February 11th, 2021 by WCBC Radio
The Allegany County Public School System is one of just ten districts across the State of Maryland that will be participating in the Innovative Virtual Teaching Network Academy (IVTeN) hosted by the University of Maryland College Park’s, College of Education. A total of 21 ACPS educators have volunteered to take part in this professional learning opportunity.
The IVTeN Academy is a free, virtual learning academy for a select number of teachers in Maryland school systems that will offer educators access to ten learning seminars designed to increase their capacity to teach effectively in virtual and hybrid classrooms. These learning seminars will cover topics such as student engagement and active learning; classroom climate and culture; project-based learning; social and emotional learning; feedback as dialogue; assessment; and active listening and effective questioning.
According to Dr. George Brown, ACPS Supervisor of Professional Learning, "This is a wonderful opportunity for ACPS educators to network with their colleagues from throughout Maryland as they share experiences and learn more about virtual teaching and learning. This is just one more example of ACPS educators going above and beyond during this challenging time."
Teachers who complete the IVTeN Academy will receive a Certificate of Virtual Teaching by the University of Maryland College Park as well as professional learning credits. The following ACPS educators have volunteered to participate in the academy: Blake Geatz, Anne Stark (Allegany), Melanie Christner, Michelle Saville (Beall), Jennifer Lancianese (Bel Air), Shawn Twigg (Braddock), Jodie Sweeney (Cresaptown), Mark Malone (Fort Hill), Debra Yutzy (Frost), Jeannette Milburn (John Humbird), Jennifer Windle (Mt. Savage), Julie Robeson, Sarah Barnhart (Northeast), Kristin Hedrick (Parkside), Jackie Stevenson, Dr. Mary Ann Gilles (Washington), Brad Ditto, Zhouzhou He, Heather Felker, Jiabang Wu (West Side), and Dr. George Brown, ACPS administration.
In addition to the IVTeN Academy, two of these ACPS educators, Jeannette Milburn and Anne Stark, will serve as the two Teacher Leader Technoloy Fellows representing the Allegany County Public School System. Mrs. Milburn is a veteran elementary school teacher currently teaching in one of ACPS’s Active Learning Labs at John Humbird. She has assisted with the IT Help Desk since March and has created numerous instructional videos for her colleagues targeted at digital and virtual learning environments.
Mrs. Stark is a veteran high school teacher currently at Allegany High School. She has adapted extremely well to teaching in a virtual learning environment since March and has transformed her Environmental Science courses, including her labs, into virtual learning settings.
At the conclusion of the IVTeN Academy, teachers should see improvements in their ability to establish and maintain an orderly virtual classroom; their ability to consistently plan effective virtual and/or hybrid lessons and to engage their students; their confidence in their capacity to design and deliver virtual and/or hybrid lessons.
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