April 20, 2015

 
Professional Learning News

The Senate education committee passed the EVERY CHILD ACHIEVES ACT, legislation to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which is currently known as No Child Left Behind. How does the Every Child Achieves Act differ from NCLB? What are its prospects for becoming law? Find out by listening to Federal Flash. Federal Flash is the Alliance for Excellent Education's five-minute (or less!) video series on important developments in education policy in Washington, DC.

 

COVERAGE of EDUCATION LEADERSHIP 

Three examples of media exposure that show increasing attention to education leadership are shared below:

An op-ed by Wallace Foundation President Will Miller titled  Want Reform? Principals Matter, Too appeared in The New York Times.

 

A Washington Post story titled  School systems develop principal 'pipelines' to nurture talent explores how Prince George's County is building a pipeline for principals as part of a Wallace initiative.

 

From February's Education Week supplement: Shaping Strong School Leadership includes detailed accounts of the role of assistant principals and principal supervisors, and other topics including recruiting teachers to become principals.


 Designing and Scaling Teacher Professional Learning with the Teacher Practice Networks (TPN) How might we create a safe space for teachers' voices to be heard in professional learning? How can we build collaborative teacher-to-teacher professional learning networks? How do we support ongoing professional learning that embraces the unknown? These questions planted the seeds for discussion in a two-day, face-to-face learning event last month in Seattle.


 
THE SCHOOL NEXT DOOR:  If you are  looking for inspiration from a school that's getting it right, take a look at San Jose-based Katherine Smith Elementary. This school is in its  third year of a radical reinvention  from a traditional test-driven environment into a 21st century school. "Students are at the center with a curriculum that engages, tech tools that enact, and the strong school culture that empowers," writes the school's principal, Aaron Brengard.
 
Why Do Students Pick Teacher A or Teacher B? Who Would You Pick? What if we asked our students about the type of work they would prefer to do while in class? It may reveal a lot about what choices they would make.
 

Get tips to CREATE a PERSONALIZED LEARNING EXPERIENCE from Michael Horn, EdSurge columnist and Exec Director of Education at the Christensen Institute (for example: start with an open slate and sharp questions), or check out  five suggestions and tools to get you started, from EDUCAUSE's Andy Calkins and Kristen Vogt. And, remember, Michael Horn, is also one of the keynote speakers for Learning Forward's annual conference that will be held at the Gaylord Convention Center, National Harbor, MD from December 5-9, 2015.  

 

ARE YOU READY... to go blended? Measure yourself against this 10-point checklist created by four educators  

 

In simple terms, blended learning is a strategy to combine technology-based instruction with traditional, teacher-to-student lessons. Blended Learning: Breaking Down Barriers examines how districts implementing this strategy are working to clear the inevitable hurdles.  

 

 

Educators have begun to use protocols to facilitate professional development in online spaces -- partly because people need to connect from different places, but also to take advantage of new environments for learning.  This article appears in the recent edition of   JSD.    Read more. 
 

 

 
Learning Opportunities

UPCOMING EVENTS:

 

Learning Forward Virginia proudly presents:  Designing Inquiring Minds

 

Join your colleagues from across Virginia on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at the Chesterfield County Public Schools Thomas Fulghum Conference Center for Designing Inquiring Minds. This five-hour workshop is led by Ron Nash and Jenny Sue Flannagan, well-known educators across Virginia.

 

Active engagement is a necessary component in the learning process. Working collaboratively, students can conduct the kind of authentic research that begins with observation and wonder. Jenny Sue Flannagan and Ron Nash will model activities that harness the power of your students' inquiring minds. 

 

Session participants will leave with over a dozen specific, engaging strategies that will benefit students across grade levels and in specific content areas. Along with simple science experiments, language arts, social studies, and math activities will be shared. These strategies and activities are supported by research from John Hattie and other educators. The material is geared to ALL K-8 educators. 

 

This will be a highly interactive session that will have you on your feet and working in collaboration with dozens of others throughout the day. You will stand, move, pair, share, laugh, and learn in this fast-paced and fun five hours. Lace up your sneakers, grab a pen, and join Jenny Sue and Ron for a down-to-earth and highly practical day of learning.  Register here. For more information visit Learning Forward Virginia's web site.

 

 

Learning Forward has a great lineup of webinars to feed your growth this spring!

Join authors and leaders in the field for webinars on key topics that will prepare you to successfully implement professional learning that increases teaching effectiveness and student achievement. With topics for teacher leaders, school leaders, and system leaders, our fall webinars series will help you get results with powerful professional learning.

 

Apr. 30 - Jan Chappuis, "Assessment for Learning"
May 14 - Alan Blankstein & Pedro Nogurera, "Courageous Leadership"
May 21 - Gayle Gregory, "Data Driven Differentiation"

Webinars are free for Learning Forward  members. Nonmembers may attend one webinar for $20, or three for $50. Members also get access to our complete archive of webinars, and can participate in facilitated online discussions and other activities following each webinar. 

Early Bird Special

Save $75 on a 3-, 4-, or 5-day registration when you register for the 2015 Annual Learning Forwqrd Conference by May 31. Download the conference brochure and early bird form.

 

Volunteer for Learning Forward's Annual Conference to be held Dec 5-9, 2015, at the Gaylord Conference and Convention Center, National Harbor, MD, just outside Washington, D.C. Click here to volunteer.  

  

 

Differentiating Instruction with Technology: A Framework for Success 

A free  webinar from edweb.net  Thursday, Apr. 23 at 4 p.m .  ET 

Register here.

 

Register for a  free  webinar on  Assessing School Climate  from the mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory , as they kick off the new Educator Effectiveness Webinar Series. During this webinar, participants will:
  • Revisit what school climate is and why it is important.
  • Explore tools you can use to assess school climate in your school or district.   
  • Explore characteristics of effective school climate improvement processes.
  • Discuss next steps to improve school climate.

Webinar occurs May 7, 2015 from 3-5 pm ET. Learn more and register here.


 
 

 

 

Should you have questions or need additional information, please contact me or any member of our LFVA Board. Contact information is also listed on the LFVA web site. (www.learningforwardvirginia.org)

 

 

Sincerely,
Judy Newhouse
Executive Director
Learning Forward Virginia

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