This summer, I have had the ultimate lesson in classroom management--managing 125 teachers at my internship with the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Each week, for five weeks, 25 new teachers have joined me and the seminar leaders at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey for a six-day residential program, in which they earn 45 professional development hours. One of the greatest aspects of the internship is meeting all of these Humanities teachers from throughout the state of New Jersey and asking them questions about teaching, texts they use in their classrooms, and methods of teaching. I am a sponge. Since I will be student teaching this semester, I have been using the opportunity to learn as much as I can.
The five seminar topics are as follows:
- Race in American History and Culture: New Perspectives
- Poverty, Affluence, and the American Dream
- America and the Politics of the World's Religions
- Narratives of Immigration: Latino/a Lives
- Adolescent and Young Adult Literature
Needless to say, as a future English teacher, I am looking forward to the final seminar the most. However, all of the seminars have been eye-opening experiences, which have allowed me to learn how to connec these topics back to the classroom. If anyone is interested in professional development, I would highly recommend these seminars.
The above picture is from a field trip the Week 4 group took to the Seabrook Educational-Cultural Center to learn about New Jersey's role in immigration.
~Kristen C.
You must have learned quite a lot and been the recipient of loads of advice on your own teaching career. What is the good advice you'd like to share?
ReplyDelete