Matthew Whaley’s Andrea Alley Completes Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute

                                   
Andrea Alley, a gifted resource teacher/specialist at Matthew Whaley Elementary School, recently completed an intense, seven-day immersion into early American history at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute.  She was awarded a grant to participate in the Institute, along with 22 other elementary school teachers from around the country. Institute was created to encourage history education and make it engaging for students.  Now in its 22nd year, the Teacher Institute prepares teachers to help students meet national and state history standards through hands-on immersion experiences in colonial history.  Alley will use the lessons she learned to help her students prepare for the 4th grade Virginia Studies SOL test.

The Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute provides participants with interactive teaching techniques and skills to become mentor teachers who can assist their peers and other educators to develop active learning classrooms and make history come alive for their students. The focus of the Institute is exploring the meaning of United States citizenship. It provides an extensive background in colonial history from the first English settlement at Jamestown to the American Revolution.  Teachers participate in reenactments of 18th- century events and meet historians and interpreters portraying historical figures such as George Washington, as well as the common citizens who helped shape a new nation.  Participants share teaching strategies to improve instruction, raise literacy levels and enhance thinking skills. Participating teachers agree to conduct in-service training sessions following their experience.  Teachers also are required to develop lesson plans that will be shared with future Teacher Institute participants.

Alley says she already is preparing for walking field trips and hands-on lessons that will allow her students to understand what it was like to live in the colonial capital as the events of history unfolded along Duke of Gloucester Street.