Students Flip the Classroom on Rivers Teachers
Rivers’ teachers started off the New Year on the other side of the desk on Monday morning, giving new meaning to the term “flipped classroom.” They spent the first half of their professional day honing technology skills, guided by some of Rivers’ finest—the student Tech Team. In a pair of back-to-back workshops, the students walked their teachers through a variety of apps to show them how to best enhance the classroom experience.
Rivers’ incorporation of a 1:1 iPad program this year has been moving ahead full steam, and Monday’s workshops gave teachers the opportunity to explore apps like Notability (with Tony Milne ’17 and Rider Tuff ’17) and iMovie (with Will Hewitt ’17) and discover how to use them most effectively in the classroom. Some took advantage of the students’ know-how to get a better handle on using Google Hangout and Skype (with Owen Pfannenstiehl ’19 and Bradley Stoller ’19) to connect with students outside of class and Google Drive (with Josh Polanco-Calderon ’17) for sharing documents and assignments with their students. Robert Gallo ’17, James Brennan ’17, and Lindsay Bogar ’18 helped smooth out any bumps in the road using iCal and Reminder apps, and offered general “help desk” suggestions as well.
“The faculty were all so impressed with the students’ knowledge and creativity, and the kindness and generosity with which they shared their expertise,” said Director of Academic Affairs Melinda Ryan.
Monday's afternoon sessions were more traditional, led by faculty members who shared their research, thoughts, and passions on a wide variety of topics. Some of the more tech-savvy faculty invited their peers to “workshop” projects that they may have been anxious to launch in their own classrooms, but wanted to feel more comfortable with. Apps such as ThingLink, Paper 53, Explain Everything, GoFormative, Canva, Pintrest, Quizlet, Animoto, Kahoot, and Flashcard (not the index card-version) were tackled with enthusiasm by the workshop participants.
Ben Leeming tempered the technology focus of the day a bit with his talk entitled “Digital Tools, Analog Brains: Making the Case for a Hybrid Model of iPad Learning.” Also thought-provoking were a discussion of the hidden biases we all harbor, led by Jen Dalton, Leslie Fraser, and John Bower, and a discussion of the value of and strategies for designing interdisciplinary courses, led by Julian Willard and Melissa Dolan.
Rounding out the offerings were food for both body—yoga with Mary Mertsch—and soul—a virtual tour of the Camino de Santiago, Spain’s 500-mile pilgrimage trail, undertaken last summer by Mary Brown. Dave Burzillo led an exploration of exoplanets, while offerings by Juliet Bailey, Diane Devore, and Matt Akers appealed to would-be actors and writers. There even was a workshop covering what is probably a perennial New Year’s resolution topic among teachers—successfully teaching punctuation—led by Jennie Jacoby.
“We are so fortunate to be at a school whose faculty—and students—have so much to share and who are willing to give of themselves with such kindness and enthusiasm,” said Ryan. “They help make Rivers such a wonderful community of learners, and certainly made our reentry after winter break both pleasant and productive.”
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