Summer is busy for Groton teachers
This year,they taught writing to 319 students and attended workshops in math,ESL and more
Groton — Summer’s often a time of rest, but Groton teachers this year taught writing to 319 students during a summer academy and attended workshops in math, English as a second language and encouraging positive behavior.
Groton offered two sessions of “Writer’s Workshop Summer Academy” this summer, a four-day program held at Charles Barnum Elementary and West Side Middle School.
The program was free to families and open to students in kindergarten through eighth grade across the district.
It was paid for as part of a $1 million, five-year grant Groton received to help teachers improve writing instruction to students. The grant also provides teacher instruction and coaching by staff from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Shannon Weigler of Mystic sent her son, 13, and her daughter, 9, to the academy.
Weigler had a good feeling about the program, but didn’t tell the children until a few days before.
“I dropped Ian off at the middle school program and I went in with him the first day, and I was really impressed with how they set up the room,” she said. “It was set up like a classic workshop, in a big circle.”
The program brought students from West Side and Carl C. Cutler middle schools together, which her son liked, she said.
At Charles Barnum, her daughter was drawn in right away, Weigler said.
“There were tons of kids there. And as soon as she saw that, she got really excited, because it just looked like a big, fun scene,” she said.
Both children want to go back next year, she said.
Patty Wicklund, who teaches kindergarten at Charles Barnum, said she and three other teachers — including two from Northeast Academy — were assigned 10 kindergarten students each for writing academy.
Instead of working alone, the teachers met in advance and planned lessons together. Then they taught in teams of two teachers for 20 students.
The team method allowed them to help students with different skills, Wicklund said.
“We thought, ‘Let’s try it,’” she said. “So you had two strong teachers in there, teaching the skills to each of the kids, and it worked out beautifully. We could just meet their needs better.”
Kindergartners wrote poetry and an autobiography, she said.
Teachers at the summer academy already had been trained in the writing program by Teachers College at Columbia University, said Val Nelson, Groton’s project director for the Department of Defense Education Activity grant. “And they had a ball. They loved it. The whole purpose
was to make it a motivating, enriching experience in writing.”
Principals, math specialists and teachers also attended workshops taught by Catherine Fosnot, a former education professor at The City College of New York and founding director of Mathematics in the City, a national training center for mathematics education.
Fosnot travels internationally and coaches teachers on understanding and supporting children’s learning in math.
At the high school, a dozen teachers took part in training to help students learning English as a second language. The training was offered in June and will be held again in August.
“They’re so open to new learning and will just go above and beyond to get what they need for their children,” Assistant Superintendent Susan Austin said of the staff.
To cover other areas, three dozen teachers signed up for “Responsive Classroom” training, an approach that focuses on the link between academics and children’s social and emotional growth.
Staff members, mostly from Claude Chester Elementary and Catherine Kolnaski Magnet schools, attended the program.
A separate workshop about building a sense of community in classrooms and handling conflict will be offered in August.