CLC Staff Learn About the Science of Memory, How to Support Digital Literacy Learning and More

There are 130 free public adult education programs in Massachusetts. The Cambridge Community Learning Center (CLC) is one of the biggest adult education programs in the state. Just like our students, the teachers and advisors at the CLC are committed to learning, so we can be better teachers and advisors.

Every February, CLC staff come together to learn with each other and work toward this goal. Our annual professional development day is an opportunity for teachers and advisors to learn new skills. Students even have the day off from school, so teachers can take classes!

“I became a teacher because I love learning,” explains Lisa, a teacher in our English (ESOL) program. “I have been teaching for almost 20 years, but I am always changing how I teach. I never do it the exact same way twice. I am learning from my students, other teachers, and from science. CLC’s professional development days help me do this,” says Lisa.

Each year, the professional development days have different topics, depending on what’s happening in our communities. One session this year was about teaching digital literacy skills. Teachers from the ESOL program, high school equivalency program, the Bridge to College and the job training programs worked in small groups to create a digital literacy lesson for their classes. Many teachers also participated in a session about using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support their work.  

The most popular session during the CLC’s professional development day was about the science of learning. To fully learn information well, we need to forget and remember it many times. The session's leader was Sarah Lynn, who also wrote some of the textbooks the CLC uses.

“The science of learning and memory was a great reminder of how critical it is to create different activities with the same material over many days of class,” shared Ellen, a teacher of an evening class. "Teaching something once, like vocabulary, doesn't produce long term learning. The session gave me many ideas to help CLC students really learn and remember.” 

Continuing to learn is a core value at the CLC. Our teachers and advisors are excited to use their new skills to help support all of our learners in classes.

For more information about the CLC, visit www.cambridgema.gov/CLC.