MISD Teachers Kick Off Summer with a Week of Learning

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The students are gone, and the school bells are silent; but instead of packing for a vacation, some teachers in Mansfield ISD decided to begin their summer break by honing their skills even more.

Hundreds of educators attended the district’s free annual summer curriculum from May 29 through May 31. The sessions are open to all teachers in the district for a chance to learn new teaching techniques while earning their staff development equivalency hours.

“The teachers especially love that it’s them doing the presentations,” said Teresa Francis, advanced academics coordinator. “It’s not some person who hasn’t been in the classroom or doesn’t know what’s going or talking about some educational theory that doesn’t really have anything to do with what they do in their day-to-day job.”

A bulk of the planning for the conference begins January. Organizers said they research what’s relevant in teaching and use objectives they learned in other trainings to customize each session.

“We’re always looking for what we can offer our staff members that will be helpful to them,” Francis said.

Along with the core subjects, the classes covered topics such as leadership, CPR, gifted and talented, special education, dyslexia, college readiness and more. The sessions are centered around the district’s strategic plan, Vision 2020, which guides how  Mansfield ISD will fulfill its mission of inspiring and education students to be productive citizens.

“It continues year after year to be a very popular event for our teachers,” said Christie Alfred, MISD’s chief innovative officer. “They really appreciate the fact that it’s focused on Mansfield ISD to the things that are specific to our teachers and to our district.”

The summer curriculum classes are held at Legacy High School, a centralized location for the staff. Organizers said that the goal each year is to provide quality lessons that can be immediately implemented in classrooms.

Students Teach Teachers in Summer Course

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When you want to learn about technology, sometimes you have to go to the ones who never knew life without it.

Fifth- and sixth-graders from Asa Low Intermediate School were the instructors for an interactive class at the Mansfield ISD Vision 2020 Summer Conference.

The students taught educators how different technological games and gadgets can be incorporated into the curriculum.

“It’s what we call a technology playground,” said Lynn Gustafson, MISD educational technology trainer. “We invited students who have used these devices and tools in their classroom setting.”

Gustafson said a similar student-taught class was offered at an educational technology conference earlier in the year. It received such rave reviews that the team decided to bring it back for the summer.

Mitchell maneuvers Sphero through an obstacle course.

DaMont Mitchell, an incoming seventh-grader, led a session about using robotics to enhance various lesson plans. The participants learned how to steer a spherical robot name Sphero.

“It’s also waterproof, so you can use it under water for exploration lessons,” Mitchell explained. “And it has a programming feature so that students can learn how to code the robot to move in a certain direction.”

At first, some of the instructors were surprised to see students leading the lesson, but they were impressed by the children’s intelligence.

“It was pretty cool that they are the ones that are knowledgeable and showing us how to do it,” said Lynette Paulino, teacher at J.L. Boren Elementary School. “It’s pretty cool that our future generations are teaching the teachers.”

The class organizers said the teachers were very responsive and appreciative for the students. The student instructors said that it was rewarding to give back.

“It feels good to be teaching the teachers because it feels like I’m the bigger person because teachers teach me, so I get to teach them,” said Mitchell.

The teachers now have the opportunity to write a grant to the MISD Education Foundation in hopes of getting the different devices that were demonstrated to them.

All-Male Middle School Classes Seeing Early Success

Editor's Note: Men of Tomorrow (MOT) launched in 2011 at Legacy High School, under the leadership of Ashley Brown, as an all-male English class with the focus of growing successful men inside and outside of the classroom setting. The story below depicts how staff at a middle school started its own chapter of MOT and expanded it to fit their needs.

When administration at a Mansfield ISD middle school noticed a gap in male and female performance on test scores, they implemented a unique learning experience in hopes of increasing performance.

New this school year, T.A. Howard Middle School launched a program called Men of Tomorrow. It’s an opportunity for male students to receive all of their core content instruction in an all-male setting.

Ninety-seven boys are currently enrolled. Seven male teachers, including one for special education, are designated to the program.

Staff say before they started, they created a committee and sent out a community survey, which included input from students, to determine how to improve the learning experience for males.

Seven male teachers are part of the Men of Tomorrow program.

“We did this to meet the specific learning needs,” said assistant principal Brad Schilder. “We identified three research-based best practices that coincide with their desires and how they wanted to learn.”

The key for engagement, he said, is the use of visual aids, movement within the classroom setting and a need for competition.

Although their core classes are all-male classes taught by male teachers, the students still have the opportunity to partake in other extracurricular activities.

“I like Men of Tomorrow because I feel like I get more work done, and the teachers understand me,” said Sebastian Haros, a seventh-grader. ”Having a male mentor is important.”

The program is in its first year, but results are already being made.

“We have seen a reduction in disciplinary issues. We have also seen an increase in academic achievement,” Schilder explained.

Schilder said it’s still too early to know where Men of Tomorrow will go in the future, but the program has the potential to expand pretty quickly.

For more information about T.A. Howard's Men of Tomorrow program, visit the school's website.

Learning Continues in the Summer for MISD Teachers

What do teachers do in the first week of their summer break? At Mansfield ISD, they get a jumpstart at perfecting their skills for the following school year.

MISD is holding its annual Summer Curriculum Conference June 6-8 at Legacy High School. Attendees have the opportunity to select from various sessions, such as English language learners (ELL), technology, advanced academics, special education and other content-specific courses, to further their professional development.

“The conference provides professional development that teaches strategies and ways to integrate technology into learning,” said Toni Clarkson, elementary math coordinator. “So next year, as they go back to class, they’ll feel like they have a lot more tools to use with students and make students more successful.”

Teachers took part in immersive learning games for the classroom.

Clarkson said the neat part about the conference is the collaborative nature of it.

“The educators are really able to share with each other, so it’s a place where all the district teachers can come together and share best practices,” she added.

Hosting the summer conference is no easy feat. Coordinators said the planning starts in January to offer relevant courses paired with the best instructors. Registration opens in April.

Teachers enjoy the experience. They said becoming a student and soaking up the knowledge is the best way to better themselves in the classroom.

“I’ve learned a lot about dyslexia and dysgraphia in my session,” said Christie Furtick, teacher at Erma Nash Elementary School. “I’ll use the tools I learned to help my students even more.”

Attendance to the conference is free for MISD employees. Out-of-district educators pay $25 to attend. For more information about the conference course offerings, view the catalog here.