Teacher Training

Teacher Training, by Kristen Okabayshi, Principal

Hope Lutheran School is part of a larger Lutheran district, including about 35 schools in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho. The district office in Portland, Oregon, sets up teacher professional development opportunities each year for all schools at a conference, typically located in beautiful Seaside, Oregon. The topics and workshops change from year to year based on school interest and decisions of the planning committee.

This year’s conference was wonderful as usual. Teachers had the choice of attending various workshops on a variety of topics including reflective teaching practices, “flipping” classrooms, proficiency-based learning, and building classroom community, among many other workshops. Hope teachers had time to collaborate together and build community within our teaching staff during the drives to and from Seaside and the limited free time during the conference. And the sunny weather this year was an added bonus!

We are not a school that is content to teach “as we’ve always taught” and so it’s really important for us to continue to challenge ourselves as educators to do our best, so we can then help our students in turn do their best!