My summer experience will impact both students and teachers. Right now a lot of my “students” are actually teachers. I will be spending a lot of my time working on PD sessions for teachers and principals throughout the year. In the next 2 weeks, I will be discussing curriculum with new teachers. I am excited that I will be able to draw on my summer experiences to offer these teachers a way to incorporate “real world” application to the skills they are teaching in their classrooms. My professional development sessions will offer so much more because I can draw on the experiences I have had this summer. I will be able to give them examples of collaboration and problem solving in a different set This will benefit the teachers but also the students in the county. If I can get three or four teachers to see the value of using “real-world” applications in their classrooms, then I have reached at least 80 students. That is much better than impacting 20 students. Chris England & I have been working on some ideas for PD sessions for vertical alignment. I can’t wait to try them out. I’ll certainly let everyone know how they go after we get started.
I agree that real-world applications are important. I think our externships have inspired us to provide a more hands on experience for our students.