Webinars

Content provided by: Innovation for Diverse 21st Century Learning Environments Omaha Public Schools, under Executive Director of IMS Rob Dickson, strengthens innovation through technology integration to serve 52,000 diverse students and improve learning. The district's new strategic plan places an emphasis on the "why" to make purposeful decisions regarding needs assessments and classroom 21st century skills to focus on what is best for the student and bring real change. This webinar walks attendees through key components of the plan and shares best practices for other schools embarking on similar journeys. Key areas addressed include: How technology-based solutions evolved to support a data-driven approach to professional learning and delivered school learning improvements. How Microsoft Innovative Educators throughout the district can serve as a pipeline for professional learning to support adoption of tools that enhance collaboration, communication, efficiency, and innovative classroom instruction. Advancing the use of blended-learning environments and enabling educational opportunities through new devices including Surface Pro for students and staff. Guests: Rebecca Chambers, technology coach, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Melissa Cleaver, instructional technology trainer, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Rob Dickson, executive director of IMS, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Eileen Heller, innovation facilitator, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Keegan Korf, digital citizenship lead teacher, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Kelly Means, innovation facilitator, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. This webinar will be moderated by Preston Peine, Microsoft Corporation

REGISTER HERE

Join Learning Forward and AASA for a FREE Webinar How Can Supervisors Shape Effective Principals? Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 Time: 1-2 p.m. ET Register: knowledgecenter.webex.com Today's school principals need support for their development and growth as society places higher expectations on them to be instructional leaders who improve student learning and achievement. A new first-ever set of standards, developed by a committee of 12 educators led by the Council of Chief State School Officers whose work was supported by The Wallace Foundation, is intended to assist state education agencies and local school districts to help recruit, select, support and evaluate supervisors of principals. The standards emphasize shifting the supervisor's role away from the traditional focus on bureaucratic compliance toward fostering the growth of effective principals who improve both teaching and learning. Participants will: Learn about the standards cited in the Model Principal Supervisor Professional Standards 2015 and ways in which they could adopt and internalize these new standards within their districts. Hear how High School District 214 in Illinois is applying Standards 1 and 2 to improve the effectiveness of its school leaders. Learn about resources from Learning Forward and other organizations that support principal supervisors in meeting the needs of their principals. Presenters: Frederick Brown, Deputy Executive Director, Learning Forward Mary Canole, School Leadership Consultant, CCSSO David Schuler, Superintendent, High School District 214 (IL) and AASA President MODERATOR: MaryAnn Jobe, Director, Education and Leadership Development, AASA

A few free webinars

Content Provided by: Amherst Central School District Saves Money and Improves Collaboration With Google for Education In this webinar, you'll hear from Amherst Central School District about how they leveraged Google Apps and Chromebooks to save money, increase productivity and collaboration, and extend learning beyond school hours. Get a peek at Amherst's decision making process, learn about the obstacles and challenges they overcame, and hear about the success they experienced with their implementation of Google Apps for Education and Chromebooks. Participants will: Get an overview of the Google for Education solution which includes Chromebooks, tablets with Google Play for Education, and Google Apps for Education Learn how this solution can be used to improve student learning, collaboration, and engagement Hear first-hand experience from a district using Chromebooks in the classroom to support their curriculum focus Be able to pose their questions to Amherst Central School District and Google Guests: Donna Frymire, district technology integration specialist, Amherst Central School District, Amherst, N.Y. Anthony Panella, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, Amherst Central School District, Amherst, N.Y. This webinar will be moderated by Stephen Fang, regional manager, Google for Education Register Here Students in Charge: Self-Assessment and Learning to Learn Schools are awash in learning goals, data, and information about how students are doing. But often, the students themselves are left in the dark about what they're learning and why, where they stand, and what they've got to do to get to the next step. Increasingly, teachers and schools are trying to help students own their own learning process by giving them time and tools to self-assess. Join us as we define student self-assessment and explore its tie to cognitive science and the growth mindset, explore strategies for helping students self-assess, and lay out challenges and misconceptions about student self-assessment. Underwriting for this webinar has been provided by the Raikes Foundation Guests: Heidi Andrade, associate professor, School of Education, University at Albany, State University of New York Angela Fremont-Appel, art teacher, New York City Public Schools This webinar will be moderated by Jaclyn Zubrzycki, contributing writer, Education Week Register now for this free live webinar. Sponsored by: Districts' Push for "Interoperability": Managing the Sea of Ed-Tech Content K-12 districts have struggled for years to manage the flood of data and content provided by different ed-tech vendors providing curriculum and instructional tools in their districts. Too often, administrators, teachers, and students are stuck trying to navigate a sea of different sign-ons and systems for all the various educational software and systems in use across their schools. But now, a growing number of districts are trying to clear through that muddle by requiring "interoperability" of ed-tech vendors—basically, asking them to ensure that their systems mesh with one another. The goal is to create a level of compatibility that allows K-12 users to access the content they want, without having to wade through different commercial providers' websites or proprietary systems. In this webinar, a pair of guests who are deeply familiar with the work of K-12 distrircts, and with interoperability, describe the benefits and challenges for K-12 officials in implementing the policy. Guests: Kecia Ray, executive director, Center for Digital Education, former executive director of learning technology, Metro Nashville school district Serena Sacks, chief information officer, Fulton County, Ga., school district This webinar will be moderated by Sean Cavanagh, associate editor, Education Week Register Here

2012 Learning 2.0 Virtual Conference - August 20-24

Okay ---- Free is good ---- and ---- this free conference is being held online, in multiple time zones, over the course of five days!  It is being held in conjunction with Connected Educator Month, and will include an all-day virtual unconference (SocialEdCon online!) as well as a special educational start-up "pitchfire" event. 

This is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on rethinking teaching and learning in the age of the Internet.  Subject strands include changes in the classroom (social media, 1:1 computing, "flipped classrooms," digital literacy, marker spaces, gaming, open educational resources, digital textbooks), in student learning (individualized learning, student-directed learning, "hacking"education, personal success plans, ePortfolios, and building a digital presence), in teacher personal and professional growth (lead learning, personal learning networks, peer/open/self-directed PD), in schools (virtual and online schooling, mobile learning, blended learning, MOOCs, immersive environments, learning spaces, entrepreneurship, school leadership, big data, assessment models), in pedagogy (from teaching to learning, social learning, social/educational networking, passion-based learning, learning how to learn, brain-based learning) and more!

If you join the Classroom 2.0 network you will be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates.  You do not need to join this network to attend, but doing so will also allow you to correspond with the presenters and other members, and to comment on sessions and discussions. 

Check out the information on the site at http://www.classroom20.com/page/2012-learning-2-0-virtual-conference 

Better Teacher Questions = Improved Student Learning

Quick and easy, the three steps are: One - you need to get students talking rather than the teacher talking, Two, prepare the questions when you plan the lessons, and the Three, scaffold the questions.   Check out the entire blog post from former administrator Ben Johnson at http://www.edutopia.org/blog/improving-teacher-questions-ben-johnson. He answers the how better than I.   Sorry, I had to add that just to see if you were still reading!!!!  Check out the post!

Google+ for classroom use

Education blogger Terrell Heick in his blog post Teaching with Google+ http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-with-google-plus-terry-heick, offers suggestions for using Google+ with students in the classroom.  He writes that this social media tool, which is often compared with Facebook, can be used as an avenue for two-way communication with students and as a tool for groups of students and teachers to manage and collaborate on projects.  In the post he gives some info about Google+, 3 ways to use it with tips and examples and some really awesome closing tips for getting started, check out the post and see what you think!