BV educators find value in professional development

Brandon Valley educators talked about what they say in the classroom and how they say it at a teacher in-service Jan. 20. 

The day was dedicated to professional development – specifically, a series of courses from which the teachers could select and a message from keynote speaker Mike Anderson, an educational consultant and author. 

“The January teacher in-services are unique because they are traditionally planned by the district’s staff development team,” explained curriculum director Sherri Nelson.

The team consists of one representative from each of BV’s seven schools and a K-12 staff representative.

This in-service was especially unique, Nelson added, because teachers in the Brandon Valley School District were offered two professional development opportunities to meet and discuss Anderson’s book, “What We Say and How We Say It Matters.” 

Amy Dulaney is a speech-language pathologist at Brandon Valley Middle School and Valley Springs Elementary.

“The speaker had an interesting perspective on the twist of language and how rewording certain things can give the student ownership,” Dulaney observed.

Anderson’s book references a three-step process for changing language: set a good goal and have a meaningful rationale, plan concrete strategies for action and feedback and practice and consolidate.

The in-service also included a breakout session in which teachers talked about language habits they’d like to change and practical ways to make the change, then created visual reminders for their classrooms. Reminders were written on notecards and included cues such as “E-Z on the sarcasm” and take the “I” out of “Why?”

At the end of the day, a group of teachers who had been participating in a book study of “What We Say and How We Say It Matters” got to pick the author’s brain. Anderson joined the group in the orchestra room for a Q&A, during which he shared teaching anecdotes, fielded questions and offered constructive criticism and advice on positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and trends he’d liked to see vanish, like the push toward standardization – often referred to as “teaching to the test” – and underfunding K-12 public education. 

Several BV teachers were excited to put Anderson’s suggestions to practice.

“I thought Mike was a good speaker and shared some interesting approaches that I will try in my classroom,” said Dan Canfield, an English and speech teacher at the high school.

Junior kindergarten teacher Nicole Anderson-Gappa agreed.

“I really enjoyed the presenter and I walked away with strategies to try in my classroom immediately,” she said.

District educators were also given a list of seminars on different topics to choose from, which they attended the courses throughout the day. Topics ranged from making data-driven decisions to disciplining with love, special education and habits of the mind.