Teacher professional development sessions put on by collegues twice a year. Learning strategies, expat living, and technology are explored.
Teacher professional development sessions put on by collegues twice a year. Learning strategies, expat living, and technology are explored.
Fall 2024 professional development sessions.
Thank you to Ms. Lauren, Ms. Alex, Ms. Lei, Ms. Caitlin, Ms. Clare, Mr. North, Mr. L, Ms. Oshida, Ms. Stacey, Mr. Ben, Ms. Amy, Ms. Annie, Mr. Kevin, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Fisher, Ms. Sophie, Mr. Shiers, and Ms. Patricia for preparing these interesting classes.
We will explore the AI tools Brisk and Diffit and its potential to differentiate content in the classroom. Brisk simplifies the process of tailoring lessons to meet diverse student needs, allowing teachers to focus more on instruction and less on manual adjustments. Diffit provides activities to assist our multi-language learners. By streamlining these tasks, you’ll not only enhances learning outcomes but also significantly eases the workload for yourself. (If you attended a similar session in March, then you will not need to attend again this time around).
The most common form of abuse is neglect. In this session I will share my learning from prior professional development I have undertaken with colleagues as it is highly connected to the demographic of students we teach, most especially in our affluent Vietnamese student population. By the end of the session, attendees should feel confident in their ability to better recognize signs of affluent neglect, understand how it can powerfully and negatively impact students, and how they can respond in keeping with proper child safeguarding procedures should they believe a child is being neglected.
This session will be focused on collective problem solving and be run in a restorative circle format. We will be asking each participant to come with a challenge or problem in their classroom they have been trying to solve (Could be academic, behavioral, structural, anything!) and we will facilitate as many problem solving conversations as time allows. This will be heavily normed on strengths based and solution focused language only and will be structured. FOCUS: Deep listening and reframing how we view and approach our challenging. Our hope is that you will leave will a new perpsective around our challenges.
I have been asked many times about how SPS students become so organized and responsible and are represented in many of the leadership opportunities at SPASH. Many want student leadership but do not know how to develop or maintain it. I would love to help with that. Let’s have that discussion and I will share some of the tools I use.
The purpose of this session is to help participants experience visible thinking and learning routines in a classroom setting. Visible learning and thinking routines provide a window into the minds of our scholars. During this session, attendees will learn about teacher moves that help to promote visible thinking and learning as well as have time to discuss how these routines can fit into their own classroom setting.
Don’t understand what SEL actually means (and too afraid to ask)? Feel confused on how SEL works in a content class like math or science? Join Annie as she covers not just the “What” but the “What Now” as it relates to SEL strategies. She will also cover how you can use Wayfinder to support you in making your classroom practices.
This workshop will explore how leveraging multiple languages in the classroom can enhance student learning and promote linguistic diversity. We will look at the theory behind translanguaging, discuss practical strategies for integrating students’ linguistic resources, and share best practices for creating an inclusive learning environment. The goal is that we will leave with actionable tools and ideas to effectively implement translanguaging in our own classrooms so that we can better utilize and manage language usage in the classroom.
Let me share how I stopped thinking of myself as a teacher in a classroom and instead started thinking of myself as a personal trainer in a learning gym (not like those creepy trainers but like those fancy ones the hollywood actors have). I’ll exhibit the multiple layers of differentiation/personalization I use in my class: from diagnosis, goal setting, and training plans to grading, assessments and student output, and then we will brainstorm and workshop how this could function in any classroom.
We want as many of you as possible to stay at SPASH as long as possible. Unfortunately, the nature of our business is that people do move on. The admin team cares about you both personally and professionally and have supported offering this PD for those of you looking to either move on at the end of the year or to get your resume updated if you have not done so in a while. This is identical to the session I ran last September so no need to attend this year if you did so last year. Topics covered include: Resume Do’s and Don’ts, Good / Bad examples, Optional / Agency or School Dependent info, Recruitment Agency info, Resume feedback after you have made edits based on the session information
When I was a student, I loved English and despised Socratic Seminars. When I became a teacher, I noticed how anxious formal discussions made students, but I loved the depth of thought the discussions could produce. In this PD, I’ll share how I’ve gamified the Socratic Seminar to ease student anxiety while maintaining academic rigor and increasing student engagement. We’ll test out the version I use, and I’ll also share small modifications that you could easily implement in your next seminar!
HHMI Biointeractive is a free & intellectually deep tool that can be used to teach biology, chemistry, and environmental science concepts at the MS/HS/undergraduate level. In this session, Ben Krentz & Amy Mach will present the usage of various features that are useful both in the classroom activities & digital labs, as well as constructive for professional development.
Join this session for an informative introduction to the new elementary STEAMD (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math, and Design) program. Discover its relevance to our school community, tour the new STEAMD maker space, and learn how basic hand tools used effectively, and by designing with empathy can empower your students to become innovative, critical-thinkers.
