Claremont Academy

Team Meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC), and Professional Development Days

During my year at Claremont, I was welcomed into an amazing community of teachers who were constantly striving to improve their practice. I appreciated Claremont’s commitment to providing support and opportunities for their teachers’ growth. Three valuable resources for this were team meetings, PLC meetings, and professional development days.

At Claremont, all teachers were grouped into teams based on grade level rather than department. Teachers met with their teams three times a week – twice to discuss team matters (student concerns or successes, general planning, etc.) and once for PLC. I was included in all of these meetings. I found the team meetings especially helpful, for it gave me a chance to share concerns about students with the four other teachers who taught them and hear their perspective on the issue. Sometimes other teachers would say that they were seeing the same issues, which would then allow us all to collectively determine a course of action, whether that meant getting the guidance counselor involved or setting up a parent meeting. Other times, I would learn that a students’ issue was specific to my class, which would then help me reflect on what was happening in my class that could be contributing to the issue. Hearing what my students were like in other classes was also always a good reminder to me to not judge my students solely based on their behavior or performance in my class.

PLC meetings and professional development days gave us time to focus more on our practice. During PLC meetings with my team of teachers, a different teacher led the meetings each quarter and chose a topic of inquiry. Among other topics, we discussed supporting English Language Learners and how to support more writing and annotating across the curriculum. In addition to these weekly opportunities for professional growth, Claremont had half days on the first Wednesday of every month so that all teachers and administrators had time to come together in the afternoon for three hours of professional development. In those monthly meetings, we discussed our students’ and our own conceptions of the Claremont Characteristics – Reflection, Communication, Collaboration, Analyze/Problem Solve, and Investigate/Research – and how to bridge the gap between those two different understandings; how to use Socratic Seminars to promote student-led questioning and discussions; how to implement more on-the-spot assessments of student understanding; and more. Our professional development days did not consist of dull lectures, but rather involved small group and whole group discussions and a variety of activities; they were never boring and always felt worthwhile. I felt lucky to have this experience in my first year of teaching, for it made me realize the value of a healthy and supportive professional culture.

Kate Shepard

The biggest source of support for me at Claremont this year was Kate Shepard, my mentor teacher. After twenty years of experience teaching in the Worcester Public Schools, Miss Shepard was amazing to watch in the classroom, adeptly facilitating authentic mathematical experiences for her students while enforcing a supportive and welcoming classroom environment. Her continued dedication to her students and to improving her practice inspired me to work harder and to never give up on myself or my students, and provided me with a fantastic model of a successful urban teacher. She took the time out of her busy schedule to sit with me for an entire period every day so that we could reflect together on my classes, brainstorm solutions to any issues I was facing, and share lesson plans. Her advice never failed to be tremendously helpful, and her constant encouragement kept me going whenever I doubted myself. 

Adam Strogoff

Adam Strogoff, the other eighth grade math teacher on our team, acted as my unofficial second mentor at Claremont Academy. He was kind enough to allow me to take over one of his integrated math classes and provide me with endless support throughout the year. From watching him teach, I learned many effective classroom management strategies that he then helped me implement in my own class when I struggled with behavior issues. Mr. Strogoff witnessed firsthand many of my most challenging interactions with students and he always knew the right mix of sympathy and helpful feedback to give me afterwards. His friendship and thoughtfulness throughout the year made being in a classroom of three math teachers enjoyable.

Clark University

Kyle Pahigian

In addition to being a phenomenal math teacher at University Park Campus School, Kyle served as my Clark University advisor/mentor this past year. As the only secondary math M.A.T. this year, I was lucky enough to get Kyle’s undivided attention. Kyle came to Claremont to observe my math classes each week and always gave me invaluable feedback. She offered insight into whatever issue I was having and went above and beyond to support me at all times. Each week I looked forward to my three-hour class with her, for she took the care to make the coursework relevant to my teaching experience and include activities and articles that I would find beneficial. Her thoughtful comments on my assignments pushed me to think more deeply about my practice and my students, and her unwavering confidence in my abilities helped me believe in myself more. I knew that I could go to her for any sort of advice; I never doubted that she would be there for me.

Tom Del Prete

The immense thoughtfulness and intentionality with which Tom approached any interaction continually amazed me and inspired me to reflect on the extent to which I embodied those traits in my interactions with students and others. Despite all of his responsibilities as director of our graduate program, Tom facilitated weekly on-site seminars for all of us M.A.T. students placed at Claremont Academy. With his characteristic thoughtfulness and intentionality, Tom listened as we discussed our experiences, confusions, and ideas, offering suggestions and gently pushing us to think deeper about our statements. Tom was a valuable participant in all three of my rounds for the same reason. I frequently found myself seeking him out in his office to follow up about a previous conversation, and he even sought me out at times to do the same. The investment he consistently showed in my growth as both a student and a teacher meant a lot to me.