supports our commitment to every student being taught by a great teacher and every faculty member having the opportunity to grow professionally in a supportive environment. Teachers will work on setting their professional growth goals for the year during this time.
In the future, we will continue to dig deeper into some of these topics, as well as address diversity, equity, and inclusion; Responsive Classroom; and a wide variety of other areas. This invaluable time helps us offer the best educational experience possible for our Dragons.
Danny Vogelman
Head of School
