Retreat for SRI Affiliates Involved with Pre-Service Teacher Education
Registration is now open for the SRI Pre-Service Teacher Education Retreat being held at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center in Estes Park, CO. The dates of the retreat are June 27-28, 2016 (Monday/Tuesday).
This retreat is designed for SRI affiliates who have been working to incorporate SRI principles and practices within their pre-service teacher education and licensure programs. These include both traditional university-based programs, as well as alternative licensure programs. Participants should have familiarity with the core principles of SRI critical friendship and have some experience utilizing these tools within a pre-service education capacity.
Click here to learn more about the goals for the retreat and to register. Hurry – space is limited!
Webinar Series: How to Facilitate Virtual Learning Communities Online
We are excited to announce a new webinar series for SRI affiliates who are interested in learning more about online facilitation. This series has been designed with SRI affiliates Julie Moore and Natalie Berger, who both have extensive online facilitation experience. As the work of SRI continues to evolve, virtual learning communities are a great way to connect with colleagues both near and far, but facilitating online is different than in-person facilitation.
This webinar series will focus on how to facilitate online, paying special attention to understanding the technology; understanding how facilitation changes in a virtual environment; as well as an opportunity to practice different protocols in the virtual environment.
The sessions will be held May 12, 19, & 26, 2016 at 7-8pm Eastern. Please only register if you can commit to all three sessions, as space is limited. Click here to register to attend this online webinar series.
Reflecting on the 2nd Annual SRI Facilitator Retreat
Our two days in Houston were chock-full of new learning and community building. We began our time together by engaging in the Paseo Protocol; moved into feedback sessions; shared our learning with new texts; experienced the ImageMaking Protocol; and spent time thinking about how to continue to support SRI facilitators. All of this in a day-and-a-half! To learn more, visit our reflection page.
Houston SRI affiliate, Alisha Breakfield, shared her reflection and take-aways from the event.
“As I reflected on the retreat, and the State of SRI Address in particular, quite a few thoughts came to mind. The great news was that after 20+ years, SRI is still thriving and striving to improve collaboration among professionals for the benefit of students.
My big take away was that we need a greater level of participation. It is great that teachers and administrators are utilizing the protocols; however, there is a next step of participation that SRI needs. At the retreat, we learned that SRI is working to improve the webpage and provide greater access to meet the needs of facilitators. However, feedback from facilitators on their need is necessary to make those improvements. Many of us have been working with SRI for many years and are doing some things to facilitate this work with participants, and the question that remains is ‘what can SRI do to help?’
This question actually presented a different question to me, ‘What can I do to help?’ The primary request was for feedback – I/We can do that! What else can we do? We can become affiliates and encourage others to register as SRI affiliates so that they are receiving updated information. More importantly, talk about SRI and the benefits and successes that you have experienced because of your use or involvement with SRI.
If we actively answer ‘what can I do to help’, it will answer their question of ‘what can SRI do to help’. As I listened to and observed veteran facilitators, some of whom were founding members of SRI, they epitomized a passion for effective and organized collaboration.
I was so appreciative for the opportunity to learn from each of the attendees. Thank you for the experience. I look forward to the next time we meet.”
Bringing Work to the Table
SRI affiliate Susan Adams has a response featured in the April issue of Educational Leadership in the ‘Tell Me About…’ column. The question posed this month was ‘Tell me about how your group examined student work’. Susan shares her experience bringing student work to the table and utilizing an SRI protocol as the tool.
You can read Susan’s response, along with other educators from around the country, in the April issue or online here.
Additional Job Opportunities
Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School has employment openings for the 2016-2017 school year. Take a look at their website for full position descriptions and application instructions. Share widely with your educator friends!
Do you have news to share? Interesting things happening in your area? Please let us know so we can share with our community! Email Chris, chris@schoolreforminitiative.org.
Thank you,
Kari Thierer, Heidi Vosekas, and Chris Jones
on behalf of School Reform Initiative
