The North Bellmore School District’s Teacher Center has been full of activity and excitement this summer as teachers have been learning innovative ways to increase student engagement in the 2018-19 school year and beyond.
Dozens of educators from the five elementary schools have participated in workshops on literacy, math and teaching strategies. Courses, led by the district’s instructional coaches and consultants, provide teachers with ideas to enhance classroom instruction through fun, engaging and purposeful lessons.
“We make the learning come to life,” said consultant Lindsey Andersen. “We get the teachers actively involved and they take on the role of the learner.”
In a three-day workshop, teachers created their own reader’s notebooks as they learned about a strategy that fosters a deeper understanding of literature. Instruction coach Cindy Quinn described the notebooks as a “platform for students to nurture and grow their ideas about reading.”
Mini Math Camp gave teachers new ideas to make math lessons more engaging. Ms. Andersen said one of the suggestions was starting out each topic with an activity, such as a math scavenger hunt, rather than a lecture. The workshop included an escape room activity in which teachers had to complete five math problems to crack a code.
The Teacher Center was established 38 years ago as one of the first in New York State, and is located at the Jacob Gunther School. Throughout the year and during the summer, North Bellmore teachers attend professional development workshops at the center to deepen their understanding of content and share effective teaching strategies with each other.
In addition to leading many of the training sessions, the district’s instructional coaches provide instructional support in classrooms throughout the year. These experienced teachers share their expertise across the curriculum to enhance instruction.
Photo courtesy of: North Bellmore School District
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