Florence School District 3 holds summer professional development

LAKE CITY — Florence School District 3 employees gave up a few days of their vacation to attend the district’s annual summer professional development, where they learn new teaching methods they can use in the fall.

The sessions, held from July 12 to 14 at Lake City High School, covered topics including Earth science, computer technology, mentor training and mathematics.

Barbara Woodbury, the district’s senior director of curriculum and instruction, said administrators and teachers worked during the school year to identify areas that need strengthening and planned the summer professional development accordingly.

Registration for the sessions reached 194 people, which included some community members and several employees of The Carolina Academy, Woodbury said.

Several district employees served as presenters during sessions, which helps the district save money, she said. Some of those employees included Jean Gregg, master teacher for science at Ronald E. McNair Middle School; Debbie Whittington, master teacher for science at J. Paul Truluck Middle School; and Alvin Perhealth, an Olanta Elementary School teacher.

Dr. Patricia Chandler, a former Florence School District 3 senior director of curriculum and instruction, led a session based on the book “Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College,” by Doug Lemov.

“Its a wonderful new book,” said Chandler, who earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Clemson University and is a former assistant professor in the School of Education at The Citadel.

Chandler said the book explains how to manage classrooms smoothly and set climates that are conducive for learning. She said Lemov studied effective teachers for 10 years and used his collection of data to write his book.

“I feel strongly that this book has possibilities,” Chandler said, explaining that the schools Lemov studied are similar to those in Florence School District 3.

In another session, Myrna Mitchell of California led teachers in AIMS, which stands for activities integrating math and science. Mitchell said the teachers were excited to learn new concepts and how to implement those concepts into their classrooms.

Debra Kroger, a math teacher at Ronald E. McNair Middle School and J. Paul Truluck Middle School, attended Mitchell’s session. She said students like to have items in their hands when they are solving math and science problems because that helps them understand better and master the concept faster.

Kevin Merritt, a consultant from the Greenville School District, conducted an intermediate Microsoft Excel session. He said teachers asked great questions during the sessions. The best part, he said, is being able to help teachers solve problems and give them effective strategies to aid them in their classrooms.

Jeremy Gerken, a social studies teacher at J. Paul Truluck Middle School, said he found Merritt’s sessions to be informative and that although he already knew much of the information, he also needed to refresh his knowledge in several areas.

Franklin Foster, principal of J.C. Lynch Elementary School, said he learned many new concepts to help his teachers in the fall. Through the sessions, he learned about many websites that contain a great deal of information for teachers, administrators and students, he said.