EES Faculty In Service - Where Comedy and Teaching come together

A team of experts answering questions one word at a time; creating a scenario in pairs; and untying a knot were some of the activities that the teachers tried out at the training on March 1. 

You might wonder what the teachers are doing on those days when we are at school and your children are not.  March 1st was a very busy day for the EES faculty starting with meetings across the district for Literacy for all classroom teachers.  The Music and Art teachers met with the VT Agency of Education to review the new music and art standards, Special Educators, Librarians and PE teachers also all had time to work together.  

EES Faculty then moved back to our Learning Center where we had a very informative session regarding Trauma Informed Instruction.  We recognized this as an important need at our school as more and more students are experiencing varying levels of trauma.  Recognizing how to better meet these student's needs is critical not only to the individuals, but to their peers as behaviors can impact the entire classroom. It was a sobering topic when considering the long term impact of trauma on the brains of children.  Many of the recommendations involved strategies that are good for all students, involving creative motor breaks, and creative ways to focus attention through playful means.  

We worked on those strategies at the new Vermont Comedy Club, where Nathan Hartswick and Natalie Miller taught games used in developing skills for Improv Comedy.  There was a lot of laughter as the faculty played games that support a trauma informed classroom, and can be easily incorporated as motor breaks, energizers and community builders in their classrooms. As an educator, it was easy to see how the activities would be valuable in increasing students' ability to focus, to listen, to work together with their peers and to relieve the stress that some students feel in their day at school.  

The value of an In Service training should be seen in the classroom.  Wednesday morning, classroom teachers were already incorporating some of what they learned in their morning meetings!  We couldn't ask for more!