Mobile Toggle

Professional Development

Colleagues,

Our leadership team, in partnership with many members of the faculty, have been hard at work again reimagining professional learning for the summer and school year. Taken together, our professional development program and our newly conceived student academic/enrichment workshops, represent our finest work as a faculty and leadership team. I couldn’t be more proud of Harrison, of our adaptability in the face of adversity and our unrelenting commitment to the highest standards of teaching and learning.

The 2021/22 in-service program bridges best practice from our past professional learning with innovative structures and strategies that reflect transformations taking place throughout our learning community. We have developed a blended (in-person and virtual), multi-dimensional adult learning program anchored in traditional methods while capitalizing on the power of virtual modalities, tools and resources. There are more than 45 uniquely designed courses and study groups facilitated by our own expert practitioners and members of our extended leadership team. These offerings explore a wide range of organizational priorities including equity and culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, foundational literacy, conceptual mathematics, assessment, project-based learning, instructional technology and differentiated instruction for all learners. In addition, there will be extensive opportunities for teachers to collaborate on curriculum writing design teams throughout the summer adapting, extending and enhancing lessons/units of study, assessments, rubrics and proficiency scales in preparation for the reopening of schools.

Beyond in-service, we have ambitiously expanded student programs during the summer to narrow learning gaps, extend and enrich academics and cultivate social-emotional engagement. These programs offer teachers another type of professional development, an authentic classroom-based learning lab to field test instructional design and strategies in partnership with colleagues and our leadership team.

As always, I encourage you to carefully consider your department, building and personal goals in designing your personalized summer professional learning plan. Reach out to directors, principals, instructional specialists, course facilitators and mentors for guidance or if you have questions about the content of the workshops. In keeping with past practice, we are limiting registration to three (3) in-service workshops per teacher during the first seven (7) days of enrollment (until May 26). This restriction is designed to ensure that all teachers have an equitable opportunity to review course offerings and enroll in high demand courses. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Please feel free to reach out to me or Joanne Lederer in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction if you have any questions about the registration process.

Warm regards,

Michael
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction
914-630-3321
greenfieldm@harrisoncsd.org
Follow me on Twitter @harrisonasi

Professional Development Resources