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Board of Regents member from Morristown meets with local teachers to improve teaching techniques

Posted 7/20/18

CANTON -- New York State Board of Regents Member, Beverly Ouderkirk, Morristown, listened to and spoke with local teachers about their work in designing programs and strategies to help students …

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Board of Regents member from Morristown meets with local teachers to improve teaching techniques

Posted

CANTON -- New York State Board of Regents Member, Beverly Ouderkirk, Morristown, listened to and spoke with local teachers about their work in designing programs and strategies to help students become more “active learners” on Wednesday.

In her visit to the 2018 Educational Design Conference in Canton, she visited with some of the 13 teams of local teachers and individuals working on projects ranging from problem-based learning to encouraging more positive behaviors and attitudes in students.

Among the school districts participating at the conference on the campus of St. Lawrence University this year are; Canton, Colton-Pierrepont, Gouverneur, Heuvelton, Ogdensburg, Salmon River, St. Regis Falls and Tupper Lake.

Teachers have two options when participating in the conference. They can either collaborate with colleagues from their own district to work on a common project, or they attend individually to develop learner-centered strategies to use in their classrooms.

In addition to their individual and teamwork, participants are encouraged to attend a wide range of presentations that change daily. Topics include; teaching students the importance of building strong relationships through character, teaching students how to create their own digital portfolios to document their schoolwork, and personalized learning

“Active learning” is one of the central tenets of what is called constructivism, which is the educational learning theory on which the conference is based. The theory states that people learn best when they are given an “active role” in their own learning, in a way that allows them to utilize their own experiences, learning style and prior knowledge to create understanding.

The conference which advertises itself as “family friendly” also includes children in its programming by running a student newspaper program for school age children and a child care team which provides activities for younger children.

The St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES sponsors the conference in collaboration with The Institute for Learning -Centered Education and in partnership with St. Lawrence University and The Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES.