VSS Professional Development

Staff members at Vincent Smith School in Port Washington know that the best way to be a great teacher is by remaining a student of best practices. While children were at home for the day, faculty and staff recently found themselves immersed in a full agenda of professional development activities. It was a day focused on teaching to learn and learning to teach.

“It is extremely important that as educators we continue to learn if we want to ensure the success of our students,” said Arlene Wishnew, Head of School. “We proudly invest a great deal of time and resources into the VSS faculty and staff. It has paid huge dividends in the growth and development of our children.”

According to recent research, high quality professional development designed for teachers by teachers to share teaching strategies in all content areas and grade levels is the most effective and relevant to participants.

VSS’ Professional Development Day was a reflection of this research. Workshops were presented by colleagues who throughout the school year have attended conferences on a variety of topics. Teachers researched how these practices can be best implemented into the VSS culture to further enhance student success. Staff members weren’t grouped throughout the day for separate workshops. The entire staff participated in each activity, which held value across the disciplines. The workshops were filled with relevant information on team building, social and emotional literacy, music and meditation, sensory processing disorder, dyslexia, and exercising your brain. The day ended with important roundtable discussions that provided additional opportunities for staff to discuss the workshops and how they envision some of the strategies working in their classrooms.

Caption: Vincent Smith School math teacher Fran Alexseychuk facilitates a staff workshop on Differentiating Math Instruction for Multiple Intelligences with several fun and interactive games that can be used to help students internalize key math concepts.