Saturday, August 2, 2014

Abracadabra....Kagan Magic!

Last week I had the privilege of attending a week-long Kagan Cooperating Learning Institute.  I say it was a privilege because it was an all expense paid opportunity for myself and 9 colleagues from our local school district. I had heard about the program for years, and had tucked it away on my mental wish list.  When the opportunity came, I jumped right on it!

The quality of the training was top-notch...probably some of the best that I have experienced in my teaching career.  Our facilitator was just amazing.  She was a former teacher, administrator, and college-level instructor.  She was honest, funny, energetic, and extremely knowledgeable.  She kept us moving all week long and inspired us connect with each other in positive and meaningful ways, all the while modeling Kagan ideals, strategies and structures.

It was definitely an eye-opening game-changer for my group and totally turned our ideas of cooperative learning upside down by providing research based management tools and strategies that can be easily implemented in our classrooms, regardless of grade-level or content area.

Best of all it just "made sense."  And in an era of constant change in assessments, standards, curriculum, and fly-by-night educational trends that are "guaranteed" to work, it was refreshing and comforting to experience something that just might be the magic that I'm looking for in my classroom.

I've got my magic Kagan wand polished and ready to go on August 18 and I can't wait!

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