CATDC Teaching Foundations at Head-Royce School

I attended the Teaching Foundations conference organized by CATDC. I learned a lot over the four days: how to learn the most about incoming students through intake surveys, how to build community using various icebreakers, and how to collect and interpret student feedback. Additionally, I discussed case studies with other participants related to interacting with parents or with co-teachers who have conflicting teaching styles. Working through these examples was particularly illuminating because my partners were sometimes lower and middle school teachers, and it was helpful to hear how they would approach these conversations. I was most inspired when the facilitators shared their “values artifacts,” or objects from their classrooms that represent themselves and their core values. One facilitator described how she uses puppets in her second grade class to cultivate joy and humor, and another mentioned keeping a picture of her first cohort of students on her desk to remind herself of the importance of her work. I’m currently brainstorming what objects I could keep in my classroom to remind myself of my core values. As discussed at the conference, “We teach who we are,” and in order to build trust and community with and among my students, it is important for them to see that I bring my authentic self to each class. Overall, the conference was a positive and educational experience! It served as a great networking opportunity. In fact, I met another high school organic chemistry teacher, and we exchanged interesting and safe lab experiments as well as useful teaching strategies. In the future, I would bring a list of questions that I accumulate while teaching earlier in the year. The facilitators spent some time each day answering general questions and providing advice and tips.