Anita Archer speaks to a group of teachers on the transition to the core state standards Thursday at McNeese State University. (Michelle Higginbtoham / American Press)
Teachers cram for Common Core push
Last Modified: Friday, July 27, 2012 6:16 PM
By Ashley Withers / American Press
Teaching and Learning Conference attendees have a new mantra to take back to the classroom this fall: “Keep the kids in the text, not out of the text.”
Anita Archer, an educational consultant and the event’s keynote speaker, led a seminar on responding to the demands of the Common Core State Standards as a part of the sixth annual teaching and learning conference for preK-to-12 educators at McNeese State University.
The conference, sponsored by the Burton College of Education, kicked off Thursday morning in Farrar Hall.
Archer’s seminar discussed the Common Core’s push for more informational texts in the classrooms instead of narrative works.
She encouraged teachers to teach background information before reading and emphasized the importance of vocabulary in understanding meaning.
“We want to front-load information, but not so much that they don’t have to read it,” Archer said.
“Literacy, Numeracy and Technology” is the theme of this year’s conference.
“It covers the three most important areas of school — literacy, mathematics and technology. These are critical,” said Gwendolyn Duhon, a college of education professor.
“All of our teachers need to be practiced in these areas, and this gives them a chance to learn new skills.”
Teachers attended sessions on efficient teaching techniques and increasing student engagement and had the chance to work with classroom technologies like Promethean boards.
Duhon said about 150 teachers from all over Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi attended the conference.
“We’re really pleased with turnout. We had a lot of participation from our sister universities,” she said. “We’re really excited that we met our attendance from last year.”
The conference continues today.
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