MKA Faculty Spend Summer Engaging in Professional Development
As students returned to class energized by a long summer, MKA faculty returned eager to put sharpened skills and exciting learning experiences into practice in their classrooms. 70% of the faculty took advantage of the school's nationally renowned and wide-ranging professional development workshops this summer, while others traveled to learn.
Some Upper School faculty gained valuable insight into writing letters of recommendation for MKA seniors at a workshop that included a morning with Yale University Associate Director of Admissions Debra Johns, exploring the content that admissions officers find most helpful when reading teachers' recommendations. Focusing on how best to help students take responsibility for their learning, faculty from all three campuses examined research-based teaching strategies and designed assessment practices to engage students, advance learning and inform instruction. After reviewing recent brain research about how children's brains develop and function, faculty discussed strategies for improving focus, attention and working memory and for understanding and retaining new information.
Many teachers also attended MKA's annual Integrated Ethics and Tech Institutes. At the former, they examined and identified ways to cultivate students' curiosity and character, while at the later, in addition to exploring the wide array of available tech tools to enhance student learning, teachers were also given a day to embrace their own curiosity through topics ranging from coding to stop motion animation.
A record number of teachers also took the initiative to create and refine curricula and students' learning experiences through MKA summer grants.Some groups worked on developing new advising curricula, while others collaborated on developing new courses, such as the interdisciplinary English/History course at the Upper School that explores New York City through its history and literature, and a Computer Science Fundamentals course that introduces students to various aspects and applications of computer science. Self-directed Open Technology and Curriculum workshop days held in July and August were also well attended, as teachers sought to learn and incorporate new tools and approaches into their curricular designs for September.
In addition to faculty in-service days, all members of the faculty and staff spent August 27 learning together in a workshop led by Dr. Jennifer Bryan, a nationally renowned expert in the field of gender and sexuality diversity. In support of this year's school community theme, and building on the foundational work that was started with faculty last year, Bryan provided a common conceptual framework and shared language to assist with not only better understanding why the issue is of increasing relevance to schools, but also how it directly relates to MKA's mission. Dr. Bryan will return to MKA on September 30 and October 1 for campus coffees and an evening community discussion that will afford MKA parents the opportunity to learn more about the subject.
Finally, this year's recipients of PAMKA Faculty Trust Grants presented to their peers, PAMKA President Amy South and Board of Trustees President Michael Johnson at the Opening All-School Meeting.Middle School music and science teachers Linda Larkin and Penny Weissman traveled to the Orkney Islands to better understand and apply cutting edge research into the music made in other ecosystems; Middle School history teacher Jess Bishop experienced the wonders of Ancient Rome and made on-site podcasts to supplement her classroom teaching; Middle School English teacher Ruth Miller explored literary sites in England that illustrate ghosts as metaphors for the imagination and Upper School Spanish teacher Tracy Kuser explored the connection between ancient and modern cultures and architecture throughout Spain.