Where Does It Live: Building Systems And Structures Around What You Believe (4 hours Institute)

Chris Lehmann, is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, PA

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

The myth of the single teacher, bucking the odds to be that one great teacher in a school may make for a great Hollywood movie, but it rarely -- if ever -- leads to lasting, effective change. We must examine the manner in which our schools and classrooms are set up so that the greatest number of students, teachers and even principals can thrive and learn and feel valued. This session is focused on looking at institutional change, so that attendees can explore what they value and then examine the systems in their districts, schools and classrooms that must change to reflect those values.

Dilution Is Not Differentiation: Meeting The Needs Of EAL And SEN Students In Science

Sharon Lloyd, Physics teacher at the International School of Helsinki

Strand: Innovative Learning, Grade level: Grade 5-12, Subject area: MS & HS Science (but has more general application)

Offering examples of how curriculum and assessments can be modified to provide access to the mainstream Science program for EAL & SEN students. Although the examples are based in Science curriculum, the techniques and strategies can be adapted to other subject areas. The examples come from Grades 8-10 but can be simplified or extended to become age appropriate. There will also be an opportunity for participants to contribute ideas and share resources via Dropbox.

An Introduction To Mindfulness In Schools (2 hours workshop)

Kevin Hawkins, MS Principal at the International School of Prague

Strand: Social and Emotional Learning, Grade level: Grade 5-12, Subject area: All

This experiential workshop will provide an introduction to the theory and practice of mindfulness, and will consider the growing evidence base for the benefits that it offers for teachers and pupils. Participants will experience part of the ".b" course for teenagers and suggestions for follow-up will be provided.

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is present moment awareness. There is now considerable and compelling evidence that training in mindfulness is a very effective way of alleviating stress, anxiety and depression as well as promoting well-being and flourishing. Mindfulness courses are now available on the NHS in the UK.

What does mindfulness training involve? Participants learn to sustain and focus their attention, exploring and accepting their experience in an open-minded way, using physical sensations as anchors whenever the mind wanders.

Transforming Teacher Capacity Through Professional Growth And Evaluation Systems / Part A (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 two-part workshop will highlight the leadership, supervision and appraisal skills necessary for ensuring a highly competent teacher in every classroom in your school.

Part A will focus on the key components of an effective Professional Growth and Appraisal System:

• The design standards
• Ways to minimize teacher anxiety and focus on growth and support
• Reflection tools for using multiple measures of student achievement
• Descriptive focused feedback for growth
• Practical implementation of a teacher leader infrastructure, faculty buy-in, and how to facilitate a reflective cultural shift are also incorporated.

Part B will focus on the practical application of the power of a Professional Growth System. Those applications include:

• Alternative sources of data collection for professional growth and reflection
• Skills for promoting professional coaching conversations for teacher skillfulness
• Ways to correlate the appraisal system with professional development models
• Peer observation components
• Expansion of your repertoire for supervising underperforming teachers.

The workshops are designed as a pair, but stand-alone as well. Both workshops incorporate research-based, engaging and interactive strategies for immediate use back in your school. Problem solving and videotape analysis will be included in both workshops.

Today in...

Petr Mára, Apple Distinguished Educator

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

Absolute essentials for teachers working with iPads. From self-grading quizzes, automatic podcasting of lessons, brilliant and engaging presentations and easy distribution of content to students, Petr has honed his Toolkit for Teachers down to his best 6.

Lesbian, Gay, Bi- and Transsexual Issues in Schools (2 hours)

Jerald Newberry is currently the Executive Director of the National Education Association’s Health Information Network

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

The world has and is changing in attitudes toward GLBT students. Students, however, often express and act out attitudes that they absorb in their homes. Participants will identify situations that are most common in schools…with emphasis on those that are most challenging for students and for themselves as school leaders. Participants will leave with information and practice that they can use with colleagues and students in their home schools.

Building a Student Support Network With Google Apps and RSS

Nathan Heilmann, Guided Study and Support at the International School of Prague

Strand: Digital Learning, Grade level: Grade 5-12, Subject area: Support

Hear the story about how the International School of Prague has begun to use Google Apps and RSS to connect students, teachers, parents, counselors and administrators. Discuss the implementation of networked support and its successes, failures, limitations and horizons. Start building your own support network in Google Apps and learn to manage permissions.

Building Learning Environments for Systems Thinking (2 hours Institute)

Micah Fierstein, Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership Studies at West Virginia University

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

This workshop is one of the three institutes Micah is presenting concerning Transformation through Collaboration: Building Leadership Capacity for Systemic Change. The goal of these three conference institutes is for participants to discover and practice tools/frameworks that challenge educators to build their capacity to think and act in new ways. A different set of learning frameworks will be explored in each institute. The goal of each institute will be to help prevent others from falling inadvertently into the swamp of constrained possibilities. “Insanity is doing the same thing and hoping for a different result.” – Albert Einstein.

