The Montclair Public Schools staff participated in district-wide professional development on Tues., Jan. 21. Workshops ran the gamut from “Culturally Responsive Classrooms” to “Behavior Skills Training.” All instructional and support staff were engaged in a variety of district-led workshops. Principals had the opportunity to provide school-based workshops, such as time to collaborate in professional learning communities. There were several consultants who also came to work with our teachers, such as the Liberty Science Center and a sheltered instruction consultant.
Here’s a closer glimpse of some of the activities:
District Teachers of Art participated in a workshop at the Montclair Art Museum combining inquiry-based discussion strategies to foster conversations about arts, skill-building and idea-exchange in different artistic media, and thematic engagement across the art, science, and ELA curriculum. Teachers participated in a museum tour and in an art-making hands-on workshop. “This was a great PD Day,” said Glenfield Art Teacher Catherine Kondreck. “The visual arts teachers have been looking forward to meaningful professional development and the district really delivered yesterday.”
Teachers of Music learned strategies to bring emotional connection and movement to a musical theater song and discovered how to support students in communicating emotion by taking cues from song lyrics, rhythm, and meaning. Teachers of Dance, Drama and Theater learned to demystify the adventure of choreography to find joy in the unknown of the rehearsal process. From story to theme to specific lyrics or references, their workshop empowered them to find as many access points as possible in creating collaborative choreography or musical staging that can be adopted to all kinds of performers.
Grades 3-5 Literacy teachers learned how to unpack a Research Simulation Task and analyze what the task is asking students to do, the challenges that students will face and the support that students will need. After brainstorming strategies and ideas, teachers received helpful information and resources that they can put to immediate use in their classrooms to begin preparing their students in an authentic manner.
Elementary teachers participated in a Planning with Go Math workshop. Teachers were able to collaborate across the district by grade level in sharing resources and strategies to support math. “One teacher shared that her students felt they have "grown more" with Go Math than the prior math program,” said Director of STEM, Jennifer Goforth.
Former Governor Richard Codey (pictured below with District Mental Health and Anti-Bullying Coordinator Andrew Evangelista) also worked with some staff on suicide awareness.