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.

Flexible Learning Environments (2 hours Institute)

David Epstein, AIA, LEED™ AP, is a principal at TruexCullins, an architecture and interior design firm in Burlington, Vermont/h3>

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

Good schools today offer many pathways to learning. Students learn in a variety of settings: alone, in groups, by doing projects, with movement or skits; each mode playing to different learner’s strengths. In combination with rapid technological change, it is no wonder educational facilities must provide flexible and adaptable learning environments. From furniture to design to construction, this session will provide an overview of the exciting possibilities and potential issues you may face when exploring these concepts at your school. We will look at examples of both built projects and design examples and may just rearrange the furniture before we are done!

Transforming Teacher Capacity Through Professional Growth And Evaluation Systems / Part B (2 hours Institute)

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.

Paperless Assessment

By Petr Mára Apple Distinguished Educator

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

Petr will take you through the workflow of distributing and collecting all kinds of media from iPads, assessing the work there and then and sending it back to the student with in-depth feedback. The easiest marking with the greatest results.

The "Why" And "How" Of Serving Special Needs Students At International Schools

Randal Eplin, PK-12 Principal at the International School of Latvia

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

After completing a survey of International Schools in the CEESA region and beyond, the workshop aim is for participants to 'take away' best practice after exploring different delivery models in developing special needs programs for international students K-12. Participants will also discuss widely accepted definitions for Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Gifted and Talented. Finally, 'next steps' will be considered in moving forward with program models in international schools.

Language Week and Multilingualism in International Schools

Robert Bohat, Upper School EAL/Science teacher, Beata Rodlingova and Nina Horakova, both Upper School EAL teachers and Jesus Alemany, Upper School Spanish teacher, all at the International School of Prague

Strand: Mission-Driven Learning, Grade level: Grade 9-12, Subject area: Language Week/Internationalism

Language Week at ISP is an annual celebration of Mother Tongues and their role in education and student identities. The workshop would present a summary of ISP’s seven years of experience with this activity, which includes sharing language games, mother tongue music, student expert panels, students teaching teachers and schoolmates their mother tongue, mother tongue /home culture presentations by students and visiting speakers, etc.

Discussing The Undiscussable (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 Discussing The Undiscussable Micah will speak about questions like, how many good ideas die a premature deaths because they were never shared with others? How many classroom initiatives fail to fulfill their potential because constructive ideas for improvement were not heard or were perceived as acts of disloyalty? How many creative school improvement plans or classroom innovations slide into irrelevance because the assumption and premises they are built upon are never challenged by teachers and students because they are fearful of speaking? Participants will be introduced to cognitive tool/frameworks that help them see how defensive routines have detrimental impact on personal, team, and school learning. Playful and engaging activities will be the learning design for this institute. Participants will leave with practical skills that will help them engage more effectively in difficult conversations with student or colleagues.

Crisis Management (2 hours Institute)

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

During this session, participants will understand the stages of response necessary during a school crisis situation. Participants will be involved in small group activities that will assist them in developing the steps schools/staff members need to use following a crisis. And participants will be able to bring this.

Waldkinder: An Innovative Educational Approach

Michele Baker and Nadia Mills, Kindergarten teachers at the Inter-Community School Zürich

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

Rachel Carson, an American naturalist and campaigner, wrote: “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” It is with great pleasure that Michele Baker and Nadia Mills introduce you to an innovative approach to bringing the classroom outdoors. Engaging students in a variety of learning engagements in local forests or parks allows them to explore their world without the restrictions of defined materials. Through experiences in the natural world, students develop a lifelong affection for our environment, increased awareness of our impact on the world, and a heightened sense of responsibility for our actions. Through discussion of our program, we look forward to sharing our experience of how learning outside the classroom improves academic success, motor skill development, confidence, self-esteem and leadership qualities.

Foundations For 21st Century Competencies (2 hours Institute)

Cathryn Berger Kaye is president of CBK Associates and ABCD Books

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

Dive into the world of 21st century competencies! Discover how incremental skill development improves learning. Enhance classroom participation with engaging teaching strategies. Add these together for a winning combination. Based on the innovative research-based program Strategies for Success with 21st Century Skills: A Learning Curriculum that Serves, this work has been used successfully across the globe, from Singapore to Los Angeles to Johannesburg. Transformative, practical, and easy-to-use. Join this lively and dynamic session!

Facilitation Strategies And Structures For Promoting Collaborative Conversations – Developing Adaptive Schools – Part 2 (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 2: “Facilitation Strategies and Structures for Promoting Collaborative Conversations”

OUTCOMES:

Participants will develop:

• An increased capacity to initiate, develop and sustain high functioning groups
• An expanded repertoire of practical facilitation tools and strategies
• Ways to value and use dissension, argument and conflict

It includes...

• Two Ways of Talking: Effective Dialogue and Discussion
• Promoting a Spirit of Inquiry
• The Seven Norms of Collaborative Group Work
• Reframing Conflict

This is a closed session.

Foresight Across The Curriculum

Dr. Peter C. Bishop, an Associate Professor of Strategic Foresight and Director of the graduate program in Futures Studies at the University of Houston

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

An important part of our mission as educators is to prepare our students for the future. But have ever told them about the future they are going to experience? Generally not, because we do not know that future either, and we do not teach what we do not know. Now, however, there is a way out of this dilemma. The relatively new field of futures studies is moving into the schools to plug this gap in our educational mission. Dr. Peter Bishop will lead a panel of teachers who are beginning to talk about the future in their classes. They will describe how it is done (It’s actually pretty easy!) and how much more engagement they get from their students when they do.

Update On Crisis Management Planning

Kathy Stetson, Executive Director of the Central and Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA)

Strand: General/Leadership, Grade level: All, Subject Area: All

During this session, participants will understand the stages of response necessary during a school crisis situation. Participants will be involved in small group activities that will assist them in developing the steps schools/staff members need to use following a crisis. And participants will be able to bring this information back to their schools for turn-around training. Progress on updating the Crisis Management Handbook will be shared.

CEESA Moodle training course presentation

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

CEESA has created new self learning Moodle course. In this workshop we will together through all basic and advanced Moodle skills every teacher should have. Also we will show where you or any new teacher in our region can reference and learn new moodle skills on their own.