Education is changing, and the teachers who earned the first master’s degrees from Fort Lewis College took a hard look at questions they’ve had about how to change with it. They presented their research at Growing Together, a poster session held on campus Tuesday.
“Most of them are looking at 21st-century skills,” said Richard Fulton, director of teacher education at FLC. “Particularly collaboration and technology.”
Several students experimented with building websites to increase communication and partnerships with parents.
“In Bayfield, we have seven kindergarten teachers with 125 students,” said Joey Hodlmair, who collaborated with Samantha Hoar, the International Baccalaureate coordinator at Animas Valley Elementary School, to build a website at Weebly.com. “We had a main kindergarten page, and then each class had a page. The parents were so eager to get involved, and this supported their involvement.”
Brian Geisinger teaches mathematics at Durango High School. One of two men in the class of 24, he wanted to measure his students’ use of math vocabulary in his Advanced Placement statistics class on a more frequent basis so no one got too far behind. His solution was Google Forms.
“It’s a pretty fast-moving, intense class,” he said. “This allowed me to see if they were bogged down on vocabulary or a concept issue. Their responses structured my teaching.”
They also performed another critical function, he said.
“I wanted them to have more confidence,” Geisinger said. “With math, confidence is crucial.”
One change challenging educators at small schools was the passage of Colorado Senate Bill 10-191, which requires peer coaching to help all teachers develop professionally. But what is the most effective way to implement peer coaching? Where do teachers find the time in already packed schedules?
“The thing I liked best was the encouragement and knowing support was there,” said elementary teacher Monica Roybal. “But I saw her every day in the hall, so the support didn’t end after the formal coaching.”
The cohort will spend the last two weeks of their final session deciding where they take their research from here.
abutler@durangoherald.com
To learn more
Visit https://graduate.fortlewis.edu/teacher-leadership to learn more about Fort Lewis College’s master’s degree in teacher leadership. The deadline to apply for the 2015-2017 cohort, which begins in the fall, is Monday.
