News

Friday, June 11, 2010

Professional Development Week trainings are underway

The problem is on the blackboard: “I have a pile of pattern blocks. 2/3 are trapezoids. I have 1/4 as many triangles as trapezoids. The rest are hexagons. How many of each shape could there be?” The message continued: “Half of the people in the class know fractions. The other 2/3 have trouble.”

During this week’s Professional Development Week, a class of eight teachers from different campuses in the Santa Barbara School Districts sat at desks in room 132 at Santa Barbara Junior High with worksheets, scissors, and markers at their tables and engaged in lively discussion with a math trainer, and each other, in the Content and Vertical Team Training for Pre-Advanced Placement Math training. They listened, asked questions, shared ideas, and worked together on hands-on math activities their students will experience in the coming school year (e.g., trapezoids, line symmetry, Pythagorean theorem).

In other classrooms at Santa Barbara Junior High, English, science, social studies teachers also attended trainings to hone their instructional skills. Grouped by subject area and vertical grade levels, discussions focused on effective teaching methods and strategies so that as students move from grade level to grade level, there is seamless curriculum continuity.

This week, teachers have been attending the following sessions:

• Advancement Via Individual Determination
• Classroom Management and Resources for READ 180
• Content and Vertical Team Training for Pre-Advanced Placement English
• Content and Vertical Team Training for Pre-Advanced Placement Science
• Content and Vertical Team Training for Pre-Advanced Placement Social Studies
• Content and Vertical Team Training for Pre-Advanced Placement Math
• Critical Reading and Writing
• Edusoft Training
• Google Apps

The following trainings are scheduled for the weeks ahead: READ 180 Training for Teachers New to the Program, Open Court Training, Using Word Processing to Promote Critical Thinking Skills, and The Fundamentals of Rhetoric and Implications for the Classroom.