They teach in schools and a system different than mine.
They shared a number of positive efforts, some of which I may employ:
- College-School Partnership: Twice a week, Holy Cross students tutor children after school.
- Girls' Math Lunch Club: The girls sit in a row in front of the board, and while they eat the teacher reviews important math concepts--the girls love it!
- Twenty Minutes After School Math--Using a similar format to the Girls' Math Lunch Club, the teacher reviews concepts with a couple of children after school for twenty minutes. She said that time translates to powerful, efficient teaching.
- Khan Academy: One teacher uses Khan with great strategy and her students have made incredible math progress.
- Perseverance Prizes related to Khan Academy study.
- Collegial Collaboration: Both educators noted that where that happens, there's greater success.
As we talked, it was clear that the more systems of support are streamlined and involve targeted time-on-task with students, the better the supports are. We also agreed that teachers need to have voice with regard to supplies, focus, strategizing, and teaching efforts.
It's good to get outside our your school sphere and talk to teachers from other systems to gain new ideas and perspectives. I hope to attend the May 3 Boston edcamp and this summer's MTA Conference to partake in similar collegial share and learning.
