(1) The week long Summer Institute was filled with many highlights. I left the Institute with new knowledge of how to be a leader, what my brand is, and how to incorporate STEM into the classroom/curriculum. I enjoyed being able to meet with like-minded individuals, who offered ideas, suggestions, and advice.
The overall highlight for me though would be the concurrent sessions and edcamp. I liked how we were able to move between the different sessions and groups. It gave me the opportunity to learn new ideas that I could incorporate. I also enjoyed how the sessions and edcamp also allowed for me to hear ideas from the other fellows. Some of the ideas I had used before, however many of them were brand new.
(2) There are many ways that I plan to implement what I learned at the Summer Institute in my classroom. The first would be technology. I had never heard of digital portfolios before attending the concurrent session. I think it is beneficial not only for having one place for collecting student work, but also for allowing student choice. I liked the idea of students picking what goes into their portfolio. This way students in a way will be assessing themselves. The second would be project based learning (pbl). PBL is hard to incorporate into a second grade classroom. However, I was able to incorporate RAFTS into my classroom this past year focusing on culture and diversity. I plan to work on another RAFT project that could be part PBL as a way to introduce students to the concept. This could serve as a stepping stone to having full PBL in the classroom.
(3) Compared to other professional development (PD) I have attended, the Summer Institute proved to be more beneficial to me. I always learn something new with every PD that I attend, however, I feel like I walked away from the Summer Institute with a wealth of knowledge and resources of how to incorporate it into the classroom. I liked how the PD was not constantly the same thing of hearing a lecture and taking notes. I enjoyed that the PD was some of that, but I also enjoyed that it offered a choice in what you went to and had some hands on activities, such as the all day scavenger hunt. All in all I will say that the Summer Institute by far has been the best PD that I have been too, since I started teaching.