Every Wednesday afternoon, teachers participate in Professional Development (PD) workshops which cover a variety of educational strategies to improve classroom instruction. Our faculty knows that academic excellence is only achieved through dedication and determination, so they have gone above and beyond for our students’ foundational years.
Jessica Chang, our Dean of Studies, Gena Skoufalos, Waterside’s Instructional Coach, and our Director of Student Services, Julie Foy collaborate to create an optimal and rigorous learning environment for Waterside students. Through weekly meetings and regular classroom observations, the instructional team provides feedback, assists teachers with their lesson plans, models lessons in class, and provides professional development for faculty instructional and support practices.
Recently, fourth grade teacher, Stella Ju, led a session on effective assessments of math fluency for all grades, Ms. Chang instructed all on the gathering and analysis of learning outcomes data, and fifth grade teacher, Isaac Hancock, conducted a workshop on instructional technology apps. Additionally, Waterside’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Team is leading the faculty in reading The Identity Conscious Educator to help inform teaching practices and provide a strong foundation for an effective, comprehensive, and inclusive curriculum across all grade levels.
Already, teachers are incorporating methods learned in PD. Third grade teacher Sofia Alano has incorporated efficient data collection on student achievement and social and emotional learning. Under the supervision of Ms. Ju, fourth grade students are making addition and subtraction activities to help first graders reinforce math fluency. This also gives the opportunity for first-grade teachers Charlotte Brown and Erica Abela to assess their young students’ arithmetic skills.
The Waterside faculty is effectively refining the Waterside day-to-day instruction in classrooms thanks to the Professional Development series. We look forward to seeing how it continues to enhance our robust academic program.
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