Our objective for the afternoon is to provide leaders with ideas of what needs to be considered when implementing “big” change at the school or district level. Participants will look at ways leaders can advocate at the state level by seeing examples of how other states have approached change initiatives, and then bring it specifically to Alaska. Leaders can see how the pieces fit together and identify actions that can be taken to support school improvement.
Part 1: 1:30-2:30
Presenter - Scott Johns, Education Elements
Topic: Scott Johns will discuss practices to consider when leading a shift or implement change in a school or district toward personalized learning. Participants will engage in a personalized model as they identify specific strategies to apply in their own settings.
Part 2: 2:45-3:45
Presenter - Jim Lewis, Silverback Learning/Milepost
Topic: Dr. Jim Lewis will explain how a small idea about individualizing instruction became a district and regional effort prior to developing into both an in-state and multi-state movement of personalized learning. Both Idaho and Montana created legislation to help fund this concept and it continues to grow across the Intermountain Region and most recently into Alaska. At the same time, a simple solution to provide on-line classes for students on an international ski team in his district emerged as a co-concept to provide personalized learning for students on the road. See how it has become an intra-state success story of quality on-line instruction for students as well as professional development for educators. It is now ready to expand into a multi-state offering with all secondary classes from 6-12.
Part 3: 3:45- 4:30
Presenter: Bob Williams, AK DEED
Topic- Bob Williams will provide an overview of the strategic planning work of Governor Walker’s Alaska Education Challenge which is being led by Commissioner Johnson and the State Board of Education. Bob will also share the work of the Division of Educator and School Excellence and the strong need for teacher leaders to increase capacity, build trust, and improve the quality of public education for all Alaska students.
This session will provide an overview of district provided digital content, as well as highlight the following resources:
All participants should bring their laptops.
Are you ready to revolutionize your teaching and dramatically improve the engagement and comprehension of all of your students while meeting the demands of the Common Core Standards? Would you like to take your comprehension instruction to the next level so your students are the ones doing the work and using the strategies when they read on their own? Many students decode and yet don't comprehend what they read. The Fabulous Four, or reciprocal teaching strategies (Palincsar and Brown) predict, question, clarify, and summarize work as a powerful package to begin to yield dramatic results in reading comprehension in as little as 15 days. This exciting NEW version of reciprocal teaching is loaded with dozens of new lessons for whole class, content area reading, guided reading, stations, and a practical Response to Intervention Model. You'll experience first hand motivating lessons. This model yields student growth of six months to two years in just three months. Come to this practical, hands-on, and entertaining workshop to learn ideas you can use tomorrow to strengthen student comprehension using any reading material.