I will be teaching the classroom behavior management system called CHAMPS, using EdPuzzle to show how EdPuzzle can be used to make engaging classroom lessons. Focus is the benefits of CHAMPS and how to use it with a side goal of introducing how EdPuzzle can be used to improve lessons.
For the Spring professional development sessions, A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) was at the top of many minds and how it can be used as a teaching aide. Teaching topics also explored discussions about how students learn. For the expat lifestyle, topics covered financial tools and advice for how to manage money and life insurance in Vietnam.
Thank you to Mr. Josh, Mr. Dwyer, Mr. Ethan, Mr.Steven, Mr.Bob, Mr.Kevin, Mr. Patrick, Mr. Shiers, Ms.Melissa, Ms.Lei, Ms.Lauren, and Ms. Carly for being our educational leaders!
In a phonics training for teachers, they will acquire essential skills to effectively teach reading and writing. They will learn about the systematic connection between letters and their corresponding sounds, as well as various strategies to help students decode and recognize words. Additionally, they will explore methods to enhance phonemic awareness and improve overall literacy development in a fun and engaging manner.
Help participants experience visible thinking and learning routines in a classroom setting. Visible learning and thinking routines provide a window into the minds of our scholars. During this session, attendees will learn about teacher moves that help to promote visible thinking and learning as well as have time to discuss how these routines can fit into their own classroom setting.
Learning can be defined in many ways, but most psychologists would agree that it is a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience. In this session I will hit some high points on research into what is most effective for memory retention and student motivation as well as delving into different learning styles. The format will be a mix of lecture and activities that apply the ideas.
This session is primarily for people who expect to be in Vietnam for at least a couple years and want to learn more about ways to manage their money while living here. Topics will include interest-earning savings accounts, easy payments, sending money home, options for receiving your salary, health insurance perks, life insurance, and real estate. This will primarily be lecture format but with lots of opportunities for questions.
Teachers will learn information on things to think about regarding keeping their expat life on track while overseas. Additionally, some important things to keep current as they live life abroad. Topcis include Finances, Important Documents, Taxes, Retirement, Stateside Logistics, Educator Credentialing, etc. This is focused mainly on USA issues.
In this short lecture and no-shame workshop, we will discuss the benefits of pronouncing your students’ names correctly and receive a crash course on Korean / Vietnamese name pronounciation. Then, we will break out our class rosters and practice together. Ooo! Interactive!
Writer’s Toolbox is an adaptive AI writing program designed to help students at all levels and in all subjects master writing without doing the work for them. This progam is useful for all subjects and all grade levels, and I will be giving a demonstration of how my 9th grade students have been using it and how it can be used across a wide variety of subjects and grade levels.
School administrators and several teachers lead a series of professional development (PD) sessions for all staff. In addition to the PD sessions that each teacher seeks individually, this opportunity gave them a chance to learn more about each other’s teaching style. Topics covered included using science and artificial intelligence (AI) to teach young children, understanding differentiation and behavior strategies, learning Vietnamese as a foreigner, and more.
Our collegues had a great time getting to know each other a little bit better. Learning points from these sessions can be carried into classrooms and in life to improve the learning environment for our students.
Thank you to Mr. Russel, Mr. Ethan, Dr. Moo, Mr. Robert, Mr. Justin, Mr. North, Mr. Shiers, Ms. Lei, Dr. Star, Ms. Annie and Pop for being our educational leaders!
My objectives would be to demystify AI, show how AI can help us as teachers, show ways to prevent and/or identify students using AI, and show ways students can ethically use AI, among other things. I would ask teachers to bring their devices with them for a hands-on look at some of the tools available and how to best use them.
This session is for anyone looking to update their resume, whether you are planning to job hunt this year or not. I will do a brief presentation on some key things Administrators look for and what you should be looking at when updating your resume. Things to put in and to leave out. Feel free to bring a copy of your current resume in either print or digital form and I will try to give some quick feedback to everyone who has their resume there.
The RULER behavior system is a social-emotional learning (SEL) program developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. It is designed to help students understand and manage their emotions, build relationships, and make responsible decisions. By the end of this professional development session, participants will be able to: Define the four components of the RULER behavior system, explain how the RULER behavior system can be used to improve student behavior and social-emotional learning and identify strategies for implementing the RULER behavior system in their classrooms.
The purpose of the session is to help staff who are newer to Vietnamese language, or just don’t understand how to pronounce it, to connect Vietnamese sounds to those they already know from the English language. By the end of the session, they will hopefully be able to read and pronounce many of the consonants, vowels, and tones more accurately. This will be done through a mix of explanations and practice. Leave your shame and self-consciousness at the door.
Every Wednesday when students go home at 2:15 p.m., SPASH teachers participate in a variety of professional development opportunities to improve their skills. Last week, our teachers took on expert roles and shared their knowledge with the rest of the staff.
Thank you to Corey Gagne, Hannah Stobaugh, Patricia Bravo, Lewis McLean, Sage Abbey, Josh Langenbach, Stephen Bucheit, and Henry Abbey for being our educational leaders!
Topics of these professional development sessions included:
