UTOPIA Summer Institute 2006
Attendees from the
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The training lab in the FAC fills with the sound of tapping keyboards as participants in the invitational UTOPIA Summer Institute 2006 prepare lesson plans in mathematics and language arts for the 2006-2007 academic year. These top educators, chosen from K-12 schools across Texas, focus their undivided attention on generating over 420 Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) aligned lesson plans which will be available on the UTOPIA Web site to help fellow teachers across the state to enhance their classroom instruction.
Ann Smalley, award-winning kindergarten teacher at Pillow Elementary School in Austin, Texas, compares her experience with that from the Summer Institute 2005, and has nothing but praise for the program and its administrators, Kimberly Christian and Lynn Jones Eaton. Smalley, recognized in 2003 as an Outstanding Teacher of Excellence by the University of Texas Exes Association and College of Education, is impressed that Christian and Eaton incorporated suggestions from the previous year to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the program.
“This year, we came in a lot better prepared. We submitted lesson plans early for approval and feedback, which makes our efforts more fruitful while we are here,” says Smalley. “Last year we had three days, but we didn’t have as many advance materials, and weren’t as well prepared as this year. We were able to explore Web sites and discover resources that were already out there so that we could maximize our time when we arrived this year.”
“One thing that hasn’t changed is the hospitality and consideration that Kim and Lynn have shown us,” Smalley says. “They bend over backward to make us as comfortable as possible so that we can do our work. By putting us first and treating us with such respect and consideration, they acknowledge that what we do as educators is vital for our communities and our state. I can’t emphasize enough how much this means to us as teachers and as individuals.”
Smalley relates that another important aspect is the opportunity to meet colleagues from around the state and share what teaching is like in their subject areas and geographical locations. With new technological upgrades this year, participants input their lesson plans directly to the Web, and teachers around the world can access TEKS-aligned lesson plans appropriate to their grade level through the UTOPIA Web site. Says Smalley, “This seemed like a chore at first, but now teachers can validate that they are performing the highest quality services to meet the educational needs of children in the state of Texas.”
As a delivery person walks by with a box of freshly baked cookies, tied with a purple ribbon, for the afternoon break, Smalley smiles. “See how well they treat us?” she says.