Monday Musings
from The Kravis Center
May 6, 2019
Dear Colleagues,
Happy Monday (and Teacher Appreciation Week!). It's hard to believe that graduation is only three weeks away. No matter what our role is on campus, whether we are living in a dorm, teaching, coaching, or advising, the ramped up energy as we do our jobs seems to always feed into the excitement of the end-of-year traditions and festivities.
Contradictory as this may sound, the end of the year is also the time to contemplate the changes to be made to our own classes in the upcoming academic year.
- Do I want to modify the content of my course?
- How engaged were my students with the material, and did the assessments truly show what they can do with the material?
- What do I want my students to accomplish? How will I determine that they have accomplished the goals I've set out for them?
- What professional development opportunities do I want to pursue that might help to answer some of my questions?
- Were the relationships that I built with my students helping or hindering their learning environment?
In anticipation of the May 16 Kravis session on the SET, I will administer the Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) this week to my class (please let either Harrison, Rachel, or me know if you would like the SET google form), so that I can begin to think about the changes that I'd like to make in my class for next year. Student feedback is a critical component of how we design our classes (for better or for worse!), and I enjoy using this information as I reflect on the changes that I will make for next year.
To close out the year, The Kravis Center will host the following events:
May 9: Flipped Classroom V1: Naomi, Erica and others will talk about their experience using the flipped classroom
May 16: Let's chat about the results of your most recent SET
May 23: (a) Flipped Classroom V2: In this session, you will create your own video with the help of LC's flipped classroom experts. (Kravis Center)
(b) David Rion will lead a session in college recommendation writing (room adjacent to the Kravis Center, formerly known as the Pearse QRC)
Have a great week,
Sara, on behalf of The Kravis Center
Pedagogy
Three Reflective Practices for Effectiveness
Why it's crucial, and really hard, to talk about more equitable grading
How teachers are changing grading practices with an eye on equity.
Cult of Pedagogy: Rubric Repair
Students Fall for Information Online. Is teaching them to Read Like Fact Checkers the Solution? (submitted by Sheila)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Talking Race and Ethnicity: How to go below the surface and engage students in meaningful conversations about race, ethnicity, and identity (Harvard GSE)
Innovation
ReDesigning High School: A Place to Wonder Why, Why Not, and What If?
George Couros: "Leading" Often Means Going First" (Upcoming book – Innovate Inside the Box)
Professional Growth Opportunities
If you are looking for more ideas, please remember that the Loomis Chaffee PD doc has many exciting opportunities to offer. If interested, talk with your Assistant Department Head or anyone in the Kravis Center.
May 9 and May 16 PD Sessions (7:45 - 8:45 am in the Kravis Center) to discuss and workshop how SET (student surveys) can and should inform our teaching. The first Thursday (5/9) will be focused on reviewing the SET results while the second session (5/16) will be used to set goals based on SET. Please be in touch with us if you'd like to survey your classes in advance of one of these sessions.
An invitation: Athena is looking for excellent, passionate, and diverse high school humanities teachers for a limited number of Summer Fellowships. Ideal candidates are English, History, Humanities, or Religion/Philosophy teachers hungry to find and join communities of educators with shared interests, teachers eager to share their best and favorite assignments, classroom activities and discussion questions, teachers excited to offer feedback to help others.
Only 1-2 more spaces available!! Take a deep dive into the neuroscience of learning with the authors of Neuroteach, Glenn Whitman and Ian Kelleher. Read more about the Science of Teaching and Leadership Academy at The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) from July 21 - 25. Sara Deveaux attended last summer and would be happy to chat with anyone interested. Rachel Nisselson and Lena Sadowitz are signed up for July, 2019. 1-2 more spaces available.
Interested in learning more about project and problem-based learning? Read about an online opportunity from Amy Baeder. Read more about the Buck institute which is considered the gold standard in PBL training.
July 29-31 (College Park, MD): An entire conference dedicated to formative assessments. Formative Assessment Conference with Dylan Wiliam, Tom Guskey, Susan Brookhart and Jay McTighe (Understanding by Design). What an array of experts! Become the LC expert!
CAIS Conferences: The Connecticut Association of Independent Schools is offering a number of conferences in April and over the summer
Please fill out this form for suggestions for Thursday morning PD opps.
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