Professional Learning at Lang

At Lang, our instructional vision is centered on designing inclusive, strengths-based learning environments that honor neurodiversity and the unique profiles of our twice-exceptional (2e) learners. Our goal is to ensure that every student feels a strong sense of belonging while being meaningfully engaged, appropriately challenged, and supported in their growth.

We continuously ask ourselves important questions as a school community:

• How do we design instruction and support systems that recognize and leverage the strengths of neurodivergent learners?

• How do we build a shared understanding of neurodiversity and inclusive practices across all roles and divisions?

• How do our instructional practices reflect our values by incorporating student voice, differentiation, and high expectations?

These questions guide our teaching, our professional learning, and the systems we use to support students academically, socially, and emotionally. They are also directly connected to the work students are doing right now: reflecting on their learning, demonstrating growth, and preparing to share their progress through portfolios and reports.

Last Monday, teachers and staff participated in differentiated professional learning experiences based on their roles and needs, including:

Developing Neurodiversity Affirming Practices: During this professional learning experience, staff deepened their collective understanding of neurodiversity-affirming practices, with a specific focus on students with Autism and ADHD (AuDHD profiles). Together, we explored how student data, observations, and lived experiences can be used to design supports that honor students’ identities, leverage their strengths, and address areas that remain works in progress. This work supported teachers and specialists in identifying practical, classroom-ready strategies and building a shared understanding of how we can continue to support our diverse learners in thoughtful, consistent, and meaningful ways across the school. 

Virtual Reality Session: A group of content and therapy team members learned how to use our new Virtual Reality headsets to enhance classroom and therapy-based learning experiences. Over the course of this semester, staff will begin incorporating this technology to engage students in new and immersive ways—allowing students to explore environments like the pyramids in Egypt or examine the human heart in 3D. How fun!

Writing Revolution: Another group of teachers engaged in deeper training on our new writing program, The Writing Revolution, which will become our schoolwide approach to writing instruction. This session focused on supporting student writing across all content areas, with particular attention to sentence-level work and note-taking strategies. The training provided classroom-ready protocols for teachers in grades 3–5 and grades 6–12, while also supporting content-area teachers in strengthening writing instruction and feedback.

Therapeutic Support: Members of our Therapy Team participated in detailed data analysis focused on current students and our systems of support. This work helps us evaluate effectiveness, refine interventions, and ensure alignment with Lang’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model as student needs evolve.

Assessment and Communication: Staff also received coaching on writing clear, meaningful, and detailed student progress reports that articulate students’ strengths, areas for growth, and the specific supports provided at Lang. This work is essential for transparent communication with families and for meeting the needs of NYCDOE hearings.  It is critical that everyone is able to understand a student’s journey and the support provided at Lang.

Professional growth at Lang is ongoing and we dedicate significant resources to support our staff’s ability to meet the diverse needs of our learners.

This work is closely supported by our Assistant Head of School and Directors, throughout the year. I thought it was important to share this snapshot of our professional learning to give you a clearer picture of the intentional training and reflection that supports the excellent work happening in classrooms every day.

Warmly,

Mark Otto