Educators Use Summer Break To Brush Up On Teaching Skills

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School may be out for students, but summertime means lots of Cherokee County School District teachers are back in class themselves to get up to speed on the latest tools and techniques in classroom instruction.

CCSD offers more than three dozen classes during post-planning and summer break, covering topics from teaching strategies to classroom technology.

While in the past Georgia teachers were required to attend courses to keep their teaching certificates current, state legislation suspended the requirement during the recent recession as a budget accommodation for school districts.

However, hundreds of CCSD teachers are still attending classes without the pressure of a state requirement, continuing to learn out of professional interest and the desire to become better teachers. A few of the sessions teachers have taken advantage of so far include:

• EdCamp Cherokee: an informal “un-conference” where K-12 teachers shared, in small groups, how they were using technology in the classroom. About 130 teachers attended the five-hour session, with many signing up to lead sessions on topics of their chosen expertise, rotating every 30 minutes. The more than two dozen topics generated by the participants included starting a school technology club, iPads in the classroom, favorite apps, and copyright and digital citizenship.
• Building and Sustaining the School Garden: Coordinated by the Cherokee County Farm Bureau and Cherokee County Extension Service, and involving partners such as Master Gardeners and Cherokee County Water and Sewer Authority, this two-day class was held at Woodstock ES and at Buckeye Creek Farm. Teachers learned about Farm to School, STEM gardens, water quality and other agricultural science topics.
• Summer Mathematics Academy: two-day program for K-8 teachers with a focus on hands-on activities, revisions to standards, technology as a learning tool, and more, conducted by the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Several of the courses filled to capacity before the school year even ended, including a three-day class on Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), which focuses on instruction strategies for English Learners; EdCamp Cherokee; QUIA, an assessment development tool for teachers; iPads Labs 4 Elementary; Maximizing Laptop Understanding, Usage and Productivity; and Promethean 101: Using Electronic Whiteboards to Engage 21st Century Learners. CCSD will host a Tech Boot Camp for new teachers in late July.

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Photo 1: Kim Brown, right, 3rd grade teacher at Indian Knoll ES, and Jodie Hulsey, left, 3rd grade teacher from Ball Ground ES STEM Academy, work together on a problem in a summer math academy class
Photo 2: Teachers from throughout northwest Georgia attended a math instruction class at Freedom MS.
Photo 3: Trish Rice, right, from Murray County Schools, draws out her group’s presentation with Beky Frost, Johnson County Schools, and Bonita Pettersen, Lumpkin County Schools, during a class at Freedom MS that drew teachers from across north Georgia.
Photo 4: Teachers check out the garden at Buckeye Creek Farm during a session on school gardens.
Photo 5: Leslie Elliott, ET Booth MS, and Amanda Shafer, Mill Creek MS, check a water sample at Buckeye Creek Farm as part of a two-day class on school gardens.
Photo 6: Liz Porter, right, with Buckeye Creek Farm, talks to teachers about growing vegetables and some of the challenges of a school garden.
Photo 7: Karina Bailey from Holly Springs ES STEM Academy leads an EdCamp class about using technology with early learners.
Photo 8: Leah Bleisath, wearing 3D glasses, operates the AV Rover to demonstrate lessons in geometry at CCSD’s first EdCamp “unconference” for technology strategies.
Photo 9: Latonya McGruder, left, and Nicole Bayler, right, both 4th grade teachers from Sixes ES, arrange shapes in a hands-on activity during a class on math instruction strategies.
Credits: Cherokee County School District