Summer Professional Development Opportunities Abound For Mexico Staff Members

by Submitted article | August 28, 2017 3:21 pm

MEXICO – Learning didn’t stop when summer began for well more than 200 Mexico Academy and Central School District staff members.

Throughout the summer months, several MACS staff members were committed to exploring new professional development opportunities to improve their understanding of learning standards, gain personal growth, explore new curriculum and technology and collaborate, among additional professional development prospects.

“We promote a lot of PD in the summer because that’s when teachers have time to reflect and learn,” said Mary Beth Horn, MACS’ assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

While many teachers chose independent professional development paths this summer, a few dozen participated in a “7 Habits” training which focused on developing a deeper understanding of the Leader in Me program in order to better teach to students how to implement that in their classroom and lives.

Eureka Math was an ongoing training for kindergarten through fourth grade teachers who implemented the new math curriculum last school year; fifth and sixth grade teachers also joined them, as they will transition to that curriculum for the 2017-18 school year.

Eileen Murray, Mexico High School ninth grade social studies teacher and department chair, accompanied a handful of social studies teachers to a New Visions social studies curriculum conference about ways to implement the new social studies standards for freshmen and sophomores.

The focus, she said, will be on historical thinking skills and student-centered inquiry which “has students take control of their own learning, which has paired well with blended learning.”

Summer also served as an opportunity for teams of teachers to come together to review what worked, or what didn’t, for students throughout the past school year.

First grade teachers throughout the district got together to review math modules, the cohesiveness of English language arts grades, establish a 2017-18 writing calendar and develop an assessment to target the “identify coins and their value” standard on the report card.

Continued district-wide professional development occurred for several teachers who utilize blended learning, which combines traditional face-to-face learning and media-delivered instruction.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/community/summer-professional-development-opportunities-abound-for-mexico-staff-members/

---