Testimonials - Cohort 3

Dear Corey and Danielle,I want to say thank you to you both for a great summer program. I have attended three of these two week sessions at PRISM (one before this grant, the first year of the grant and this year). All have been valuable and a boon to my development as teacher, but this was a special year. You both worked together so well and obviously put a great deal of thoughtful preparation into your presentations to us. You were great models to us as teachers in your abilities to set up a great classroom culture, really listen to us as students and provide a multitude of opportunities to grow. I enjoyed too many activities to list and am excited to work more with the technology of Geometer Sketchpad and Tinkerplots.
I truly thank you! Best regards, - Margaret Tewey, 8th Grade Math,Teaneck
 

“This year’s CUSP summer institute continues to enhance PRISM’s high-quality teacher professional development.” says Colin Mably, External Evaluator for the program. Provisional survey responses coupled with observation data show very positive results in terms of teachers’ enthusiasm and the institutes' relevance to teaching needs and classroom implementation. Mably cites one teacher response, “I have gained a great deal of content knowledge and more importantly effective means of teaching students.” as being very typical of most. “We’ll have a more complete picture once we’ve analyzed these data.” says Mably and adds, “Preliminary signs suggest high satisfaction with the program.”

Some of the responses to the question:

In what ways have your reasons for attending the CUSP Summer Institute been addressed?

  • I have gained a great deal of content knowledge and more importantly effective means of teaching students.
  • I learned a great deal and am bringing back strategies and activities that I plan on using this year in my classroom.
  • The hands on activities and field trips have been beneficial in making me more confident in teaching and given me so many ideas to use with my students.
  • I'm more excited about teaching science, now that I have new activities that are realistic.
  • I gained a great deal of information and I also was exposed to many great lessons and ideas to make science more experiential both in and out of the classroom.
  • I will be able to deliver the teaching material with much more flavor and interest for the students.
  • I have a renewed interest, greater passion, and many new ideas that I cannot wait to implement into my science lessons.
  • My skills have improved greatly and I can't wait to work with the professors from PRISM.
  • Not only did a learn a tremendous amount about earth science, I also have many great lessons and units from the resources presented.
  • I enjoy the networking and meeting new people who enrich my life and ultimately my students' lives. Each CUSP institute and workshop I take, I glean more and more knowledge increasing my confidence as a science and math teacher.
  • I now have a passion for earth science I never had before and several hands-on experiments i can now use with my class.
  • I feel more confident teaching science. I have a better understanding of what all grade level expectations are and have new ideas to teach science topics.
  • I have a lot of ideas for the school year now.