In-school teacher training on November 22, 28, and 29, 2016

It was a stroke of luck right from the start that we were able to secure Annemarie von der Groeben as a speaker for the first morning of our in-school professional development session. The former Director of Instruction at the Laborschule Bielefeld—who is also a co-founder of the “Blick über den Zaun” school network and remains an “education expert” active in a wide range of contexts to this day, continues to pursue her “life’s work”—ensuring successful academic learning for all children—with undiminished vigor, despite her retirement. As a result, the faculty was able to receive and incorporate valuable insights, and the response to and acceptance of the presentation were exceptionally high. According to a survey conducted in June 2015, the topic “Open-Classroom Teaching and Interest-Based Teaching” On the agenda: How can we design tasks to offer intelligent choices while keeping key skills to be acquired in mind? How can we reconcile the academic standards of high school with the diverse desire for self-determination among children and adolescents? How can we help children recognize their strengths and avoid discouraging them? These were the kinds of questions addressed in a mix of lectures and short workshop sessions.

As part of the journey toward becoming a “Health-Promoting School,” there were also two phases this year in the area of “Physical Activity in the Classroom”. In a presentation on Tuesday, November 22, Martin Dürr shared a variety of ideas and routines that have long been part of daily life at the Gymnasium am Mosbacher Berg in Wiesbaden. It was wonderful to see that, with the indoor recess (grades 5–8) during the cold season, we are already well on our way in this regard.