Highlights From Rutgers Alternate Route's 9th Annual Conference
On Saturday, March 4, 2017 more than 230 new teachers from 90 New Jersey districts and charter schools convened at the Rutgers Busch Campus Center for the ninth annual Alternate Route Teachers Conference. Teachers came together to participate in a series of inspiring, engaging and meaningful professional learning experiences with seasoned educators who enthusiastically lend their expertise annually in service of new teachers.
A team of Middletown Public School educators kicked off the conference with the highly interactive and informative keynote “Hashtags, Follows, & Tweets--Oh My! Helping Teachers Get A Handle on Twitter.” Co-Founders of the Twitter hashtag #NJED Marla Weinstein and Stephanie Hesslein were joined by #MTPSPride district leaders Dan Alston and John Kerrigan to deliver a hands-on introduction to professional learning and networking via Twitter. They also literally helped teachers without twitter accounts set up handles on the social media site.
Following the keynote, attendees chose between ten workshops, covering a wide range of topics from flipped classrooms and cultural competence to subject-focused sessions addressing Science and Math. All in all, attendees left with actionable strategies, teaching techniques, and digital toolkits that they could immediately introduce into the classroom. They also took with them a heightened sense of the vast network available to support them as new education professionals.
Here are highlights from the #AltRtEdConf2017 live Twitter feed:
Since 2003, the Rutgers Alternate Route Teacher Training Program has helped career changers, recent college graduates and substitute teachers launch careers in education through a fast-tracked teacher certification process. Operating in seven counties, Rutgers Alternate Route provides statewide access to a dynamic course of study that blends online, face-to-face, experiential and asynchronous independent learning. The program develops in aspiring and provisionally licensed K-12 teachers the competencies to help them thrive as education professionals. With Rutgers Alternate Route, becoming a New Jersey certified teacher is just the beginning.
