All,
Thank you all who participated and learned from Tom Schimmer’s
recent visit to AISC. I hope you found
his visit as beneficial as I did. I am
already hearing from individuals on how the Office of Teaching and Learning and
Learning Coaches can follow up. A formal
survey of his visit will be sent out early next week.
I am also hearing how teachers would like to have him back on
campus. Until we can discuss both of
those items further, here are a few portable Tom Schimmer quotes from his
visit! (special thanks to @libraryjet @ClaytonFilter @hilbarron3 for catching these on Twitter)
“If you want to measure the effectiveness of your
feedback watch how your students respond.”
“Plan with precision, then respond with agility”
“Plan with precision, then respond with agility”
“More proficient kids are harder on themselves
because they know what they don't know.”
“Peer assessment is not possible
in a school culture where being wrong is frowned upon or in one that is very
competitive.”
“Humans overly optimistic about own abilities,
tendency to neglect crucial info or be unaware of deficits”
“It's better to assume students do not know something
when they do than it is to assume they know something when they don't.”
"Doing assessment is
not the most important thing. Responding to the assessments is."
Special thank you to Calley
Connelly who organized and coordinated all the best parts of Tom Schimmer’s
time at AISC!
Upcoming Wednesday Early Releases Days February 22,
2017
Wednesday February 22 Early Release
Learning Coach Led Professional Learning Opportunity
On the February 22, Early Release Day, all teachers will have a choice
of nine professional learning opportunities, all of which are focused on
implementation and documentation of best practices in a UbD framework.
For all sessions
except Planning Basics, you will need to bring a drafted unit for modification,
not a new unit. For Planning Basics, you can bring a set of standards and
a unit concept to get started with guidance.
There will only be one session offer per individual. At this time, you should have heard from
session leader to confirm your session sign-up.
Please let me know if you have not
February 22 Agenda
2:00-2:30 Coffee, Tea, and Snacks---two
locations---under HS/MS stairs and ES 2nd Floor by Principal's Office
2:30-4:00 Session Presentation (locations TBD)
4:00-5:00
Application/Collaboration w/ Peer(s)--Facilitators Available
Sessions are:
UbD Planning Basics—Dan Love and Rob Gold
Essential Question: How do I use Understanding by Design to support effective
teaching and learning?
Leveraging Formative Assessment in UbD Units —Tom Zululock
Essential Question: How does aligning formative and summative assessments improve
instructional design and student outcomes?
Maximizing Student Output—Paula Peters-Frampton & Andrew Ranson
Essential Question: What criteria
can be used optimally match strategies with intended outcomes?
Visible ‘Thinking Routines’ in the Inquiry Classroom (Grades
2-12)—Clayton Filter and Kirsten
Welbes
Making Thinking Visible ‘Thinking Routines’ in the
Inquiry Classroom (Grades PreK-1)—Keryn
Dowling
Essential Question: How do Making Thinking Visible ‘thinking routines’ support each
stage of the inquiry process?
Co-Teaching in an Inquiry-Based Classroom—Karen Sumaryono & Rachael Moser
Essential Question: How can co-teaching teams plan effective provocations and
summative assessments to meet the needs of all learners in an inquiry classroom?
Hattie's Influences on Student Achievement—James Dowling
Essential Question: Can I implement a deliberate practice that can make a
significant positive influence student achievement?
Manageable Differentiation—Calley Connelly
Essential Question: How do we embed differentiation into a UbD Unit?
Authentic Performance Tasks—Hilary Barron
Essential Question: What is a performance task and why should we use them? How
do we develop authentic performance tasks?
Enduring Understandings and Depth of Knowledge (DOK)—Alan Phan
Essential Question: How do we unpack our enduring understandings to deepen
students knowledge and understanding?
Upcoming Consultants
Christy Curran—Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Program
Christy is an independent literacy consultant.
She was a fourth grade teacher, before joining the Teachers College Reading and
Writing Project as a staff developer. She taught at several TCRWP institutes,
including the coaching institute, where she helped literacy coaches all around
the globe perfect their practice. She now focuses on infusing inquiry into the
Readers and Writers Workshop approach.
Christy will be returning to AISC on March 27 – 30, 2017 to work with Elementary and Middle School
teachers on Writer’s Workshop.
Suzie Boss—Inquiry Through Project Based Learning
Suzie is a journalist who writes
about the power of teaching and learning to improve lives and transform
communities. Author of Bringing Innovation to School: Empowering Students to
Thrive in a Changing World and co-author of Reinventing Project-Based Learning:
Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, Suzie is inspired by
educators who push the boundaries of the traditional classroom. She on the
National Faculty of the Buck Institute for Education, and have also helped
nonprofit organizations design programs that teach both youth and adults how to
improve their communities with innovative, sustainable solutions. Suzie will be at AISC on April 3-5, 2017 to primarily work with Middle and High School
Science and Social Studies Departments.
Andrea
and Tania are international educators who have founded
Innovative Global Education. The focus of their work at AISC will be on
developing and conducting professional development for teachers and leadership,
modeling pedagogy in classrooms, developing and designing inquiry-based units
and lessons with teachers and working intensively with teaching teams, through
mentoring and coaching, to improve planning, teaching and assessment that has a
direct focus on inquiry.
Tania and Andrea will be at AISC on April 24 – 27, 2017 to work with Elementary School and Middle School teachers.
Tania and Andrea will be at AISC on April 24 – 27, 2017 to work with Elementary School and Middle School teachers.
Upcoming Conferences
NESA Spring Educators Conference - March 31 - April 2, 2017
Early Registration ends February 15—see me with any questions!
 |
Social Buddy Sign Up
Did you have a
good transition to AISC? If so, this is your chance to pay it forward! We
are looking for social buddies for the incoming new teaching class arriving in
August of 2017.
What does being
a social buddy entail?
Buddy duty would
begin on Saturday, July 29th
Duties include:
- Corresponding with their assigned new teacher once assigned (before
the end of the school year).
- Offering to Skype/email over the summer to answer last minute
questions and give packing tips.
- Attend parts of the last few days of New Teacher Orientation
specifically:
- Lunch and local shopping trip followed by dinner at Andrew’s (Sat,
7/29)
- Coordinating individual shopping trips to Phoenix Mall and/or
other places (Sun, 7/29)
- Coordinating dinner and/or delivery with company if the new person
so desires on days when group dinners are not provided (Mon/Tues, 7/31
& 8/1)
- Act as the new teacher’s “go-to” person for non-academic matters
throughout the year.
While there is no compensation for coming forward to be a buddy,
you will receive the unending thanks of the new person (or people) you befriend
and our eternal gratitude! Of course it goes without saying that your
meals are covered on the four days of New Teacher Orientation. We are
also cooking up some other sort of recognition and thank you as yet to be
determined.
Interested? If so, please email Dan Love by Monday, Feb 15th. Dan will then pair up existing teachers with new teachers based on neighborhood, similarity of family configuration and possible shared interests.
Wellness at AISC
Are you interested in seeing what is happening with wellness at AISC and in Chennai? If so, click here to stay updated. We have lots of exciting events planned so be sure to check in!
Winners!
Congratulations to Walter Basnight, Holly Younglove, Calley
Connelly, Grace Gahagan, and Andrew Ranson on the Goa Triathalon finish!
Have a great week!
No comments:
Post a Comment