“The deliberate steps, the connection with the kids, and the encouragement of curiosity was amazing!” one comment read.
“It would be hard to be a student in the class & not feel valued, seen and heard!” read another comment about a Spanish teacher.
A lower school teacher was described as “warm and welcoming”
Those were among some of the comments posted about teachers here at GFA. But they weren’t from their students or parents—they were from other teachers visiting colleagues’ classrooms during the school’s annual Open Classroom Week. This week-long program helps to promote conversations about teaching and learning across the entire campus. Faculty and staff from all three divisions are encouraged to sign up for visits during this week, not only to discover new teaching methods but also to set an example of lifelong learning for both their colleagues and the student community.
Taking a look at the sign-up sheet, one can’t help but feel excited about the wide array of possibilities available this week on our campus. These opportunities include engaging activities such as participating in literacy groups in the Second Grade, creating paper mache ladybugs in a Third Grade art class, discovering The Gilded Age within Seventh Grade history, learning peer-to-peer writing skills in the Ninth Grade, and even embarking on a journey of storytelling through Axolotl in a Spanish class. This sample is among a small set of over 95 different offerings that were available for faculty and staff this past week.
Additionally this year, we were fortunate to have Dr. Dan Willingham kickstart the entire week by offering valuable advice to the faculty and staff in our community. His message emphasized the importance of never losing sight of opportunities for continuous learning because there's always room for improvement. Meghan Chew, notes, “The week always serves as a vivid reminder of how fortunate we are to collaborate with such exceptional colleagues and how lucky we are to have a student community as great as ours. Dan’s message set the tone for the opportunities ahead.”
An intentionally dedicated week for faculty and staff to focus on their craft and create time and space for one another was just what the doctor ordered.