Newsletter
November 7, 2019

November is often a month where we reflect on what we are most thankful for. We have just celebrated our 16th birthday and could not have done it without support from all of the educators, districts, state organizations, partnerships and foundations. Thank you for reading and sharing our newsletters, events and blog posts.

For those of you who follow us on social media, you have seen our staff pumpkin decorating contest. The results are in and Lindsey's and Holli's pumpkins tied for first place. Let the bragging begin! Thank you to all who voted online for your favorite pumpkin.

Do you have educators in your district or colleagues who should have this information? Be sure to   and encourage them to  sign-up for our emails  to stay on top of events and opportunities.
NBCT Renewal Score Release
 

NBCT renewal scores were released on October 26. Congratulations to everyone who achieved renewal! We also want to include a special shout out to CSTP's Lindsey Stevens who also renewed this year. Washington is #NBCTstrong!
WEA's Last Jump Start of the Year
 
This is your last chance to register for WEA's last Jump Start Renewal of the year. Join them on November 16 in Bonney Lake, WA. Registration closes at 5:00 PM on Friday, November 8. Learn more and save your seat now.
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Upcoming Events & Opportunities
WEA's Jump Start Renewal
Date: November 16, 2019
Location: Bonney Lake, WA
Cost: $75
WERA/OSPI Annual Conference
Date: December 12-13, 2019
Location: SeaTac, WA
Cost: $185-$410
CSTP's Revisiting Teacher Leadership Tests of Change in Collaborative Teams
Date: January 14, 2020
Location: Spokane, WA
Cost: $80
Meet our 2019-2020 Stories from School Bloggersbloggers
 
CSTP is thrilled to introduce you to our new and returning Stories from School bloggers.  Read our bloggers bios at http://storiesfromschool.org/about/ and their stories at

Inessa Bazelyuk, Elementary English Language Specialist in Auburn
Trisha Bryant, Instructional Coach in Seattle Public Schools
Gretchen Cruden, NBCT in Orient
 
 

Swan Eaton, 6th Grade Teacher in Pasco
Mark Gardner, English Language Arts NBCT in Camas 
Jan Kragen, Gifted Education NBCT in North Kitsap
 

 

Mandy Manning, English Language NBCT in Spokane
Lynne Olmos, ELA, History and Drama NBCT in Mossyrock 
Leann Shumacher, 1st Grade Teacher in Issaquah 
 
Register Now for Revisiting Teacher Leadership Tests of Change in Collaborative TeamsTLEVENT
 
Effective collaboration starts with developing relationships and structures to support adult learning and growth. Participants will reflect on current collaborative practices and explore how to build momentum to sustain a safe, risk-taking, and learning focused culture, focused on student learning. Building on CSTP's Teacher Leadership Framework, participants will delve into this work from an authentic place for their team and needs. This session will be designed to continue learning and planning around work educators did during previous CSTP sessions on teacher lea dership and small tests of change.

Date:  Jan uary 14, 2020
Cost: $80
If you have questions registration contact Erin Marzwick at [email protected].
Washington Teacher Highlighted on 
EdSurge Video Series
 
Camas NBCT Shannon Cotton is featured as one of three teachers in a video series by EdSurge. Shannon discusses the ways in which she reflects on her practice through student feedback and engagement. Shannon was part of a group of teachers who worked with CSTP in the 2018-19 school year with a Learn Next microgrant to develop a  student perception survey toolkit. This toolkit provides teachers with resources to think about in the design of administering student perception surveys (which are available on eVAL to all WA teachers) and reflection about the results of those surveys as it pertains to teacher practice. 

This year CSTP is will be working with elementary teachers to design primary grade student perception surveys. If you are an elementary teacher interested in this work and want to be involved in this effort, please contact Holli Hanson at [email protected].  
Inclusionary Practices Project Update
 
students_classroom_kids.jpg
CSTP is the Inclusionary Practices Project Lead working with OSPI on the implementation of a multi-pronged approach focused on spreading and growing inclusionary practices in classrooms, schools and education systems that benefit all students over the next two 
ye ars. We're excited to be involved in this opportunity and will be providing updates on the work happening in our monthly newsletters. Here's things to look forward to in the near future:
  • Demonstration Sites: The University of Washington is developing a menu of schools that use inclusionary practices and will showcase their work and processes in how they got there with interested educators.
  • Pilot Districts: A select group of districts/schools have been invited to grow, expand and develop focused approaches for inclusionary practices in their systems.
  • State-Wide Professional Development Cadre: Organizations have been selected to offer professional development opportunities to educators across the state.
Stay tuned for more updates about future opportunities and tune into OSPI's Inclusionary Practices Project website, which is a great place to go for up-to-date information about the project.
CSTP Presents at the 2019 iNACOL Symposium
 
