Not many students attended classes on Friday, March 27, but the Ras Beirut campus was buzzing with activity as secondary and middle school teachers from both Ras Beirut and Ain Aar gathered to attend a day of In-Service workshops organized by the ERC. As well as a follow-up session for APP and workshop sessions for SPEC, the day was divided into three working sessions and several workshops took place in each session. In Sessions I and II, teachers attended one of 30 different department orientated workshops. They delved into several topics of interest including evaluation of experiments and lab skills in the sciences, creating blogs in almost every subject area, LTA and DELF in the languages, applying the techniques of TICE and exploring simulation in math, to name a few. There were also workshop sessions for the music, IT and PE instructors as well as for the librarians. A comment from one participant summed up the general opinion of teachers as they worked in their individual departments. She stated, “Both sessions 1 and 2 were fruitful. They allowed participants to share experiences and give suggestions on how to improve practices.”
But the day wasn’t all work; teachers managed to get in a little play when they attended workshops during the third session of the day. These were designed to help everyone relax and ‘let their hair down’. Teachers chose from workshop offerings that included creative writing, drama, dancing, learning to relax, creative thinking, stretching, music appreciation, nutrition and even the Dabké – something fun for everyone. Teachers both enjoyed and highly appreciated this part of the day. “I know that at this point in the year there are lots of concerns about finishing the curriculum, grades, tests, etc. so offering something unrelated to a specific goal for the third session is wonderful," commented one teacher. “Another teacher summed up the feelings of almost everyone attending the day’s workshops. “The first two sessions were beneficial,…but the last session was a great way to begin the weekend!”
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