CULLOHWEE - Mary Blanton lives the life of a lifelong learner. Ms. Blanton first attended programs when the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching was at Madison Hall on the Western Carolina University campus.
CULLOWHEE - Fall registration has opened for The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, a recognized national leader in professional development.
Writing well allows students to process and organize their thoughts and feelings and to communicate effectively with a range of audiences. Writing well is also one of the most difficult skills to teach, and many find the task overwhelming. The grading alone taxes the commitment of even the best of our profession. In this program, we will examine ways to write and how best to introduce various writing techniques to your students while providing useful, timely feedback. Participants will have the opportunity to practice writing, receive and give feedback, and collaborate on best practices for supporting adolescent writers.
In order to support children’s success in early elementary grades, we need to understand best practices for developing young minds. Utilizing multiple means of instructional delivery, we will explore aspects of daily schedule, classroom community, executive functioning, developmentally appropriate best practices, growth mindset, and authentic assessment. We will develop schedules and procedures for growing a community of growth oriented young learners. We will practice and view models of authentic assessment designed to support personalized learning for all readiness levels. Participants will utilize new knowledge of executive functioning and developmentally appropriate practice to develop lessons that support choice and growth.
Designed for teachers of K–5
We know that students success with math concepts begins with strong number sense. How do we build number fluency in the elementary grades? Explore the number sense progression for the elementary grades and develop strategies for building number fluency. Learn how to facilitate number talks along with additional classroom strategies for conceptual understanding.
Designed for educators teaching students in 6th through 12th grade. 200-word essay required for placement (see below for details).
The aim of this program is to gain an understanding of the precursors, events, and consequences of the Holocaust and to grapple with the problem of how best to convey this history and the meaning that it can have in the lives and civic practices of our students. To accomplish this goal, we will explore the exhibits and other resources of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Participants will meet our bus at predetermined locations across the state and then journey together to Washington for this intensive week. Under the guidance of museum staff and teacher fellows, we will study in the museum which has earned an international reputation for the quality of its contents, presentations, architecture, and technology. This program is for educators involved or interested in teaching about the Holocaust to students eleven years of age and older. (Two participants to a room. Participants must be physically able to walk up to 1 mile over level ground, stand for extended periods, and ride for up to 8 hours on an excursion bus without detriment to their health.)
Five days of substitute teacher cost are covered (sixth day of trip is a Sunday). Applicants must exhibit a seriousness of interest in the subject matter as expressed in an essay that is reviewed by NCCAT staff as part of the application process. Please complete the essay using the comments section of the application.
Collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity—the 4 Cs—are critical components of the digital learning competencies that support and enhance student learning and success for our global society. Google Classroom teachers can integrate the 4 Cs into their instruction when they incorporate a variety of Google Apps for Education and digital tools in their lesson design. What are the best “Apps” and “tools” to use? How can you embed the digital competencies in lessons using Google Classroom? In this program, Google Classroom teachers will build their repertoire of skills by learning about and using a variety of Google Apps for education and tools that foster seamless communication, encourage collaboration among students, promote critical thinking, and, support student creativity—the 4 Cs.
Take the indoor classroom outside and bring STEM to life. Using various tools such as GooseChase, Geocaching, iNaturalist, and others, learn to use the “outside” as your main STEM tool. Discover how to integrate STEM into social studies, ELA, and science curriculum. Help students acquire and synthesize knowledge through experiential learning. Design lessons using STEM tools and curriculum that fits your grade level and content area.
We know we need to differentiate for students in order to meet the varying needs of learners, but how do we feasibly accomplish this? This program introduces the frameworks of differentiated instruction and explores avenues of how to make it happen in the classroom. We will examine classroom structures that lend themselves to differentiation and learn strategies to effectively differentiate in the secondary classroom.
We know STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is a hot topic but, just how important is it that we integrate STEM into our classrooms? The short answer is that our world depends on it. According to the Smithsonian STEM Imperative, 2.4 million STEM jobs will go unfilled this year and it is projected to grow by 13% over the next 10 years. As teachers, we have an important role to inspire and teach our students the skills they will need to be successful in an ever-changing world. In this program we will focus on how to STEMify our classrooms to enhance our students innovative thinking while focusing on the standards.