In the 2010-2011 School Year and summer of 2011

HDS sent teachers and staff to the following conferences: MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning); Singapore Math Workshop sponsored by SDE (Staff Development for Teachers); Mental Health in the Schools sponsored by Harvard; workshop on Sales and Use Tax and Dealing with Difficult People sponsored by Fred Pryor; Differentiated Instruction sponsored by SDE; Daily 5 workshop on Literacy; bookclub presentation for teachers on Native American tales (Trickster Tales) sponsored by Ann Arbor Public Schools and the University of Michigan Musical Society; Brain-based Learning sponsored by Marygrove College Performance Learning Institute, and one-on-one classes for teachers offered by Apple.  In addition, Dr. Hansell and Dina Shtull led a workshop at Temple Beth Emeth on preparing children for the social challenges in elementary school.  All teachers participated in a series of workshop leading to certification in Non Violent Crisis Intervention with Katrina Steward from the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

In the 2009-2010 School Year

HDS sent teachers and staff to conferences on computer literacy, assisting struggling readers (using the Response to Intervention model); bully-proofing; creating fluent readers; Michigan kindergarten conference, Tal Am training institutes for teachers and Head of School (Avi-Chai Foundation sponsored); financial accounting for non-profits (upcoming this summer). Two teachers participated in the year-long Melton course.

In the 2008-2009 School Year

HDS sent teachers and staff to conferences on Math Education, Education and Technology, High Ability Learners, Relational Agression, a Schechter conference and an ISM conference for Heads of Small Schools.  A teacher participated in the year-long Melton course.Two of our staff, Andrea Hansell and Barbara Bergman, presented at the Jewish Educators’ Council community workshop.

In the 2007 - 2008 School Year

• With the support of the Covenant Foundation, the first/second grade Hebrew immersion and Judaics teacher attended a four-day OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) training session in Boston as a first step towards becoming certified in Oral Proficiency Testing. The workshop was taught by Vardit Ringwald, the national leader in training for Oral Language Proficiency in Hebrew. The conference was under the auspices of ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
• The first and second grade assistant teacher attended a workshop on spelling sponsored by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.
• The second grade general studies teacher serves as the school representative to our partner school in Nahalal, Israel and visited the school as part of a community mission.
• The third/fourth and fifth grade general studies teachers attended a seminar entitled “Go Fast, Go Far: 50 Nifty Strategies That Build Skills, Smarts & Success” sponsored by Creative Mathematics.
• The third/fourth and fifth grade general studies teachers also attended a seminar entitled “Taming the Differentiated Classroom” presented by Dr. Diane Heacox and sponsored by Staff Development for Teachers.
• The fifth grade Hebrew immersion and Judaics teacher attended a one week Israel advocacy teacher seminar in New York City sponsored by the David Project: Center for Jewish Leadership.
• Ilan Rosenberg, Hebrew Lecturer at the University of Michigan’s Department of Near Eastern Studies, has helped document specific Hebrew goals for each grade and develop a comprehensive “scope and sequence” for our language instruction
• The Head of School participated in a seminar on “Communication and Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations” sponsored by the Kellogg Action Lab of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The seminar was open to all Kellogg Foundation grantees.
• Two teachers attended a conference on “Day School and Early Childhood” sponsored by CAJE.
• A gan (kindergarten) co-teacher presented at Eastern Michigan University and various preschools on multiple intelligences and on integrating curriculum and parent involvement.

Ongoing Projects and Training

 
• All Hebrew teachers regularly attended Tal Am training workshops on teaching Hebrew immersion.
• The first/second grade Hebrew immersion and Judaics teacher leads workshops for Jewish educators through the NIRIM Professional Enrichment Program and for immersion preschool teachers sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
• The physical education instructor speaks at the Community Sharing for Healthy Caring Conference every year in Howell, Michigan on the topic of "Games Kids Play: Physical Education Preschool Style.” The conference is sponsored by the Livingston 4C Council. She also provides CPR training for the JCC and HDS staffs.

Past Professional Development Efforts (2004-2007)

Entire School

• HDS was a pilot school in the Melton Center for Jewish Education’s Standards and Benchmarks Project, a national effort to establish rigorous and effective standards for the study of TaNaKH (Hebrew Bible). HDS helped the Melton Center set educational goals and markers of attainment for other day schools and was one of six schools nationwide invited back for a second year as a pilot school.
• The school worked with a consultant from the Harvard Principals’ Center (part of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education) on a school improvement plan related to curriculum development.
• The entire staff participated in a workshop on Differentiated Instruction with consultant Kathleen Kryza from the Bureau of Education and Research.

Specific Staff Members

• The Head of School served on the Solomon Schechter Day School Association Board. She was a presenter at a PEJE national conference and attended a course at the Harvard Principals’ Center. She also attended a week long course on Differentiated Instruction at the University of Virginia taught by Carol Tomlinson, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education.
• A gan co-teacher founded the Teacher Research Group, a group of teachers that met monthly to discuss a research topic of choice on a matter of classroom instruction.
• The first grade general studies teacher and the Head of School attended a seminar for first grade teachers given by Staff Development for Educators.
• The first/second grade Hebrew immersion and Judaics teacher attended Ulpan Akiva in Israel.
• The second grade general studies teacher attended a course on the workings of the human brain and implications for classroom instruction.
• The fourth grade general studies teacher attended a seminar entitled “Making Your Fourth Grade the Best It Can Be” in Southfield, Michigan, conducted by the Bureau of Education and Research.
• Several upper elementary general studies teachers attended the Michigan State Literacy Conference and a workshop for Ann Arbor area teachers entitled “Making Connections with Literacy: A Language and Literacy Symposium.”