Learning Experiences – Thursday, November 8th
Fall Meeting participants will select a learning experience from a variety of compelling topics designed to provide participants the opportunity to delve deeply into a particular topic of interest.
Each learning experience will align to SRI’s guiding principles, with session offerings designed to meet the varied needs of participants fairly new to SRI work as well as those with longevity.
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SESSION TIME |
SESSION TITLE |
LOCATION |
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Full Afternoon |
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1:00pm-4:15pm |
Liberation Literacies: Multiple literacies for Social Justice in Your Classroom |
Ballroom |
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1:00pm-4:15pm |
Changing the Narrative: Telling Our Stories about Transformational Learning |
Salon A |
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1:00pm-4:15pm |
Dyslexia Advocacy in Schools: Structures, Supports, and Obstacles to Equity |
River Terrace |
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1:00pm-4:15pm |
Travis |
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1:00pm-4:15pm |
Salon F |
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1:00pm-4:15pm |
Milam |
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Early Afternoon |
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1:00pm-2:30pm |
Salon B |
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1:00pm-2:30pm |
Bowie |
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1:00pm-2:30pm |
Leveraging Technology to Enhance Intentional Learning Communities (offered twice) |
Riverview |
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1:00pm-2:30pm |
Teacher Unions: From Professional Associations to Social Justice Activism |
Salon E |
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Late Afternoon |
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2:45pm-4:15pm |
Salon B |
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2:45pm-4:15pm |
Leveraging Technology to Enhance Intentional Learning Communities (offered twice) |
Riverview |
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2:45pm-4:15pm |
Preventing Teacher Burnout – A Pathway to Greater Teacher Well-Being and Retention |
Salon E |
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2:45pm-4:15pm |
Bowie |
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Full Afternoon 1:00pm-4:15pm
Liberation Literacies: Multiple literacies for Social Justice in Your Classroom
Location: Ballroom
Presented by: Dr. Jamila Lyiscott, Fall Meeting 2018 Keynote
Within our 21st century world, privileging standard forms of literacy not only under-prepares students for our increasingly multiethnic, multilingual, globalized society, but it also perpetuates a narrative of deficiency and marginality for people of diverse cultures and languages. Drawing on Dr. Lyiscott’s ongoing research, personal experiences navigating multiple varieties of English, and her work engaging hip-hop, spoken word, and media for learning, this workshop problematizes traditional notions of what it means to be “literate” in our society. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Lyiscott will introduce the 5 A’s of Liberation Literacies Pedagogy. Participants will use Hip-Hop and Spoken word to draw on personal narratives and critically reflect on strategies for disrupting racial/social inequity through attention to language, culture, and race as ideologically interwoven in our classrooms.
Changing the Narrative: Telling Our Stories about Transformational Learning
Location: Salon A
Presented by: Gene Thompson-Grove, Consultant, Facilitator, Coach – Transformational Learning for Equity and Excellence and Dr. Tiffany Ballard, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for Pryor Public Schools
In this session, we will collectively explore what we mean by transformational learning, the conditions that contribute to it, and why it is critical for an equity-focused pedagogy. We will then reframe the conversation about accountability by identifying our moments of transformational learning – when we not only learned something new but were actually different people because we knew it – and then describe the changes in practice this new learning compelled us to enact. Finally, we will commit to changing the narrative about teachers and teaching by writing and telling each other the first version of our stories, and then make a commitment to support each other after the Fall Meeting as we revise our stories for the SRI blog and beyond!
Dyslexia Advocacy in Schools: Structures, Supports, and Obstacles to Equity
Location: River Terrace
Presented by: Terra Lynch, Austin-based facilitator and learning specialist
How can educators support dyslexic students, who make up 20% of the population? In this collaborative, hands-on session, you will use protocols as we:
- Learn the science and dispel the myths about the dyslexic brain
- Gain concrete tools to support segmenting, blending, retrieval, and executive function in the K-12 and higher ed classroom
- Assess how and why accommodations build equity of access for dyslexic students
- Examine the role of advocacy for dyslexia support, and implications for equity across schools and districts
Facilitator as Leader
Location: Travis
Presented by: David Schmid
This session is designed for school leaders, teacher leaders, coaches or others in a school who are committed to creating a collaborative and reflective school culture inspired to address issues of equity and other learning focused initiatives. The premise of this seminar is that when you develop strong facilitator dispositions, these same attributes can also build a strong foundation for effective school leadership. Using a variety of protocols, the group will explore six different dispositions that include Attending to a Larger Purpose, Listening for Understanding, Thoughtful Questioning, Compassion/Empathy, Building Relationships and Continual Learner.
Protocols: The Floor, Not the Ceiling
Location: Salon F
Presented by: Greg Peters
Many of us attempt to use protocols in settings where the majority of the participants have no or limited experience using them. In those instances, we often experience resistance, and race and culture can be critical factors in those situations. In this session, participants will identify what that resistance looks like, how culture impacts that resistance, how to honor the readiness of participants by using ‘aspects’ of the protocols, and ways to begin lifting the work of “courageous conversations” that move the work forward off the floor towards the ceiling.
