Camelot Teacher Kirsten Hurley: Helping Students Succeed
Camelot educators are always encouraged to engage in continuing education programs when possible.
Kirsten Hurley, in her first year at Philadelphia’s Camelot Academy transitional program, took full advantage of that opportunity, and her students are the beneficiaries.
Kirsten recently attended a three-day conference at the Teachers College of Columbia University in New York called “Finding High Achievement in the Midst of High Needs.” The event centered on different strategies to reach the kinds of high needs students Camelot Academy serves.
“I learned tons of awesome strategies to use for how to help kids who are far behind especially for reading and reading comprehension,” says Kirsten who teaches writing to 7th and 8th graders. She also handles intensive one on one reading training with students who are severely behind, perhaps even at a first grade level.
“One of the things they stressed was having culturally relevant reading materials. It has to be something that they are interested in, but it can be especially tough with our students who go through a lot of struggles in their daily lives to find reading materials related to that.”
Most students come to Camelot Academy already 3-4 years behind grade level in reading. Kirsten’s goal is to use these strategies to not only help her students improve their reading but to teach the students skills that they can take with them and apply when they are restored to their sending schools.
Kirsten, a Temple University grad, is the first teacher from Camelot Academy to attend the Columbia program, but she says the school’s principal, Alyssa Boyle, is constantly looking for similar opportunities for teachers to attend learning events and bring back information to share with colleagues.
