BARC Meeting 2/18/2016

I attended a BARC meeting. They key speaker was Dr. Kelly Hill, and I was able
to attend a breakout session by Jennifer Mueller on Cloze Reading. This was an
incredibly fun professional development opportunity, and I loved seeing different
teachers in the community come to this event after a school day.
Dr. Hill shared her favorite pieces in childrens literature from the past year. I
have some new titles that I am now looking to add to my collection! She was so
passionate about literature and gave examples of how we could use these books in our
classroom. As she explained the books, she did a small walkthrough of the books. I saw
how I could use that in my classroom as well. I loved being around teachers and fellow
education student, because we were all so excited about these new books!
We then broke into small groups. I chose to attend the small group on cloze
passages, because I did not know much about them. I really love this strategy, and I see
how it can be used in the classroom. Mrs. Mueller uses this with her second graders and
the responses were so deep and showed their thinking. I can see myself using this strategy
with students of all ages. Cloze passages can be incorporated in the patterns of practice,
and I believe that they are useful and will promote deeper thinking.
Overall, I learned that professional development can be fun! We ended this
meeting with a door prize. I really enjoyed this meeting, and I am excited for the next
meeting in the future! I loved being around teachers who wanted to grow in their
knowledge of childrens literature! I see how I can attend meetings like these when I am a
teacher to develop my practice. Professional development does not have to last for hours

and be boring. There are so many opportunities for learning that relate to what interests
me!