Clarke Central High School Science Instructional Coach Dr. Katie Green works with science department teachers in Room 346 on Oct. 9. The Clarke County School District initiative “Learning Wednesdays” was brought to CCHS at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year to give teachers an environment to learn and reflect on their teaching tactics. “The district is designing what our ‘Learning Wednesdays’ should be about, and it goes along with our district-focus on student engagement. Student engagement is the idea that the students are doing more of the cognitive work,” Green said. Photo by Jane Ripps
“Learning Wednesdays” were instituted at CCHS at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year to coach teachers on improving student engagement.
In an effort to increase cognitive engagement in the classroom, the Clarke County School District reinstated “Learning Wednesdays” at Clarke Central High School for the 2024-25 school year.
For six 60-minute sessions throughout the school year, department teachers will participate in lessons during their planning period aimed at improving students’ academic growth in the classroom.
“The (lessons are) created by district people and the (Instructional) Coaches are delivering it,” Associate Principal Dr. Summer Smith said. “It’s mostly focusing on student engagement, looking at (teachers’) lessons, reflecting on how the lesson went and making changes. It’s learning for teachers.”
“A lot of times, teachers are being asked to teach but they don’t really have very much time to sit back and reflect on what they’re doing”
— Dr. Katie Green ,
CCHS Science Instructional Coach
The concept of “Learning Wednesdays” encourages teachers to stray away from traditional lecture and note-based lessons. Instead, they focus on creating an active learning environment by studying ways to generate discussion, ask questions of students and plan activities.
“Academic engagement is when students are not only being compliant and doing the work, but when they’re actively thinking about the material, talking to other students in their class, giving their reasoning behind something and defending it with evidence and giving feedback on other students’ ideas,” Science Instructional Coach Dr. Katie Green said. “That’s what we’re trying to see more of in the classroom.”
According to Green, giving teachers a designated time to improve is a key part of generating progress in education tactics. If it proves beneficial for teachers and students alike, “Learning Wednesdays” have the potential to be a continued trend in CCSD.
“A lot of times, teachers are being asked to teach but they don’t really have very much time to sit back and reflect on what they’re doing and learn about things that they’ve been doing that work and things that they could try to help in various areas. That’s what ‘Learning Wednesday’ is designed for,” Green said.
