Leadership: Managing The Transition

Alan November, International Leader in Education Technology

Strand: Innovative Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: All

This workshop outlines essential skills for leadership to begin the process of aligning our schools to prepare students for the realities of the global economy while maintaining a commitment to standards.

• Establishing new basic skills of Information and Communication Literacy
• Staff Development Planning
• Aligning technology to critical curriculum areas
• Shifting from technology planning to information and communication planning
• Managing fear and hope
• Building collegiality
• Improving communications within the community

Building A Responsive Classroom Community Through Morning Meetings And Closing Circles

Michelle Glover and Kelly Retzlaff, First grade teachers at the American International School of Zagreb

Strand: Social and Emotional Learning, Grade level: K-2, Subject area: Cross Curricular

Kelly and Michelle will give a power point presentation of Grade 1 students participating in Morning Meetings and Closing Circles. It will also include an iMovie and still photographs. The purpose, structure and components of a morning meeting and closing circle will be explored. Workshop participants will be invited to take part in a morning meeting and sing and recite classroom routines, expectations and rules. Participants will also participate in closing circle activities.

Demonstrate The Integration Of Google Apps For Education On The iPad

Suzy Becker, Educational Technology Coordinator at the American International School of Zagreb

Strand: Digital Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: multi curricular

Just because Google and Apple have divorced, doesn't mean we, the end users, can't have a loving relationship with both of them on our iPads. With Apple's recent upgrade to iOS6, some of your Google favorites may have gone away, but don't be discouraged. This workshop covers the integration of the various tools in the Google Apps family with iPad usage. Google Drive, forms, editing offline, and YouTube are just a few of the areas that will be covered.

Transforming Schools Through Peer Observation” (2 hours Institute)

Fran Prolman, Fran Prolman is an independent consultant in Great Falls, VA, a Senior Consultant with Research for Better Teaching, and Vice President for Training for the Center for Arts in Basic Curriculum.

Strand: Innovative Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: All

This practical, interactive and immediately applicable workshop will highlight the following:

• Various models of peer observation
• The key attitudes and skill sets for effective peer observation,
• Skills for designing coaching questions and framing and facilitating non- judgmental conversations based upon data.

Case studies, video analysis, role playing, and reflective practice will be highlighted.

Using the iPad to Share, Edit and Create Classroom Resources

By Oscar Stringer Apple Distinguished Educator

Strand: Innovative Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: All

Oscar will provide a hands-on practical walkthrough for creating content in and for the classroom, how to share that to students and allow them to edit and enhance. This session is relevant to all areas of the curriculum and is a great introduction to classroom activities using the iPad as ‘just another tool’ available to teachers and students.

Who Cares What You Ate For Breakfast? And What's All The Fuss About Twitter For Educators Anyway?

Linda Dimitrov, ICT Manager at the Anglo-American School of Sofia

Strand: Collaborative Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: Professional Learning

Twitter is a rich resource and powerful tool for educators, yet, so many aren't sure why or how to use it. In this workshop, attendees will be exposed to the idea of developing / growing their Professional Learning Networks through an effective use of Twitter. The capacity to connect with classrooms and educators around the world via Twitter will be explored. Additionally, tips on how to dip into the river of information and target fellow educators worth following (so you're not reading about what they had for breakfast!) will be covered. Possibly most importantly, attendees will get started on the process of building their PLN with Twitter.

Bringing Khan Academy To Your School (2-hour session: presentation, Q&A, and hands-on engagement with the site)

Elizabeth Slavitt is a team member of Khan Academy and her task is School Implementations

Strand: Innovative Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: All

** Note: the first hour of this session will be the same as the 1-hour Creating personalized classrooms session; people who attend the 1-hour session may want to skip the first hour of this session and just come for the hands-on portion. Bring a laptop or tablet with wifi**

Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization with a mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khanacademy.org features more than 3,500 videos on a range of educational topics (including math, science, economics, medicine, engineering, and art history), interactive math exercises with step-by-step hints, and real-time reports that help teachers keep a pulse on each student's needs. Over the past few years, Khan Academy has worked closely with a group of schools to determine how the site can be used effectively in the classroom; there are now more than 20,000 classrooms using the site and about six million unique users per month. For the first hour of this session, find out more about the resources available for students and teachers on Khan Academy, and learn about some specific examples of schools that have used Khan Academy to create more personalized learning environments. In the second hour, check out the site for yourself and engage with guided worksheets to begin planning how you could bring Khan Academy to your school.

No Privacy Please

John Mikton, Director of IT at the International School of Prague

Strand: Social and Emotional Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: Digital Citizenship

As more and more of our professional and personal lives are online and our privacy less evident in a digital age, what are some strategies and learnings schools should consider when supporting their school community to understand online privacy. We will look at tools and ways to manage a positive digital footprint in the context of the classroom and school. We will look at what schools strategically need to consider, and also individual teachers and students, to ensure they are well informed and understand what it means to have most of our personal information on the web.

Planting ‘’Seeds’’ of Caring

Janice Myles, Elementary Service Learning Coordinator at the American International School of Bucharest

Strand: Social and Emotional Learning, Grade level: Grade 1-5, Subject area: Service Learning

This workshop will offer practical ideas and tips for how to provide your students with opportunities to learn and respond to their world in meaningful ways. Research shows when students learn to identify and act to solve societal needs and challenges they acquire valuable lifelong skills. When students examine and learn from examples of how other students have taken action to help people, animals and the environment; they can themselves be inspired and empowered to take action. You will leave this workshop with many useful ideas and resources for how you can ‘plant seeds of caring’ in your classroom and schools.

Polarity Management: Using Conflict As A Resource (3 hours Institute)

Carolyn McKanders, is Co-Director of the Center for Adaptive Schools

Strand: Collaborative Learning, Grade level: All, Subject area: All

The Polarity Management framework and the underlying principles provide a practical set of resources for dealing with all polarities in life. Polarities are ongoing, chronic issues, which are both unavoidable and unsolvable. Attempting to address them through customary problem-solving only makes things worse. These situations are not problems to solve; they are polarities which require effective management. Leaders, departments, teams, and organizations become more effective as they learn to distinguish between the two and deal productively with both. Through this work, they can consciously use diversity and divergent thinking as resources for developing high performing cultures that promote community and productivity.

Polarity Management increases in value as an issue or a system increases in terms of:

• Complexity – by permitting a view of both the forest and the trees;
• Change – by converting resistance to change into a resource for stability and change;
• Conflict – by developing “Both/And” thinking, creating “Win/Win” outcomes;
• Diversity – by respecting, utilizing, and celebrating differences.

Seminar Outcomes:

• Understanding Polarity Management™
• Exploring applications in educational settings
• Practicing identifying and mapping polarities
• Exploring using Polarity Management principles and tools to help mediate self and others toward balance and “getting unstuck”

This is a closed session

Google Apps tips and tricks

Neven Soric, CEESA’s IT Manager and Technology Systems Coordinator at the American International School of Zagreb

Strand: Digital Learning, Grade Level: Administrative Assistants, All, Subject area: Technology

If you are using Google Mail, Drive, Forms, Calendar...and over time it is becoming overwhelming organizing all that. In this workshop learn what are some of features you can implement in your everyday use. We will go over organizing mail and contacts, creating filters, labels, email invitations, Google drive data and many others things Google App has for us but we are not aware of them.