Assistant Principal
Andrew Lewis Middle School, Salem, VA
TTEC 2015 Cohort
I attended the wonderful kickoff
session at Mountain Lake on Friday, May 1 and 2nd. While the weather was cool and rainy on Friday,
the clouds eventually parted and we were able enjoy some blue skies and
wonderful views.
A few
comments on the weekend…
- Wonderful accommodations and location
- I felt an immediate comradery with the other educators participating in the TTEC
- Friday evening session was a wonderful way to build lasting friendships in the program
Upon returning to school, I met
with my assembled team of teachers to debrief on the information I had obtained
while at Mountain Lake. The teacher team
is made up of 2 PE teachers, 2 world geography teachers, 2 civics teachers, 3
English/Language Arts teachers, 1 CTE teacher, and 1 administrator. I asked several of the teachers to
participate because of their great rapport with kids and love of outdoors. Others simply volunteered to
participate. My goal is to provide an
opportunity for teachers to participate at both the classroom and school wide
level. I reviewed the information presented
at the Mountain Lake conference and asked teachers to design their “dream”
lesson plan involving the Appalachian Trail (or simply being outside). Many teachers already had a fantastic idea in
mind, while others toyed with several ideas for their respective classes.
The wonderful professional
dialogue that followed was completely unexpected. I could feel the excitement and rekindled
passion that the teachers had for doing creative lessons to meet the needs of
learners. Certainly all teachers worry
about standards/SOL’s, but it was refreshing to hear the “what if” side if teachers
can incorporate TTEC into their current classroom setting. As the discussion concluded, we set a goal of
everyone trying to implement at least 1 lesson outdoors next year (15-16 AY)
with no restrictions of where it is. We
have a local greenway within walking distance, and we are a few miles from the
actual AT. We are starting to work the
‘kinks’ out during summer school PE. We
are taking the class hiking several days and will report out in our next
meeting scheduled for next fall.
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