Two weeks’ access (July 14 - 28) to slideshows of 8th Grade Student Work
Three Phone Conferences: July 22, July 24, and July 26, 2013 at 7:00pm EDT
Following the success of the Grades 4 – 7 online conferences and intensives, many teachers asked Eugene Schwartz to lead an online conference for Grade Eight. Eugene has led nearly twenty Grade Eight conferences at the Sunbridge Institute and Rudolf Steiner College, and has found every one of them to be unsatisfactory. Certainly, teachers embarking on an eighth grade class want handouts, resources, and lists of books that will tell them exactly what to teach about the Age of Revolutions and Organic Chemistry. But Eugene contends that what those teachers actually need has little to do with the subject matter: they need to deepen their understanding of the adolescent; they need to re-enliven their connection with the class parents; they need to steel themselves for the inevitable changes – usually negative – in their collegial relationships. And then there is all that fundraising . . . .
With this in mind, Eugene has designed a “non-conference” for eighth grade teachers that will take an unconventional approach to the issues of this climactic year:
In the last full week of July, Eugene will lead three phone conferences with teachers. Each of these sessions will be three hours long (for a total of nine hours). In each session, Eugene will present a 1.5 to 2 hour-long lecture, and for the next hour or more he will take questions and comments from participating teachers. From July 14 through July 28, teachers will have access to several online slideshows of eighth grade student work with commentary by Eugene. Anyone who has already participated in one of Eugene’s online conferences knows the high quality of this student work and the stimulating remarks that accompany it.
The Forum Registration Fee is $150.00.
Register for the Grade Eight Forum
Monday, July 22, 2013, at 7pm EDT (GMT-5)
Session One:
Aligned with the Octave – or Behind the Eight Ball?
The essential differences between the 7th and 8th grader. Where did all the parents go? The loneliness of the long-distance teacher: collegial strains and stresses. Do language specialists, math specialists, science specialists, social-inclusion specialists etc. make the class teacher a figurehead? Will my colleagues want me to return after eighth grade? Will I want to return?
Wednesday, July 24, 2013, at 7pm EDT (GMT-5)
Session Two:
Don’t Get Manic About Academic Panic
How did I not notice all the children still adding with their fingers? At what grade level are my students reading? (Are my students reading?) Will a heavier homework load help them make the quantum leap? How about more tests? Letter grades? Textbooks? Projects? Most of your parents and many of your colleagues will be in a state of panic over the 8th graders’ academic shortcomings. We will take a good, hard look at “The Basics,” and proffer advice on keeping your head on your shoulders (at least until you teach the French Revolution).
Friday, July 26, 2013, at 7pm EDT (GMT-5)
Session Three:
The Subjects (and their Objects)
Basing our discussion on the slideshows that you have been watching all week, we will look at the Grade Eight curriculum from an unabashedly anthroposophical point of view. If any subject does not strike a chord in the adolescent heart and soul, (no matter rich its content) it is a waste of time, and eighth graders will respond accordingly. How to bring life to our subjects – and how to bring life back into our teaching.
Register for the Grade Eight Forum
Read David Kennedy’s interview with Eugene Schwartz on WaldorfToday.com.
Eugene answers a number of incisive questions about the role of online Waldorf conferences and the future of Waldorf education.
Click here to view their conversation.
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