Faculty Summer Professional Development

Brimmer faculty particpated in a wide range of professional development this summer.

Carl Rapisarda-Vallely
, Head of Middle School, attended The Art of Leadership Institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in late June. Through a research-based curriculum, the program focused on developing innovative curriculum, effective teacher supervision and evaluation, approaches to leadership, and proven strategies that support teaching and learning. He met in small group daily to process the presentations, most of which were facilitated by faculty from the HGSE.
 
Kelly Neely, Humanities Co-Chair and Director of Global Studies, went on a professional development tour to Helsinki, Finland, this summer to learn about the Finnish education system—what makes it so successful, and how they are making reforms to address 21st century needs. The tour then went to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the EF Education First Student Leaders Summit focusing on the future of education, where they heard speakers such as international education leader Sir Ken Robinson and co-founder of the Malala Fund, Shiza Shaheed, and used design thinking to address educational issues. After the summit concluded, Ms. Neely traveled for a 10 days through Switzerland, France, and Spain.
 
Third grade teacher Janet Sweezy attended EdTechTeacher's course,The iPad Classroom. The session focused on effective iPad integration from both a conceptual as well as a practical standpoint.
 
Lower School teachers learned about an updated online reading program used to supplement reading instruction at a campus Lexia Reading workshop.
 
Middle/Upper School Humanities teacher Kyla Graves participated in Primary Source's "Teaching for Global Understanding in the 21st Century" which focused on issues such as the global economy, environment, human rights, health, peace, and conflict resolution. The weeklong course provided participants with a wealth of information for teachers to bring back to their classrooms in variety of different disciplines. Ms. Graves reports, “It was an incredibly eye-opening experience for teachers from all levels and departments.”
 
Ms. Graves also participated in the Trek Across Maine, a 180-mile ride across the state to raise money for the American Lung Association.
 
Math Department Chair Nancy Bradley attended Enhancing STEM Curriculum with Technology, an EdTechteacher Summer Workshop, at Harvard Law School this week. She enjoyed learning coding and many apps/websites to enhance curriculum teaching.

David Cutler '02, Director of Writing Center, U.S. History & Journalism Teacher, Technology Integration Specialist, wrote "8 Tips for Reaching out to Parents" for Edutopia. Read his full article.

Fifth grade teacher Meghan Ship attended the Constructing Modern Knowledge conference in Manchester, NH, with 5th grade teacher, Nikki Atkins. The conference was a wek-long project-based experience that granted an opportunity to work on any project of their choice and develop a deeper understanding of a variety of technology. Mrs. Ship worked with a team of teachers from The Willows School in Los Angles to create a Virtual Orchestra using a MakeyMakey kit and coded it with the program Scratch. They were also given the chance to visit the MIT MakerLab. The conference culminated with a MakerFair featuring all of the projects from the week.

Brimmer and May teachers Andrew Stattle, Bethany Shannon, Jennifer Kunkle, and Ina Patel, attended the Design and Maker Class Colloquium in L.A. The conference kicked off with keynote speaker Dr. Gary Stager, author of Intel’s Guide to Creating and Inventing with Technology in the Classroom.

Choral Director Frank Van Atta, and LS music teacher Elizabeth Wooster attended the summer conference of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). This annual conference was held at Smith College in Northampton, MA, and brought together choral conductors from around the country. This year's clinicians were Dr. Jerry Blackstone, from the University of Michigan, and Dr. Lynne Gackle, from Baylor University, who presented on topics such as the female changing voice, conducting gesture, and repertoire selection.
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