Beth Cook on Confratute 2011

During my week at Confratute 2011 in Connecticut, I was able to attend two great week long courses; Depth and Complexity in Lesson Designs and Total School Clusters!!  Of course, this conference would not have been possible without the generous scholarship from CGA!!

During this week long immersion I was able to meet with Sandra Kaplan as she  taught how to incorporate the rigor and relevance into a lesson design as we deepen students understanding of their core knowledge. During Total School Clusters, Dr. Marcia Gentry explained the process of creating school clusters which are built around student and teacher interests. Students then choose which clusters they would like to be a part of  and then drive the project forward!!

I also had the wonderful opportunity to present “Learning Under the Lights” with Liz Malone. This afternoon session highlighted our evening of celebration of student learning, here at Austing Elementary. We had a great turnout!!

This week was a time to be part of a great learning community all while applying what we learned into our school so that our students could have the best of what we learned!! I came away from this conference with new knowledge and skills that will impact every learner who enters our classroom!! I can’t wait for school to begin so that we can start this new year of learning!!