Continuing Education: Teaching The Teacher

As an educator, continuing your education is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your students. Here at Eva Carlston Academy, we provide several training opportunities for our teachers to learn and adapt to our ever-changing world. Our teachers go above and beyond for our students with new teaching techniques, therapeutic approaches to learning, and more. It’s vital to us that our teachers can handle a variety of situations, and by continuing their education they can do so. 

Why Continue Education

Teachers must know about curriculum and lesson material, additional resources, and technologies that can connect their students with a variety of information in order to address their learning needs in the best way possible. Additionally, when a teacher is able to lead successful discussions and demonstrate productive collaboration and communication, their students are not only able to understand the material better but build essential skills. For Eva Carlston specifically, it’s vital our teachers know how to work with parents to shape supportive experiences at school and home.

In order to be a successful educator in the classroom, understanding the subject matter with a certain flexibility can help their students make connections, discuss ideas, and reroute their students back onto the correct path when they are having difficulties. By continuing education, teachers are able to accomplish this and become more connected with their students. 

Continuing Education for Teachers at Eva Carlston

This fall, we began another rotation of Professional Development courses and training, with regularly scheduled collaboration meetings. Our small faculty of veteran teachers are focusing on three areas of development: clinical topics, faculty development, and personal content-related development. Additionally, every year we purchase courses for our teachers to learn from on their own, then they get together to discuss and learn from each other.

“The focus on the three areas of professional development are specific to the needs of Eva Carlston students, with training and content carefully selected for our faculty.”

– Kristin Hillman, Eva Carlston’s Academic Director

We believe that good educators are lifelong learners and are more successful in the classroom. Educators that take courses that promote continuing their professional education are typically better role models, innovative when it comes to improving learning outcomes, and can conquer challenges by interpreting their mistakes as new opportunities. The benefits to continuing education can be seen in the creative ways they solve problems and interact with their students. Here at Eva Carlston, we specifically tailor our staff’s learning by incorporating a mental health aspect. We have a clinician come to each meeting to teach us about a clinical topic (autism, self-harm, etc) that teachers have specifically asked for training on. We’ve also had our Special Education Director train us on strategies and ideas to meet accommodations.

Teachers make a difference in everything they do, and while they are educating the next generation it’s equally important that they take the time to also continue educating themselves as well. Eva Carlston Academy has seen that key piece to the puzzle and has incorporated it as an expectation for our staff that they always succeed.