Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Professional Development - A Request

Often we go to a training, we take notes, we think on it, and we implement pieces of it. I would like for the readers and contributors of this blog to think about adding one more step. I would like you to post your notes, reflections, concerns, ect. as a result of your training to this blog for several reasons. 1) Writing about what you are learning crystallizes the learning in the writers mind. It helps the writer to organize and understand more deeply what they learned. 2) It shares with others the content and value of various trainings so that their interest may be sparked and they can choose to go to said training when it is available in their area. 3) What one person took from a training, may have been overlooked by another who took the same training. It is helpful to read other peoples reflections - as they can extend our own understanding. Not that we all have to see things the same way, but the dialogue that can arise can help us to understand our own thinking better and be more intentional in the way we use what we learned.

Locally - our kindergarten teachers (and contributors to this blog) just attended an Orton-Gillingham training. I wish there were enough slots for me to attend as well, but I didn't want to take the slot of a teacher. I am curious to find out what your biggest take aways were from this training. What will you bring back to your classroom? What will you do differently as a result this year? We will also soon be receiving training in "Every Child a Writer" and web 2.0 tools. I would like to know the answers to these same big questions for these trainings as well.

Globally - What have you learned recently? What were your big Ah-has? How have you/do you plan to use that learning to increase your effectiveness with students?

1 comment:

  1. Yes, I'm just replying to your training question now in December, but I will say I have had plenty of time to apply everything I learned. ;) In all reality I am doing a ton of reflecting on this past four months. I am in ah for many reasons.
    First and foremost I can not express how much I appreciate all day kindergarten. I have the most relaxed, confident students. I can not believe how far I have been able to take them in such a short amount of time, but even more how much more in depth we have taken our learning. We are learning in such a natural atmosphere. I have to thank Susan Kempton because wonder and discovery is more alive than I could have ever imagined it to be in my classroom! I have been following her model of discovery time, writing and reading workshop.

    I am absolutely amazed with the results I have had with the Orton-Gillingham program. I use the multisensory piece along with Zoo-Phonics. The mutisensory piece has my kids constantly engaged. I have never seen kids learn site words so easily. Sounds and letter recognition was a cake walk and going into the new year we are moving on the ff-ss-ll-zz rules.... ahhhhhh.... I'm so excited!!!!!!! Writing two and three sentences is easy for my kids because they have this huge sturdy foundation. Their writing is rich with vocabulary, details and full of emotion. I can not say enough about the Orton-Gillingham program and Susan Kepmton (aka kindergarten angels).

    I have to also share two very important books that I took a ton from. The first one is,
    "No More Letter of the Week" by Pat Lusche. Every student in my classroom is a letter expert. We taught about three letters a week which I was a little nervous about but it worked amazingly! The kids loved being accountable for something and teaching others.

    The other book my team read was "Talking, Drawing, Writing" by Martha Horn and Mary Ellen Giacobbe. This was an excellent book that really supported a lot of Susan's thinking about writing.

    I am so grateful that I was able to attend so many valuable conferences and trainings last summer. I can never express how much I have taken away from them. I feel like my bag of tricks is starting to get a base!

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