3.2 Professional   Learning: Instructional  Practices

The STEA2M PLC serves as a time for teachers to share lessons, reflect on lessons, create new lessons, and analyze evidence to help support our student's learning more effectively.  The STEA2M coach is at every PLC to assist with helping the teachers with their needs during the PLC.  The teachers also host one STEA2M Club meeting each year which shows that our teachers are dedicated to our STEA2M program.  This club has continued to be a successful after-school program for our students.  The STEA2M Club consists of 54 students who attend monthly after school.  The afterschool program provides more opportunities for students to participate in STEA2M activities that support the implementation of STEA2M.

We have implemented a random walkthrough that allows teachers to provide each other with feedback on visible learning, the other goal that teachers set at the beginning of the year, and the use of the 4Cs in their classroom.  We have also completed a STEM Classroom Observation Quicktool adding our 4Cs that will be used in the future.  The walkthroughs assess many areas of a classroom lesson.  After an observation, the classroom teacher will be able to reflect upon the lesson using the Observation checklist.

Over the last six years, SEMS has provided Professional Development with the following partners and topics: Partnering with Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech, Better Fresh Farms, Hydroponics, COR Composting, Ebenezer Creek, Warnell Center, Tifton (Gilda)-5 years ago, Georgia Southern EdCamp, Georgia Pacific Day, Honey Ridge Orientation and PD, Discovery Education Instructional Strategies (S.O.S.), Shake up learning (Alice Keeler), Ossabaw Island, School Visits, Teacher-led PDs (showing 4Cs and STEA2M activities), STEA2M Coordinator Engineering Design Process, STEA2M, Curriculum Mapping, Writing, and Math.  We have also had access to independent content-specific learning opportunities, Sally Creel (Sally Creel - Cobb County STEM Coordinator) and Allison Morgan (GADOE - STEM/STEAM Program Specialist), Webinars, various Professional Learning events, RESA, and Signature Line.

In the fall of 2016, Effingham County acquired Honey Ridge Agricenter, a 324-acre working farm in Guyton, GA. Honey Ridge has become a focal point of Agricultural Education for the county. Since the purchase of Honey Ridge, it has become a major component in educating students, teachers, and community members about the importance of food, shelter, and clothing in agriculture. Once acquired, Honey Ridge advisor Todd Wall provided staff with professional learning opportunities that led to improved efficiency in incorporating Honey Ridge’s agricultural resources into daily classroom instruction. CJ Pinson, SEMS’s agriculture teacher, helps with Honey Ridge Agricenter Learning extension and various student projects through our chapter of the National FFA Organization. Mr. Pinson also regularly educates staff members about enhancing classroom lessons relating to agriculture. Ongoing Honey Ridge Professional Development is continued through Brandi Bonorato, South Effingham Middle School’s STEA2M Coach. 

In August of 2020, South Effingham Middle School partnered with Discovery Education across the curriculum. Discovery Education consultants have led teachers through a series of training sessions to navigate and locate resources available on the website. Teachers have incorporated the strategies learned through this Professional Development in cross-curricular lessons. Teachers have reviewed the effectiveness of these lessons through our Data Teams process conducted each week at the beginning of PLCs. Teachers are supported as they make adjustments to the curriculum to better use Discovery Education tools like the SOS Strategies. Teachers have ongoing training with new resources available through Discovery Education. 

At South Effingham Middle School we strive to become better leaders and educators for ourselves and our students. We are continually engaged in professional development in the areas of STEA2M.  Professional Development is delivered weekly during PLC meetings.  Our teachers have identified (through survey data) that the most beneficial Professional Development has been the teachers within our school providing their amazing lessons that incorporate the 4Cs, Interdisciplinary/Discipline Integration, and the Design Process. Some after-school Professional Development opportunities are offered to teachers who are seeking additional training in a specific area. 

During the fall of 2020, South Effingham Middle School began to utilize time in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to incorporate STEA2M education. Every week, grade-level teams meet in Professional Learning Communities where there is a focus on STEAM planning and collaboration.  Teachers meet as a whole to plan interdisciplinary projects and divide into subject-specific and team-specific groups to develop project-based learning activities. Led by the previous STEA2M Coach, teachers were taught new STEA2M strategies for an education extension at Honey Ridge, STEA2M Extension Fridays, and daily classroom lessons. One such strategy was the regular integration of the 4Cs in all disciplines. The 4Cs are Critical Thinking, Communication, Creativity, and Collaboration. South Effingham Middle School expects students to know, understand, and use STEA2M  language to enhance their learning, which is why teachers spend time every week learning and adding new strategies during PLCs. Teachers are sharing effective STEA2M strategies in PLCs with demonstrations and mini-lessons. South Effingham Middle School feels teachers are one of the best tools in professional learning; therefore, PLC time has been a great opportunity to learn from each other.

On January 4, 2022, South Effingham Middle School conducted a Professional Development opportunity led by Georgia Southern University focusing on interdisciplinary units.  Administration and teachers identified their comfort level with content integration, and were divided into different groups to answer the following questions:

• What is content integration?

• How have you used content integration in your classroom?

• In what ways would you like to use content integration in the future?

• What questions do you have about content integration?

Groups joined together to collaborate and discuss the topics.  Teachers analyzed a general lesson from the GADOE website and were challenged to determine a way to integrate multiple content areas. After sharing their examples, teachers worked collaboratively to create an integrated lesson that they could incorporate in the third or fourth nine weeks. 

