Nebo Teachers Enjoyed Professional Staff Development - Answer to Wednesday Challenge

Submitted by lana.hiskey on
Professional Staff Development Day Elementary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Elementary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Elementary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Elementary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Secondary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Secondary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Elementary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Elementary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Secondary 2022
Professional Staff Development Day Secondary 2022

On Monday, September 26, 2022, while students had the opportunity to have a free day from school and enjoy the last bit of good weather, Nebo teachers and staff were participating in a district-wide Professional Development Educator Day. Depending on the subject or age of the students taught, the teachers had an opportunity to choose some of their training. 

Nearly 800 elementary teachers attended a virtual LETRS training. This training was a culmination of hard work, study, and classroom application of the LETRS pedagogy.
Selene Carlson, the event coordinator, said, “LETRS is helping teachers understand the Science of Reading and giving them strategies to enrich student learning in Nebo. We are fortunate in Nebo to have the very best teachers!” 
Nebo’s elementary teachers had time to dive into Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling called LETRS. This professional course is an empowering development training for any teacher–no matter the grade, who teaches reading, spelling, and related language skills. Teachers received guidance on how to plan and balance word recognition and comprehension instruction. Five essential components of reading instruction include: Phoneme Awareness, Phonics, Reading Fluency, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension.

Comments from some of our educators about the professional training they received on Monday.

Melissa Evans, a teacher at Sierra Bonita, said, “LTRS has given me many tools that I have been searching for. By implementing the strategies and assessments, I have learned through LETRS that I can now identify the individual needs of my students more effectively and precisely. I have witnessed incredible successes using these skills to support my students. LTRS will continue to help me as a teacher as I practice the Science of Reading in my classroom.”

“I appreciate getting the same training as those teachers I am mentoring. It helps me support them better with their instructional practices if we are all speaking the same language and implementing cohesive lesson plans,” stated Sarah Sumsion, Title I Coordinator at Barnett Elementary.

Patricia Hanson, an intervention teacher at Barnett Elementary, said, “I really appreciated Brenda Parson's session. I was a bit confused on how to pick vocabulary words and how to teach vocabulary to students. She addressed the three tiers of vocabulary, and then allowed us to work in small groups to complete a lesson.  It really helped having other teachers to talk to while working through each step of the lesson plan.”

When asked about the elementary portion of staff development, Celeste Gledhill, Nebo’s Elementary Curriculum Coordinator, said, “We are grateful for the caliber of teachers we have in Nebo School District. To prepare for our K-5th grade Professional Learning Day on September 26, teachers had to complete work prior to this day which involved reading, watching training videos, learning how to assess student reading skills, then assessing students. The power of our professional learning this year through LETRS is that we are all learning together for the benefit of students. The LETRS pedagogy will strengthen our already strong classroom whole group and small group instruction and provide opportunities of networking and collaboration across the district.”

“Our preschool teachers are embarking on a new professional learning opportunity very similar to LETRS for K-6 teachers. LETRS for Early Childhood provides teachers with the science and best practices for the very beginning literacy skills. Teachers will gain new skills to help young learners, ages 3 and 4, build a literacy foundation before they learn to read or write. We are excited to learn together to support Nebo students,” exclaimed Alicia Rudd, Special Programs Director.

Secondary teachers enjoyed choosing from a large list of the classes including: Simple Steps to Build Well-Being and Social Connections, Time Out for Teachers, Deep Dive into Deep Learning, and Increasing Student Engagement to name a few.

The secondary event coordinator, Wendy LeFevre, and also Nebo’s Secondary Curriculum Coordinator, said, “The Secondary Mini Conference was a successful day of learning thanks to the many excellent presenters. Participants appreciated being able to choose topics that were meaningful to them.”

Thank you to everyone that made this day possible. It was a wonderful day of development for our Nebo educators. 

“The summit is what drives us, but The Climb itself is what matters!”

Congratulations to Briggs Anderson for answering this week’s “Where are we Wednesday?” challenge sponsored by Wiggy Wash.

#TheClimb #NeboHero #NeboSchoolDistrict #StudentSuccess #EmpowerStudents #EngageStudents #FocusOnStudents #LoveUTpublicSchools #UtPol #UtEd #ThankATeacher #LoveTeaching

Attributions
By Lana Hiskey