News
GPS Faculty and Staff Engage During In-Service Days
It's back to class for teachers before students return from break.
While students enjoyed their last days of first-semester break, GPS faculty and staff were in the classroom January 4-5 for hands-on learning opportunities. Rather than teaching students, our faculty shared lessons and best practices with each other, exchanging information about what is happening in the classroom and engaging in invaluable discussions about the future of GPS.
In-service sessions scheduled throughout both days included future-focused planning aimed at “looking in” on how to best prepare our girls for life beyond GPS. Coordinated by Elizabeth Resnick, Instructional Technology Coordinator, and Elaine Milazzo, Director of Innovation and Teacher Engagement, both days of professional development offered multiple sessions for gathering information and sparked thoughtful discussions about curriculum, technology, and creative initiatives.
“We were able to accomplish so much during those two days,” says Head of School Dr. Autumn Graves. “I learned so much more about our approach to teaching and learning, and I am excited by the possibilities we identified for our future. All of this work will be implemented to increase our support of our students and our teachers.”
For example, teachers Isabel McCall ’69 and Katye Couch ’92 demonstrated how online services, such as Masterclass.com and ESRI Story Map Crowdsourcing, allow students access to messages and mapping that enhance the classroom experience. Resnick and Will Glass, Director of Library Services, shared their Google expertise to help teachers stay organized while communicating with students and each other more efficiently.
Other workshops included Will Glass helping teachers create etched glasses in our makerspace, and Daniel Millbank, Director of Educational Technology and Information Services, leading a follow-up discussion that began last March on internal communication. “We verified that the changes implemented are working and benefiting the school,” Millbank says. “But we also wanted to identify new challenges that the group could help solve.” Some of those challenges include: making access to information easier, improving timeliness of information, and streamlining communication and calendars.
STEM-Focused Sessions
Computer science teacher Jill Pieritz '97 demonstrated how her digital makers and intro to programming classes allow students to learn with Jimmy BruiserBot. This NAO humanoid robot by SoftBank Robotics is a highly programmable, reactive piece of equipment that students start interacting with using the provided code. From there, Pieritz says, they learn to implement other codes to create new movements.
“To be able to interact and respond requires an extremely complex decision tree in the programming, but robots like Jimmy are our future,” Pieritz says. She says companies like SoftBank are quickly developing robots, like one called Pepper, that provide concierge services. “Girls will need to learn how to manage robots like these and humans at the same time,” she adds. “These are invaluable skills to help them thrive in the 21st century.”
Karen Richards, Middle School computer science teacher and former professional coder, demonstrated Scratch, a coding platform created by MIT that enables students to be creative and playful without being bogged down with the “drier” text-based programming languages. During the in-service, teachers took on a beginner project—animating their initials in Scratch. Using straight-forward concepts that use basic math and logical thinking skills, the group navigated Scratch, making letters bounce and adding sounds and colors to their initials.
“As a teacher and programmer, I know that by making these fun projects in a platform like Scratch, students are gaining the logical thinking skills and general interest in programming needed to excel when they move on to more intricate and higher level courses,” Richards says.
The Arts and Humanities
Fine Arts Department Chair Meg Brock ’79 presented “Art Challenge and the Creative Process” to help faculty better understand the process students move through when faced with a blank page. “It’s intimidating to students and adults alike,” Brock says. “You have to remain flexible, open to possibilities and be encouraged by peers.”
Participants began by drawing a circle using different mediums. Brock talked them through the process, incorporating lessons about types of pencils used and how paper texture affects artistic outcomes. She encouraged them to enjoy the experience and feel the natural motion of the body while creating art. “Afterward, I had several of the attendees say how much they loved the process—the slowing down and quietly focusing on the task at hand,” Brock says.
Erin Bas, Interim World Languages Chair, had her workshop participants brainstorm classroom applications of choice board projects. “With choice board projects, students are presented with a menu of options of mini-projects from which to choose,” Bas explains. She demonstrated an example where each project is worth a certain number of points, according to the complexity of thought required to complete each project based on Bloom’s Taxonomy of higher-order thinking.
Bas implements choice boards as an alternative to end-of-unit tests for her students, because she likes for girls to be able to demonstrate their learning in a creative way. “But not every student is creative in the same way,” she says. “Some are artists, some like to write, and some are more analytically creative. With a choice board, students can play to their strengths.” And teachers who attended Bas’ workshop learned how to incorporate choice boards into their own classrooms.
Beyond the Classroom
Teachers also found time to reconnect and interact in ways for which the traditional school day doesn’t allow. Middle School science teacher Kristi Bryson led a yoga session and shared how she incorporates mindfulness in her classroom. “When the girls come into class, I’m typically seated on a stool and not busy at my desk,” she says. “Then we spend a minute where we close our eyes and breathe to get centered before we begin.” And Beverly Blackwell, PE Department Chair, led a strength and conditioning circuit and hosted an after-lunch badminton tournament the first day.
As students return to school this week, their teachers are rested, reinvigorated, and excited to challenge them through the second semester. Imagine what our girls can achieve because they are taught by teachers who are not only well-versed in how girls learn but also what girls will need to face their futures.
For a video of the in-service, see our YouTube channel.