During this workshop Building Learning Environments For Systems Thinking, participants will be introduced to, and experience cognitive tools/frameworks that help them interpret and act on challenges/problems from a broader “systems” perspective. This system thinking perspective helps teachers and students to view their actions as being impactful on the health and success of the larger institution (classroom or school). Instead of blaming others – one begins to ask the more powerful question: “How am I part of the problem and how can I be part of the solution? Playful and engaging activities will be the learning design for this institute. Participants will leave with practical information and practices that they can use as they problem solve with colleagues and students in their home schools.

Bringing Khan Academy To Your School (2 hours Institute) (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.

School Travel Savings - For Administrators And Business Managers

Robert Goodrich, Director of Frosch Travel

Strand: Advancement, Grade level: All Subject area: Travel

With so many Internet travel sites blaring "SALE" and "DISCOUNT," how do you know you've got the best deal? Travel comprises an ever-increasing budget item for schools, companies, and individual travelers like family, consultants, and vendors. This is a non-promotional, informational session that deals with major budget and service matters and covers the ins and outs of the airline pricing, economic models, and operational systems to maximize your purchasing power and to receive the best value for your money. Topics include discounting, split ticketing, dummy returns, code shares, wholesale tickets, upgrades, mileage accounts, and airline fees. Much valuable, practical information will be discussed.

Personalized Instruction in Reading... Love the Idea, But How Do I DO It?

Mary Frances Pollard, and Jacqulyn Reid, Fourth grade teachers at the Anglo-American School of Moscow

Strand: Collaborative Learning, Grade level: Grade 1-5, Subject area: Reading/Language arts

Do you have piles of reading data on each of your students, but are wondering how it can be applied to your classroom teaching? How do you tailor instruction to meet the unique needs of your students, while ensuring that you keep your head afloat? Elementary teachers often compile a wide range of data with the goal of supporting reading instruction. There is an increasing need to effectively use data to meet the needs of diverse learners, without feeling pressured to create individual lesson plans.

In Youth We Trust (2 hours Institute)

Cathryn Berger Kaye is president of CBK Associates and ABCD Books

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

Essential to developing classroom engagement, student leadership, and global citizenry is the concept of trust, youth voice and choice. If we trust our students more, what could possibly happen? Let’s embark on a thoughtful exchange to uncover and discover how trust may make all the difference in a school culture. We will examine the connection between trust and creativity. We will see the enactment of trust in schools around the world. And we will uncover Five Steps to Trust to enact and re-build the most essential ingredient for learning and for service. What may we discover? Welcome (and even joyful) consequences.

“The What, Why And How Of Sustaining Adaptive Professional Communities” - Developing Adaptive Schools – Part 1 (2 hours Institute)

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

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

For schools to effectively respond to the press for accountability and provide quality learning for all students, they must simultaneously address two perennial goals. One goal is the professional development of individual educators. The second is the development of the organization's capacity to learn and be adaptive. Both build the capacity for school improvement, without which reform efforts will fail.

In these Adaptive Schools Seminars, learn how to build strong collaborative and caring work cultures, in which results-oriented faculties work together for continuous school improvement. Explore the latest practical findings in organizational development, team learning and navigating the currents of change through applying adaptive principles and practices.

Participants will learn practical frameworks and tools for developing collaborative groups that bring collective responsibility in student learning. Leaders and group members will learn ways to influence and attain more productive and satisfying meetings in which members develop new norms and skills for collegial interaction, goal clarification, problem-solving and decision-making. Working in a variety of settings, skilled and confident staffs and facilitators will increase their ability to accelerate group development so that adult conversations produce the highest quality work for students.

Part 1: “The What, Why and How of Sustaining Adaptive Professional Communities”

OUTCOMES:

Participants will develop:

• Understanding of research findings regarding professional community in schools
• Increased awareness of the why, what and how of becoming adaptive
• Awareness of norms/skills for collaborative conversations

It includes...

• Elements of Professional Community
• What is an Adaptive School and it's Impact on Student Learning?
• Principles, Strategies and Norms for becoming and remaining adaptive

This is a closed session.

Ready, Fire, Aim….Setting Up a K-12 Social Emotional Learning Program Over a Multi-Year Time Frame

Catherine Ottaviano, Counselor Grade 6-9 at the American International School of Bucharest

Strand: Social and Emotional Learning, Grade Level: K-12, Subject Area: Social and Emotional Learning

This workshop will discuss our journey towards a systematic K-12 Social Emotional Learning program. The process included determining the need, getting it going, adjusting and adapting it to suit our population and evaluating our progress. We will discuss Bully Prevention, ES Classroom Guidance, MS Advisories, HS Peer Counseling and more.