In Ferndale, professional learning is about strengthening the academic, emotional, and personal growth of the student and teacher. We focus on four core areas of improvement: High-Quality Instruction, School Culture, Intervention and Enrichment, and Assessment and Results.
Ferndale Schools constantly strives to enhance and improve our instructional practices so that students are engaged and successful. We implement research-based techniques that we know will enhance our students' knowledge and understanding.
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As educators, we know that a positive school culture can make a student's educational experience richer and more meaningful. That's why we provide support to our teachers and administrators on how to create a culture of learning and empathy.
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Whether it's by providing extra help or an extra challenge, teachers find ways to to help each student succeed in his or her own individual way. Ferndale Schools strives to make sure that students are taught as individual humans with their own unique set of strengths.
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Ferndale works hard to make sure that our students are prepared for state assessments and college entrance exams. We also perform and perfect internal checkpoints and formative assessment practices that teachers use in order to adjust and inform instruction.
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Winter/Spring Professional Development Offerings
High-Quality Instruction
Topic: Standards-Based Grading
Facilitators: Liz Gillespie and Johanna Mracna
Dates: March 11, April 16, and May 14
Description: Standards-Based Grading accurately reflects students’ content knowledge and allows teachers to effectively communicate to other stakeholders what a student knows or what they are able to do. Standards-Based Grading also takes into account that students learn differently and at different rates. In the first session, teachers will examine their current grading practices and be introduced to the main concepts behind Standards-Based Grading as an alternative to their current practice. Teachers will be able to explain the principles behind Standards-Based Grading, explain the pedagogy of re-dos within the Standards-Based Grading Model and explain the importance of valuable feedback and know how to give valuable feedback to students. The second session's content will include Power Standards, Learning Goals, “I can…” Statements, Grade Fixes, Retake Tickets, Learning Logs and SBG Formative Assessments. This session will give you the tools to put the theories of SBG and Mastery Learning into practice. In the third session, we will create a SBG Cohort Group for the 2015/2016 school year. We will discuss the changes we have made to our classrooms to reflect SBG and Mastery Learning, and openly evaluate our successes and failures and the questions we still don’t have answers to. Together, as a cohort group, we will continue to work towards improving our grading system so that it more accurately reflects what students actually know
Facilitators: Liz Gillespie and Johanna Mracna
Dates: March 11, April 16, and May 14
Description: Standards-Based Grading accurately reflects students’ content knowledge and allows teachers to effectively communicate to other stakeholders what a student knows or what they are able to do. Standards-Based Grading also takes into account that students learn differently and at different rates. In the first session, teachers will examine their current grading practices and be introduced to the main concepts behind Standards-Based Grading as an alternative to their current practice. Teachers will be able to explain the principles behind Standards-Based Grading, explain the pedagogy of re-dos within the Standards-Based Grading Model and explain the importance of valuable feedback and know how to give valuable feedback to students. The second session's content will include Power Standards, Learning Goals, “I can…” Statements, Grade Fixes, Retake Tickets, Learning Logs and SBG Formative Assessments. This session will give you the tools to put the theories of SBG and Mastery Learning into practice. In the third session, we will create a SBG Cohort Group for the 2015/2016 school year. We will discuss the changes we have made to our classrooms to reflect SBG and Mastery Learning, and openly evaluate our successes and failures and the questions we still don’t have answers to. Together, as a cohort group, we will continue to work towards improving our grading system so that it more accurately reflects what students actually know
Topic: Effective Co-Teaching
Facilitators: Amy Ceglarek, Judy Smith, and Mike Hand School Improvement Strategies: High-Quality Instruction/ Intervention and Enrichment DATES HAVE CHANGED!!!! To accommodate teachers who will be attending the FEA council meetings, we will have the co-teaching sessions on February 25, March 25, and April 22! Description: This series is designed for both general ed and special ed teachers who will be co-teaching or who would like to co-teach. Participants will learn about the philosophy behind effective co-teaching, strategies for equality between teachers, and best practices for enhancing student achievement in a mainstreamed classroom. (Past) An Introduction to the Work of John Hattie
Click here for resources from the series Dates: September 9, October 7, and November 11 (all Tuesdays) |
(Past) Topic: Visible Thinking
Facilitators: Katie Jeffrey and Derek Adams School Improvement Strategy: High-Quality Instruction Dates: Tuesdays, January 13 and February 10 Description: Katie Jeffrey and Derek Adams will be leading a 2-session Visible Thinking series. The Visible Thinking professional development will focus on "making student thinking visible" - a research-based approach to using thinking routines and questioning methods in the classroom to better understand and "see" student thought processes around what they are learning. Routines that will be examined and practiced may include "What Makes You Say That?", "Circle of Viewpoints", "I Used to Think, Now I Think", "Headlines", and "Connect Extend Challenge." Visible Thinking is not only a powerful tool for guiding students through their own thinking, but also for the personal development of the teacher as s/he considers the thinking that shapes practice. For more information, see: http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/ |
School Culture
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Assessment & Results
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Intervention & Enrichment
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Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (Past)
Dates: Sept 18, Oct 16, and Nov 20 Culturally-Responsive Classrooms with
Jay Marks (Past) Dates: Sept. 22, Oct. 27, Nov. 24, Dec. 15, Jan. 26 |
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