New Lab Facilitates Professional Development Session for FP Faculty
New Lab facilitated a Professional Development session this week for First Program faculty focused on how creative and multimedia tools in teaching and learning can strengthen community bonds, deepen curriculum, and further Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) work.
Middle School World Language Teacher, Carmen Campos, talked about how she integrates puppets to deepen her curriculum by adding playful opportunities that enrich learning. The puppets’ ability to foster critical social and emotional expression, particularly during these challenging times where uncertainty, masking, and distancing restrict students’ abilities to connect, truly moved the participating faculty. Carmen also shared examples of how her students used their own puppets to explore and embody identities and further meaningful DEI discussions using greenscreens with iMovie.
In addition, FP teachers led workshops highlighting a host of other tools, including the use of multimedia to express identity, and virtual libraries that promote diverse DEI collections that deepen student agency and foster a love of reading.
While the importance of cultivating belonging has always been a priority at Dalton K-12, as the pandemic has endured, focusing on community has become even more important to our work as educators in order to foster spaces for our students to feel safe, supported, connected, and able to engage fully in their learning.
Many thanks to Carmen and all our facilitators for a terrific First Program Divisional!