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Professional Development
We at Neufeld Learning Systems are fully committed to the professional development of teachers and the building of a "mathematics safety net" within your school. As educators we know that effective teaching requires an understanding of mathematics, students as learners, and pedagogical strategies. It is also essential that teachers continually seek to improve in all these areas. Effective schools that make a positive impact on student learning of mathematics are in a self-sustaining cycle of professional growth. In these schools, administrators and teachers work together to build the school's capacity for teaching mathematics.
It is our experience that permanent positive growth within a school is gradual and usually proceeds through various phases of development. For this positive growth to occur and sustain itself it is imperative that the school's administration support the initiatives that are intended to build the school's capacity for mathematics instruction. In general, schools proceed through four phases of growth while building toward a self-sustaining learning organization.
Click here to find out more about our Professional Development programs, including a description of the the four stages of growth. (PDF)
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Professional Development by Neufeld Learning Systems, Inc.
2008 Workshop Schedule
The workshop schedule is now online. Click here to view.
"Helping teachers and administrators build a mathematical legacy for all students based on solid conceptual foundations."
Our PD Workshops are receiving excellent reviews by teachers, district and school administrators. They are available for your early release days or other scheduled professional development days.
Our Professional Development Sessions are designed to build school capacity in the area of mathematics instruction. Through our software, Understanding Numeration 2008 and Understanding Math 2008, we demonstrate how to integrate this technology into your school mathematics programs in order to build a "mathematical safety net" within your school. We show a variety of implementation strategies that maximize the effectiveness of the software's use both within and outside of a classroom and empower teachers to become more effective in the delivery of their program:
- Implementation strategies .. whole class and small group teaching strategies
- Cooperative group strategies (e.g. Flight Plan and Math Circle models)
- Creating literacy links within a mathematics program
- Creating effective lesson plan formats in which the lessons are correlated to state objectives and are designed to "hook" student interest and involvement
- Student tracking and assessment strategies
- Promoting student ownership of learning
- Throw Them a Ball That They Can Hit.. Intervention strategies tailored to meet school needs and to engage learners in a diverse math classroom
We can organize either half day or full day workshops. In the Level 300 Workshop, Professional Development is extended into individual classrooms where our consultants take on the role of a "math coach" and team teach with teachers to further extend their mathematics program to meet a broader range of student needs and learning styles. Teachers must present the lesson in order to take ownership of their own professional development. Students need every opportunity to actively construct knowledge so they can OWN IT. Teacher growth in their mathematics knowledge base and peer to peer collaboration naturally lead to the development of "centers of expertise" within a school.