As MSON’s Dean of Instruction, Ben Taylor of Hopkins School oversees pedagogy in the program—from teacher training to course assessment to general professional development. Hear what he has to say about teachers, tech tools, and Einstein.
Tell me something special you saw while observing a first-year MSON teacher:
The coolest thing I saw was how much energy there seems to be across the board. Teachers are welcoming their students into their classrooms, learning about their lives, and investing in creating community. These practices are essential when a digital curtain lies between constituents, and reminds us to do these things with our brick and mortar classes too.
What conferences have you attended this fall?
I attended OESIS’s Student Wellness conference, where I spoke about Digital Citizenship and Social Media education programming. My favorite presentation was from Dr. Anjali Bhagra speaking on teacher/doctor burnout and mindfulness practices to help mitigate that growing problem. After that, I went to the conference of the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS) to present on MSON’s work in both course sharing and teacher professional development (per the invitation of Pat Mulloy, Academic Liaison at Trinity Prep). It was so impressive how vibrant the independent school community is in Florida. Highlights included a great keynote by Richard Weissbourd of Making Caring Common, astronaut Mike McCully, and a great group discussion about on-boarding new administrators.
What’s your favorite latest, greatest tech tool for MSON teachers?
I’ve been pretty excited about Miro, a shared whiteboard for live collaboration across all platforms, but really what I see as our next step is a doubling down on Canvas skills, training, and resources. It’s an incredible tool kit we want to use better.
What’s your “day job”?
Oh…um. Many? I am the Physics Cohort Instructor for our authentic research program in science at Hopkins school. We’re doing real, hands on physics research in a home built lab on campus. I also teach other physics classes, but spend the bulk of my time as Director of Academic Technology where I am working on stage 2 of our LMS/SIS transition, as well as social media education planning.
What does it look like when you’ve succeeded in your MSON role?
To me that would be seeing juniors re-enrolling as seniors, and new teachers continuing with their classes for years to come. When a teacher asks to meet more than once I know I’m functioning as a resource.
Tell me something I don’t know about Einstein.
Did you know that he experimentally measured Avagadro’s number? That he hated socks? That he summered in Old Lyme, CT and sailed on the CT river?