South Effingham Middle School has developed a STEA2M Core 4 Professional Learning Team designed to facilitate professional development and learning opportunities for all school employees. The team continues to meet throughout each school year with teachers, stakeholders, and administrators to collaborate toward the common goal of achieving and maintaining the STEA2M curriculum across all disciplines. 

Our Core 4 teachers (one teacher from each content area) have met several times during the past two years with Discovery Education to improve our current lessons by giving suggestions on how to incorporate the 4Cs which are Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Communication. The Core 4 teachers then videotape their lessons and share them with the faculty during the weekly PLC meetings. This led to other teachers who were not directly working with Discovery Education to share lessons/ideas at PLC meetings.  A padlet is utilized to house these lessons for other teachers to access as needed. The Core 4 is a consistent resource for teachers in creating lessons and activities that incorporate the 4Cs as well as sharing lessons as professional development leaders.

Our STEA²M Advisory Council is made up of teacher representatives from SEMS and 3 elementary schools along with school board members, parents, and business partners. This team meets quarterly to get feedback and suggestions from our stakeholders and increase community involvement. Information obtained from the STEA2M Advisory Council will be shared with teachers during PLC meetings. 

South Effingham Middle School teachers are required to complete a self-assessment at the beginning of the school year as part of the TKES Evaluation process for all Georgia teachers.  As a school, we use the self-assessment data, teacher survey, parent survey, student survey, and our observations to set goals that we would like to achieve within that school year.  One of the goals since 2021 has been participating in ongoing STEA2M professional development and applying it to classroom practices.  To support our teachers we have STEA2M PLCs weekly and provide a Professional Development with Georgia Southern University focusing on content integration.  

The key curriculum focus is to improve STEA2M education to prepare students at SEMS for the technological and economic demands of the 21st Century.  At SEMS, our curriculum is designed to create collaboration through interdisciplinary programs that improve educational and economic outcomes directly related to real-world problems. 

Our STEA²M Coach works extensively to collaborate with outside agencies to implement new learning experiences for students and staff. For example, the 7th grade is partnering with COR composting to assist with our composting project. 6th grade invited Matt Gill from Effingham County EMA to discuss Hurricanes and Their Impact then they had a local builder, Alex Long, to assist with the sustainable building project. Our 8th grade will be partnering with Atlantic Waste Services for their recycling and conservation projects. They were allowed to view other countries and compare the process and possibility of using this information as they created our recycling program. 

Teachers also participate at individual and school level in a variety of trainings to help improve their instructional strategies, specifically related to our STEA2M program.  Teachers have participated in trainings and workshops led by Project Lead the Way, the CTAE (Career, Technical, and Agriculture Education), the Georgia Association for Careers and Technology Education, the Georgia Engineering and Technology Education Association, and the Georgia Music Education Association. Teachers participated in trainings led by Chat GPT, Nanotech, the Georgia Council for Economic Education, Junior Achievement, and the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  All South Effingham Middle School teachers have also attended training on using online platforms to help improve STEA2M lessons, such as Canva, Discovery Education, and Everfi. Additionally, South Effingham Middle School teachers have all attended training in best practices for teaching ESOL students and project-based learning. 

South Effingham Middle School teachers also participated in professional development and collaboration opportunities specific to project-based learning activities. In 2022, two classes of seventh-grade students began participating in the Stock Market Game, an exciting simulation that gives students in grades 4-12 the opportunity to invest a virtual $100,000 for 10 weeks in real stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.  Primarily designed to help students learn and understand the stock market and the costs and benefits involved in investing, the Stock Market Game is an interdisciplinary project that allows students to learn problem-solving, risk assessment, cooperation, and teamwork.  This allowed us to partner with the Georgia Council for Economic Education, the SIFMA Foundation, and Dr. Jason Beck from Georgia Southern University's Economics Department. Teachers who were leading this activity for the school attended training with Dr. Beck on the game that included extensive lessons on how the stock market works and how to teach it to students. In August 2023, all seventh-grade students participated in the Stock Market Game as a cornerstone of the seventh-grade project-based learning interdisciplinary unit, and all seventh-grade Social Studies teachers, who had not previously attended, participated in another stock market training led by Dr. Beck. To ensure all seventh-grade teachers, in all content areas, would be able to incorporate the stock market activities into their content areas, Dr. Beck led an additional training for all seventh-grade teachers in September 2023. Additionally, all sixth and seventh-grade Social Studies teachers were trained by Junior Achievement of Georgia on teaching personal finance management in their classes, which served as a foundation for the economic aspect of the project-based learning interdisciplinary unit. 

At SEMS, we integrate the curriculum developed and provided by the Effingham County Board of Education, as well as an offering of advanced content courses and STEA2M supporting experiences.  Our curriculum is enhanced and accelerated by embedding the 4Cs in (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking) throughout the year.  During weekly professional learning community meetings, teachers collaborate to create real-world, interdisciplinary learning experiences to benefit all students who attend SEMS. 

South Effingham Middle School is working to utilize the Next Generation Science Standards as a framework to support the Effingham County Board of Education Curriculum across all content areas.  SEMS has previously utilized STEMscopes and presently uses Discovery Education to supplement and guided instruction.  SEMS uses the Engineering Design Process as the integral foundation for learning.  SEMS continues to seek high-quality resources to further align STEA2M standards.  The Core 4 Professional Learning Team needs to select a National Science Standard for each content area to guide content area curriculum instruction.