Promising Practices

          This semester I attended the Promising Practices Conference at Rhode Island College.  Unlike previous years the conference took place from 8am to 5pm, so I was unable to stay after lunch because of work. 

          Plenary Session
The conference opened up with a panel discussion between RIC, JWU and RWU presidents, the Superintendent of Providence Schools, the CEO of United Way RI, President of Rhode Island Foundation, the Mayor of Providence and it was moderated by a member of the RI Public Radio.  

This was a great experience for me, because hot topics were discussed and real teachers, faculty and student teachers were able to ask specific questions to the leaders of the institutions.  A few of the key concepts from the discussion included: 

• We need to prepare future leaders not people for the workforce
• Colleges need to provide primary/secondary schools with talented mentors
• You can't evaluate what you can't measure
• Don't be afraid to fail
• Students need support to succeed - don't label students because of their zip code
• Poverty is a factor but NOT a destiny 

(These are just a few of the major points during the session) 

          Session #1 (part 1) - Children in Central American Migrant Families
While this session was very interesting, it did not provide me with any techniques for classroom use.  We looked at migration policies and how undocumented parents can influence a child's education/school work/personal life.  It is extremely important for teachers to know this.
*Helps teachers to know what could be going on with a student*

        Session #1 (part 2) - Building an Architecture of College Inclusion for High School Language Minority Students
 This session picked up where the other left off in that they created a project for students whose English language skills do not match their home language skills.  Project ExCel looks at students who are high performing but don't have the typical English classes.  There was an eye-opening story from one of the presenters who explained that a high performing student was told not to apply to a four-year college by their guidance counselor because they weren't strong in English.  As teachers we should always encourage our students to achieve, and this student wasn't remedial... they had great grades!  Basically, there are programs for students who are stronger in their home language, and ESL doesn't mean you can't achieve in college!

        Session #2 - Literacy Walks
This presentation was done by teachers at Henry Barnard, which made me a little worried that content wouldn't match with my high school students.  The idea of literacy walks, however, was developed from an adult model.  Basically, the students walk to different stations and complete activities that are related to a novel/play/poem/etc in groups, in pairs and individually.  A question that was raised was that many schools don't have the opportunity to walk outside in a huge safe field.  An alternative is stations in the classroom, hallway, or specific stations in the gym, cafeteria, other room etc.  I would love to use this in one of my classrooms because it would keep them actively engaged in the text while making memories, developing skills, and creating a classroom community feel.

Overall, I found the conference to be really interesting and eye-opening.  I've attended the conference for the last three years, but this was the first time I really got something out of going.  Perhaps, I'm starting to get "teacher goggles" and see how I can apply certain things in my future classroom.