Lynn teachers learn classroom management at new workshop

LYNN – Public school teachers hear the criticism that is occasionally tossed about in the community regarding their nine-months-on, three months-off work schedule.But the truth is that while students are soaking up the sun during the summer time, nearly all of the city’s educators are participating in some form of professional development – most of it voluntary – so that they have new ideas and a more effective approach come September.Funded in a variety of ways, professional development seminars are held in several different arenas, whether it is at the school administration building, an individual school or a program funded from an outside entity.One such program has been taking place the past two summers at the Lynn Teacher’s Union on Western Avenue where nearly 100 of the city’s teachers from all grades are volunteering their time for a crash course in classroom management and organization, data management and effective teaching methods.Organized and funded by the Lynn Business Education Foundation in cooperation with the Teacher’s Union and President Alice Gunning, the voluntary workshop has been so popular among teachers that there is now a wait list to attend the 3-day program.All together, the course spans a total of 24 hours, where teachers from all grade levels learn classroom management and organization, teamwork, “time on task” concepts, homework hints and teacher praise. A total of six workshops are held beginning in July and wrapping up with night courses in October.The goal is to refresh old ideas and establish new ones that will help teachers run a successful classroom for students at all levels of learning.”This is a volunteer program that is filled to capacity, and these teachers take a chunk out of their summer,” said Lynn Business Education Foundation President Gale Thomas. “People always say, ‘Well, teachers have the summer off.’ No, that is not true. Teachers attend these workshops in the summers to better themselves and better their classrooms. It revitalizes them. It gets them excited and it prepares them to go back in to the classroom.”For teachers, the workshops help ease the often difficult beginning-of-the-year transition, where they can struggle to adapt to a room full of new students who are not always ready to learn after a summer break.All of the information is research-based, so the teachers trust the ideas presented because it has been proven to work.”One of the components shows how to set up your classroom at the beginning of the year to be more effective. It is always great to hear new ideas and this is research-based, so it is proven that these methods are effective,” said Cobbett Elementary School kindergarten teacher Jennifer Belliveau. “It is great because during the school year we are so busy with other courses and home life, offering this workshop in the summer is more convenient.”Along with classroom organization and management, teachers are given a lesson in data analysis and management, which has become a huge part of a statewide standards-based curriculum.”It keeps us abreast of what is going on with the data and statistics. One of the biggest things is that kids learn at different paces, and we have to have lessons that are able to reach everyone no matter the pace of learning,” said Beth Mercaldi, who has been teaching at Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute for 10 years. “The ones that learn the fastest are actually more challenging, because you have to keep them from being bored. So we like to pair them up, so the ones that learn quicker can help the ones that are having trouble. We are fortunate to have workshops like this because it keeps us in tune with other people’s concepts that are working.”Overall, the city has made professional development a required part of teacher training and mentoring, and the Lynn Business Education Foundation programs have been a big part of that.Teachers who participate praise the effectiveness of the ideas inside the classroom, and look forw