Musser Elementary Reflects Objectives of eMBEDDED LEARNING™

Musser Elementary, located in Sharon School District, is currently in its third year of Reading First and has nearly finished its first course, Early Literacy: Guiding Principles and Language Development. A results-driven and enthusiastic school, professional development is key to the success of its Reading First program. According to Susan Elliott, a Reading First Technical Assistant for the Pennsylvania Department of Education and virtual facilitator for the Musser Elementary study group, the school has already begun to see significant changes in the way teachers are relating this professional development content to their classrooms.

"What I have found thus far, is they are refining their understanding… for this study group,…they are definitely reading the information and reading each other's responses on the discussion board and it is causing them to think about things. They are learning things about how they as a group think, gaining affirmations and relating it as it pertains to their students. Teachers have to be more reflective. In the busy teaching day, it is a very hard thing to find time for. Budgeting the time to do this course, with [the] high level of reflection that is required, teachers are having an opportunity to think more critically about what is happening in their classrooms," said Elliott.

At Musser Elementary, the teachers have also formed a definitive professional learning community inside their Reading First school. Going through the course has strengthened this bond and reflection within this study group of teachers and has encouraged dialogue online through the discussion boards. The learners address each other through the sync point discussions, as well as in the teacher lounges, creating a common language of learning that was not apparent prior to engaging in this professional development course.

They are also reflecting more on the unique nature of each individual student’s needs. Sue explained that while teachers still see that their students have disadvantages with phonics and socioeconomic status, they have shifted in how they can make changes in their teaching.

What has been most valuable about the progression of the course has been that the teachers are receiving affirmations of things that they are doing right. The conversations that they have been having online has been helpful to their success in the classroom, and with the focus of the questions, sync point or essay, the responses are more focused and has been valuable in helping them to pin-point their thinking. Having the specific focus in the sync point question helps the professional learning community with discussion.

Overall, they have taken what they already know, are building upon it, refining it and trying to make a clearer sense of what it means to their students’ achievement and success.