Q&A WITH DR. JENNIFER WILLIS
REFLECTIONS ON TEACHING AND LEARNING What is your role at Cushing Academy?
What are examples of this work?
In addition to being an Academic Support teacher, my
One topic we’ve discussed recently is the design of
role as the Director of Teaching and Learning is to help
assessments: What learning are we assessing? How
ensure that all students learn successfully at Cushing
are we assessing it? And why? These questions can and
Academy. This entails thinking about everything from
should inform our instruction and classroom practices.
content, to teaching practices, to how we organize
Fundamentally, assessment provides an opportunity
our learning spaces. Cushing has been doing this for
for students to demonstrate what they have learned
decades because we welcome students with a wide
and also provides teachers with the opportunity to
range of backgrounds and learning profiles. Having
celebrate their achievements, provide feedback, and
someone in my position brings even more intentionality
guide them to the next step. The idea of an assessment
to this work. Our focus is on excellent teaching
frequently brings to mind a quiz or test, but our goal
practices that we know benefit everybody, including
is much larger than preparing students for a test.
neurodiverse students and those who arrive to Cushing
Throughout their lives students will need a variety of
from a diverse range of educational backgrounds.
skills and strategies for communicating their ideas to others, so evaluating student proficiency with multiple
Why distinguish specifically between teaching and learning? Highlighting each of these processes emphasizes that students and teachers are both active in the equation. Cushing encourages students to take ownership of their learning by bringing their own questions and energy to the classroom. Teachers play different roles—perhaps facilitator, coach, or guide—adjusting their approach based on the specific learning outcomes and student needs. This is how we create classrooms that really engage students and activate their authentic curiosity.
formats is as important as measuring their mastery of content. We also might assess learning through class discussions, presentations, labs, or writing an essay or news article. Discussing assessments and sharing ideas across classrooms deepens and sustains our impact. Similarly, we’ve had faculty-wide training around executive functioning skills. We already are a school where faculty take a scaffolded approach to larger projects and incorporate hands-on learning. Some students need more concentrated support in how to organize themselves and their work, but ultimately
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CUSHING TODAY