Recently CSTP presented at the 2019 iNACOL Symposium as part of a collaborative presentation with 5 other organizations. The workshop focused on identifying strong examples of innovative professional learning models and practices. CSTP's Student Perception Survey and Toolkit was a featured example. It was a great experience to share both the work of CSTP and to network with schools and organizations from across the country and globally. 
Collaborative Learning Communities in ESD 189
 
Year two of our partnership with Northwest ESD #189 is off to a great start with keeping the focus on collaborative practices between general and special education teachers. Cohort One of the Collaborate Learning Communities project has come back for the first session of their second year and were ready to make new goals based on what they learned and accomplished last year. Cohort Two has come together for the first time and hit the ground running. They are ready to start diving into the hard work, looking at data for inclusive practices across the state and in their own buildings, as well as getting to know one another and becoming a network.
Integrating Teacher Leadership into PLCs with 
NorthEast ESD 101
 
CSTP partnered with NorthEast ESD #101 last month to take our show on the road to Riverside School District. We worked with this district and a team from the Mead School District. Over a two-day session focused on integrating the Teacher Leadership Framework into their work with PLCs and small tests of change. Each building in the district had a team of administrators and teacher leaders who were excited to be part of the work and ready to reflect about their own growth and how to build that growth in others. The teams left the session feeling like they had ideas to share with their colleagues and plans to help the work in PLCs to be more meaningful and impact student learning and school culture.
Shoreline Leadership Development Academy Showcase

Shoreline Leadership Development Academy is in full swing as CSTP has the opportunity to work with the district to create this new opportunity for teacher leaders. After the August kick off and initial planning for initial leadership projects, the academy has convened sessions in September and August. In September they focused on learning around andragogy and what teacher leadership looks like when working with adult learners. In the last session in October, the academy dove back into their plans and building skills around communication and handling resistance in groups. The participants left the last meeting feeling thankful for one another and the groups work together. Their plans are inspiring and are gaining momentum around things like regular PLC structures, looking and acting on student data, and learning new curriculum and instructional strategies. We can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring for this group of amazing teacher leaders.
WERA Conference Registration Open - Last Chance for Early Bird Pricing

The Washington Educational Research Association (WERA) has opened up registration for the annual conference on Dec 12-13 in Seatac. The Theme of the conference is Taking Action to Reduce Opportunity Gaps: Putting Research into Practice and one of the conference keynote speakers is Dr. Beverly Tatum who published the book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria".

The Early Bird registration deadline for the conference is today, November 7, 2019! Register here to reserve your spot to engage in over 90 sessions. Please visit our website to see the preliminary conference program and a final list of professional development workshops .
Washington Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Finalists

Congratulations to Washington State's f ive  Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)  f inalists. The PAEMST is considered the highest honor bestowed on science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science teachers. These five teachers will go on to be considered for the National PAEMST which includes a trip to WA DC, $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation and citation signed by the President of the United States:
  • Carol McKay (NBCT), a pre-calculus and algebra teacher at Capital High School in Olympia School District
  • Christopher Piasecki (NBCT), an eighth-grade math and algebra teacher at Fairhaven Middle School in Bellingham Public Schools
  • Science
  • Andrea Ames, a biology and chemistry teacher at Meridian High School in Meridian School District
  • Dr. Erin Lark (NBCT), an environmental and life science teacher at Vancouver iTech Preparatory School in Vancouver Public Schools
  • Amy Peterson (NBCT), an eighth-grade science teacher at College Place Middle School in Edmonds School District
Good luck to everyone! We expect the National PAEMST to be announced in the spring. To learn more about the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching visit the OSPI website and    PAEMST website.
Stories From School Roundup