English Department Welcomes Columbia University Expert to St. Margaret’s for Professional Development

St. Margaret’s English department spent a day last week immersed in a professional development workshop led by Sheridan Blau, a professor of practice at the Columbia University Teachers College and a well-known thought leader in English-education strategy.

Mr. Blau is author of the book The Literature Workshop, a groundbreaking text to teaching reading and writing that has influenced St. Margaret’s English department for nearly 10 years.

“As a teacher of teachers in English, he’s the best I’ve ever seen,” said St. Margaret’s English Department Chair Blake Reemtsma.

English teachers in Upper School and Middle School as well as lead reading and writing instructor Rebecca Tufo from the Lower School attended the workshop, which discussed strategies of teaching students to be better readers of text and writing about texts more intuitively and thoughtfully.

“One thing he emphasizes is reading and writing as social processes completed in conversations with others,” Mr. Reemtsma said. “We read as individuals, but we become better readers by re-reading and then comparing our interpretations with peers.”

St. Margaret’s English department has followed Mr. Blau’s philosophies dating back almost a decade, and teachers have attended presentations by Mr. Blau at conferences like the National Council of Teachers of English convention. Mr. Blau first came to St. Margaret’s for a professional-development opportunity back in 2010, sharing his thoughts on teaching literature to St. Margaret’s students.

Last week’s workshop also discussed the practice of writing about texts, and the St. Margaret’s teachers demonstrated by interpreting a poem and then sharing their writings with the group. A reflection of the practice highlighted the advantages of introducing a social aspect to reading and writing in the classroom.

“There’s real value in the writing when it’s for others and not just for the teacher,” Mr. Reemtsma said.

St. Margaret’s increased its budget for professional development 35 percent for the 2017-2018 school year to expand ongoing growth and learning opportunities, like this one, for the expertise of educators.