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The Continental Collaborative is a professional development series designed to create a space for conversation, collaboration, and peer-driven professional learning.

Please reach out to Marshall Carroll with any questions or suggestions for future topics, presenters, or sessions to further Teaching & Learning at Deerfield.

No RSVP needed. Continental breakfast snacks will be provided — you bring the collaboration!

Previous and Upcoming Sessions for the 2023-24 School Year

On Thursday, November 2, at 6:45 pm (after sitdown dinner) in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the Continental Collaborative will feature Ben Bakker and Julia McClellan presenting and leading a question and response session entitled AI: How Does It Work & What Does It Mean? At a level designed to be accessible to all, this collaborative will show how machine learning algorithms like ChatGPT work and contrast this with a picture of how the human brain works. They will then lead the group through some perspectives on important questions people are asking, such as: What does it mean to say we don’t know how these algorithms work? Is AI intelligent or likely to be soon?

Sessions from Previous School Years

On Tuesday, September 27^th, during Community Time (10:05-10:50) in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the Continental Collaborative will feature Thomas Bergeron and Michael Pfitzer leading a conversation on Differentiated Instruction in Music Classrooms.  This collaborative will feature strategies and demonstrations of technique to differentiate instruction within a singular classroom comprised of students who show significant variance in key markers, such as age and musical ability. This collaborative hopes to highlight practical pedagogical applications and principles that can transfer from music classrooms to other classrooms across campus.

The second Continental Collaborative of this year will be a conversation entitled The Playing Field and the Classroom: What Athletics and Academics Can Learn from Each Other.  This collaborative is proposed by Jan Flaska and will meet at two different times to allow for greater access and availability for interested participants.  On Thursday, November 10^th, after sit down dinner (6:50 – 7:30 pm), and on Friday, November 11^th, at the regular time (7:30 – 8:15 am) in the Teaching in Learning Room in Boyden Library.  This conversation will feature Angela McMahon and Mark Scandling on Thursday evening and Jeannette Boudway and Emma Hodge on Friday morning.  The session will explore the concept that classroom assessments are similar to competitions on the athletic field.  In each case, we want the students/athletes to be confident and relaxed in order to perform at their best. How do we nurture these dispositions in both students and athletes? How do coaches and teachers handle the days leading up to a competition or an assessment?  Despite different settings, what can we learn from each other?

On Friday, December 9th, from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the third Continental Collaborative will feature Caleb Corliss and Sheryl Koyama leading a conversation on Extra Help: How can we use time outside of class to improve learning?

On Friday, February 24, from 7:30 – 8:15 am in the Teaching and Learning Room, Boyden 106, Matthew Westman and Megan Washburn will lead a conversation about Making the Most of a 90-Minute Period. Matthew and Megan will discuss methods they often use to make the most of a long period, and are hopeful that others will contribute to the conversation by sharing and discussing their best practices. No preparation is necessary; just come ready to share your ideas and learn from your colleagues!

The first Continental Collaborative will convene on Friday, October 1^st from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106.  Inspired by Andy Stallings’ question during opening faculty meeting, this first session will focus on Student Feedback. To start this collaborative, Joe Lyons will share a few methods he uses to provide student feedback. We hope others will also want to share some of their favorite practices to spark discussion and conversation.

On Friday, October 8^th from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the second Continental Collaborative will feature members of the English Department who will lead a conversation about Summer Reading.  The conversation will discuss goals of the summer reading program, how that supports and drives the curriculum, how selections are made, etc.

On Friday, November 5^th from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the Continental Collaborative will feature Sam Leitermann-Long leading a conversation about Supportive Practices for Optimizing Cognitive Load.  This will summarize and build upon aspects of the faculty summer reading book, Neuroteach, and discuss practices one can incorporate into their daily classroom routine.

The closing Continental Collaborative for the Fall Term will be on Friday, November 12^th and feature John Leistler leading a conversation about What Makes a Star Teacher?  This conversation will synthesize and draw upon the book, What Makes a Star Teacher: 7 Dispositions That Support Student Learning.  No need to read the book ahead of time – just come ready to talk!

On Friday, December 10^th, from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the Continental Collaborative will feature Mercedes Taylor leading a conversation on Art Integration in the Classroom.  This conversation might include topics such as using art in reflective practices to generate conversation, using the gallery as a part of the curriculum, and the integration of the iLab in alternative forms of assessment.

On Friday, January 21^st, from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the Continental Collaborative will feature Abe Wehmiller, Steven Lee, and Kelsey Naughton leading Fostering Relationships and Collecting Information on DEI.  This experiential collaborative will explore The Big Dig research project and actively demonstrate the use of a mixed-methods technique to foster relationships and collect information on DEI at Deerfield.

On Friday, February 11^th, from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the Continental Collaborative will feature Darnel Barnes and Hardy Gieske leading a conversation on Math 400: Assessment for Learning.  This conversation will explore the assessment and grading strategies currently implemented in Math 400. Specifically, it will highlight the daily quizzes that assess learning objectives in an interleaved, spaced, and predictable routine, and how new quiz scores account for mastery by replacing scores from previous attempts.

On Friday, February 18^th, from 7:30 am to 8:15 am in the Teaching & Learning Room, Boyden 106, the Continental Collaborative will feature Eve La Puma, Rowena Schenck, Leah Moore & Julia McClellan leading a conversation on Cultivating Reflective Practice. This collaborative will discuss building a practice oriented around observation, feedback, and reflection. More specifically, how this practice can be applied in our work as practitioners, as well as how to foster the development of students’ own reflective practice.