Methuen High School

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Methuen High School
Commonwealth Compass School 2002-2003
For Further Information contact Ellen Parker,
Principal One Ranger Road Methuen, MA
01844 enparker_at_methuen.k12.ma.us Telephone 978
6811357, Fax [phone]
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Ongoing Teacher Training and Support for Changes
in Instruction
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Methuen High School A Community of Learners
Presenters Ellen Parker, Principal Marianne
Moran, Mathematics Department Chairperson Susan
McGrath, Mathematics Teacher Jason Humphrey,
English Teacher
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VisionVision is the art of seeing things
invisible. Jonathan Swift

• Paradigm Shift
• Principals Role
• Communicating the Vision
• The Result
• A well-articulated vision can be the foundation
  for organizational growth.

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Professional Development
Why?
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Professional Growth for Teachers

• A continuous, reflective process
• Enhances subject knowledge

• Leads to more effective pedagogy
• Produces higher student achievement

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Methuens Basic Beliefs

• Teaching is a highly skilled craft
• All students are capable of learning at high
  levels with proper learning activities
• Learning is a life-long activity

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Methuens School Administrators

• Understood and supported professional growth for
  teachers
• Provided meaningful courses addressing teaching
  strategies and assessment techniques immediately
  transferable to the classroom
• Encouraged staff participation and provided
  positive incentives

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Professional Development as an Evolutionary
Process

• From
• a patchwork of non-connected courses through a
• Paradigm Shift
• To
• a systematic sequence of courses that ensures
  enhancement of academic knowledge and
  professional performance

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Professional Development Creates a Professional
Community of Learners
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Professional Development Objectives

• Renew and Refine Instructional Strategies
• Promote a Collegial Environment
• Understand and Teach to the Various Learning
  Styles

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Continuing Education for our Professional Staff

• Skillful Teacher

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Methuen High School
THE SKILLFUL TEACHERS MAP OF PEDAGOGICAL
KNOWLEDGE Professional Development
Courses Understanding Teaching 1 and 2 Methuen
Public Schools Supervision Program Four-year
cycle of teacher observation and evaluation using
skills parameters from The Skillful Teacher
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Continuing Education for our Professional Staff

• Skillful Teacher
• Learning Styles

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CONCRETE EXPERIENCE (SENSING/FEELING)
4-MAT NATURAL CYCLE OF LEARNING
R
R
Support the students in sharing their
learning with others. Display their
products. Help them to
identify new questions
to extend their
learning.
Create an experience that engages the students in
a personal way and builds on what they already
know.
REFLECTIVE OBSERVATION
Provide feedback that helps students to refine
and evaluate their work. Encourage them to
summarize the meaning, relevance, and originality
of their personal applications of the concept.
ACTIVE EXPERIMENTATION
Have students share their reflections and
analysis of the experience.
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1
L
L
2
3
R
R
Help students to create an image of the concept
to be taught, connecting expert
knowledge to what the students
already know.
Through experimentation, let the students tinker
with what they have learned. Allow them to
apply their learning and see how it is used in
the real world.
Provide hands-on
activities for practice and
mastery of the concept. Address the
necessary skills. Check for understanding.
Provide information about the concept. Using
a clear sequence of information, show the parts
of the concept and draw attention to its most
important aspects.
L
L
ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALIZATION (THINKING)
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Continuing Education for our Professional Staff

• Skillful Teacher
• Learning Styles
• Classroom Management

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Continuing Education for our Professional Staff

• Skillful Teacher
• Learning Styles

• Classroom Management
• Summer Curriculum Development Teams

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How Professional Development Has Worked

• Strong Administrative Foundation
• School-based Instruction
• Sustained and Consistent Effort
• Salary Scale Movement
• System-wide Vocabulary

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Important Changesto our School

• Improved collegiality
• Improved classroom management
• The framework for consistent and sustained
  curriculum revision during the summer

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Methuen High School Curriculum Guide
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Methuen High School Curriculum Guide
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Literature Reading, Researching, and
ViewingSkill DevelopmentI Introduction R
Reinforcement M Mastery S Synthesis
I Introduction R Reinforcement M Mastery
S Synthesis
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Summer Curriculum Accomplishes Four Things

• Provides consistent standards based curriculum
  throughout the department
• Ensures consistent coverage of material
  throughout the department
• Gives teachers the support to provide informed
  instruction
• Helps teachers develop and hone the direction of
  their creative talents