Helping Students Find Individual Paths to Better Learning
LONG BEACH, Calif. (July 31, 2018) – Teachers devoted a summer vacation day to their own educations Friday, when they assembled at Long Beach State University and other California venues to hear and share ideas geared toward improving their abilities to connect with individual students.
The Long Beach campus was among more than 30 places throughout the state for teachers participating in Better Together: California Teachers Summit 2018. The theme for Friday’s event, the fourth annual summit, was “It’s Personal: Meeting the Needs of Every Student.” The day provided attending teachers with opportunities to listen to acclaimed educators speak on their own classroom experiences, as well as to discuss their own thoughts on student learning with other teachers in breakout sessions called Edcamps.
“It’s supposed to be a day of teacher networking and teacher improvement before the school year starts,” Dr. Nat Hansuvadha, associate professor of advanced studies in education and counseling, said.
The day’s theme also highlighted the importance of teachers appreciating students’ individual personalities and needs.
“There are some real trends in education right now that are toward more inclusive classroom settings, more recognition that students with needs are in all our classrooms, so we all need to know how to teach every student,” said Cindy Grutzik, the College of Education’s associate dean for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs.
At the Long Beach campus, math and engineering teacher Ken Fisher (from Cabrillo High School in the Long Beach Unified School District) delivered a morning EdTalk address to teachers, during which he shared how his teaching strategies include the use of humor and cooperative games to motivate students.
“When you have to work together, it all of a sudden builds their confidence,” he said.
Fisher’s methods include challenging students to solve math problems in a darkened classroom, then connecting students’ experience to the history of Sophie Germain, who grew up in revolutionary France. Fisher recounted the story of her being forced to study in darkness because her parents didn’t want their daughter to pursue mathematics, but her achievements as a mathematician are remembered to this day.
“And when the kids hear that, it’s like ‘Guys, you have to find your passion. You have to find what motivates you. What inspires you to be the greatest student that you can be?’” Fisher said.
Transitional kindergarten teacher Erin Jett (from Chapman Hills Elementary School in the Orange Unified School District) emphasized the importance of forming connections with students and their parents during the afternoon EdTalk.
Jett begins the school year by asking students if they would like her to join them for a special time such as a baseball game, piano recital or just a day to bake cookies.
“Building that relationship between the student and myself has such a powerful impact on their learning,” she said.
The California State University, Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities and New Teacher Center organized the statewide summit.
About the campus:Long Beach State University is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. The campus values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society
