Technology Coaching and Co-Teaching
Teachers at Bluffton Middle School frequently utilize the expertise of the district technology coaches as a resource to increase their understanding of technology trends which helps to ensure students are 21st Century ready. Beaufort County School District employs 8 Educational Technology Coaches to work with faculty, staff, and students in training, planning, modeling and co-teaching technology integrated lessons and activities that support their standards and curriculum.
AdvancED STEM Summit - Kansas City, MO
A Bluffton Middle School teacher joined a district administrator for a two-day AdvancED learning opportunity at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. During this conference, they participated and learned about STEM integration in all subject areas, strategies to increase student engagement, how the use of space can be utilized to foster the 4Cs, and heard from empowering keynote speakers that challenged our way of thinking and teaching.
Click here to view the full agenda and sessions.
Gallery Walks
Every year, teachers participate in a gallery walk during one of our professional development days. This provides an opportunity for teachers to learn from each other and hear about some of the best practices going on throughout the school. Approximately ten teachers bring artifacts and information about an outstanding practice they are using in their classrooms, and the remaining staff breaks into small groups to hear short presentations from each teacher. This year, topics included interactive notebooks, analyzing informational text, and “Grapple Problems,” among others. After visiting each station, staff members took note of STEM standards aligned to the activity presented and had a chance to discuss how they could incorporate the activity into their own classroom in some way.