0 Jumpstart the School Year: MTA Summer Conference 2013

Posted by Atsumori. Category:

If you're a Massachusetts teacher who wants to jumpstart your school year in a beautiful locale, with plenty of coaches nearby, and time to think, write, create, and plan, I suggest you register for the Massachusetts Teachers' Association Summer Conference.

The conference takes place at the prestigious Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The offerings include multiple educational, cultural, and recreational events, many more events than one could possibly take advantage of during one year's attendance. That's why I'm heading back for a second year. The cost is reasonable, and many local union associations and school districts will reimburse you for this professional learning event if you ask.

This year I hope to balance my time between spending time with friends and colleagues, attending workshops related to my current questions and research, riding my bike around Williamstown, helping out with the Ed Talks and Union initiatives, attending at least one cultural event, and making a presentation. I find that the conference serves a bit like a retreat as removing myself from my usual family and home responsibilities, and surrounding myself with invested educators in a beautiful environment serves to motivate my school year efforts and thought in positive ways.

My presentation this year will take place on Thursday, August 8 from 9:00-12:15. I will lead participants through a process of designing a standards-based math unit that responds to the new Massachusetts' Educator Evaluation rubric. The presentations will employ multiple math tools and strategies including screencasting, UClass, Khan Academy and Khan-like videos and presentations to develop students' unit knowledge and skill including the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP's). The use of video in the math class is a powerful tool that strengthens students' ability to explain their thinking and prove their points with regard to math problem solving and understanding. If you're interested in this presentation, please join me, and if you have questions regarding this session, don't hesitate to contact me at maureenprattdevlin@gmail.com

In Massachusetts, we're fortunate to have a union that makes the time to thoughtfully plan an engaging, multifaceted professional conference that educators can use to jumpstart their teaching year. I encourage you to experience this event for one day or more this year on your own or with colleagues.  It's a professional investment that will prepare you well for the year to come.

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