Mindful Behavior(ism)
Location: Milam
Presented by: Steven Strull, Director, Student Support Services & Lauren Levine, Guidance Manager and De-Escalation Specialist, Brooklyn North Field Support Center, New York City Department of Education
This 3-hour learning experience will focus on the connections between western non-sectarian mindfulness practices and classical Skinnerian Behaviorism. The essential question: “Can ALL humans who enter a school house each day choose to behave in a way that will lead to educational equity?” will be the focus of our time together. Participants will be (re)introduced to basic notions of mindfulness and behaviorism with specific attention toward our current lived experience in post-industrial schooling coupled with possibilities for changing our shared realities. SRI protocols will be used to help attendees articulate and share their daily experiences in schools at the classroom, school, and/or district level as well as consider how mindfulness practices and resources may be incorporated in their work. Additionally, an overview of the theories that bridge mindfulness and behaviorism will be presented with a structured process for critical feedback.
Early Afternoon 1:00pm-2:30pm
“Woke” – Buzzword or Bold Commitment to Racial Equity?
Location: Salon B
Presented by: Dr. Deirdre Williams and Dr. Kelly Brown
Being “woke” is not about saying what’s socially acceptable. It is about confronting your own biases, understanding your social position and accommodating new realizations to effect equitable outcomes for each child. If your equity discourse aligns with the current system, you are inherently supporting the “broken” system that was not designed to value race. Achieving racial equity in schools happens on three levels: individually, interpersonally and institutionally. This session will take participants on a reflective journey to consider how we might dismantle the current system and surface ways to build a new system that demands racial equity for every student. The facilitators will use adult learning practices that encourage courageous discussion, time for self-reflection, and the opportunity to connect learning to their current context. Protocols will be used and agreements will be established to create a safe learning space to share personal stories, engage in identity work, and commit to action steps towards achieving racial equity in schools.
Improving Teacher Preparation & New Teacher Support
Location: Bowie
Presented by: Dan Condon, SRI Pre-Service participants
For several years, SRI members who lead and support teacher preparation programs have been meeting to improve the quality of the pre-service and new teacher experience using principles of critical friendship and SRI tools. Over time we have also leveraged the tools of improvement science. Join us to learn about how to engage in short term coaching cycles, take away some new tools and help us make meaning of some of our recent learnings.
Leveraging Technology to Enhance Intentional Learning Communities
Location: Riverview
Presented by: Mike Kalin, Teacher and Facilitator, Noble and Greenough School|
Many teachers are quick to adopt new educational technologies in their classrooms, but too rarely do we use these tools to support professional growth. In this session, we will consider how common technologies used in schools, including Google Apps, can improve the effectiveness of adult learning. Workshop participants will engage in a series of adapted SRI protocols and exercises that provide opportunities to integrate relevant tools. We will reflect on how technology impacts group dynamics and collaboration. The workshop is designed for administrators, teachers, instructional coaches, and others responsible for facilitating learning experiences for colleagues. Note: Please bring your laptop to the session.
Teacher Unions: From Professional Associations to Social Justice Activism
Location: Salon E
Presented by: San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel’s Early Career Leadership Fellows (ECLF) and Alliance Leadership & Policy Program (ALPP) participants.
Members of the San Antonio teachers union have engaged in year-long action research projects, looking specifically at inequities that students may experience in San Antonio and specifically within the school system. Come join a panel of educators to hear their findings about these inequities, and engage in a dialogue about how teachers can continue to be both researchers and activists for addressing issues of inequity in schools.
Create Your Own Learning Experience
Room: Milam
Don’t see a session that fits your need? Suggest a topic, Write it on a sign-up, and hold your own session.
Late Afternoon 2:45pm-4:15pm
Building Language Equity through Literacy and Play
Location: Salon B
Presented by: Ruth Whalen Crockett – Director of New Teachers Collaborative and Mandy Levine – Spanish Domain Leader, Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
Come play and read in Spanish! In this workshop, through reading Children’s books, close observation, play, and examination of student work, participants will learn how language learning, facilitated through children’s literature and play, can build community, support students and adults in mistake making, and build an equitable culture of language proficiency. Participants will be guided through protocols that allow them to reflect on how their own language learning experiences impact the ways they teach language in their classrooms and collaborate with language learning families. Participating teachers and school administrators will leave with tools to bring back to their schools to support faculty as they build equitable schools where language teaching and learning is shared and supported by everyone. Participants will also participate in a text-based seminar that highlights research that corroborates the importance of play and reading when building language proficiency. We will use the Atlas, Microlab Protocol and a text-based discussion protocol.
Leveraging Technology to Enhance Intentional Learning Communities
Location: Riverview
Presented by: Mike Kalin, Teacher and Facilitator, Noble and Greenough School
Many teachers are quick to adopt new educational technologies in their classrooms, but too rarely do we use these tools to support professional growth. In this session, we will consider how common technologies used in schools, including Google Apps, can improve the effectiveness of adult learning. Workshop participants will engage in a series of adapted SRI protocols and exercises that provide opportunities to integrate relevant tools. We will reflect on how technology impacts group dynamics and collaboration. The workshop is designed for administrators, teachers, instructional coaches, and others responsible for facilitating learning experiences for colleagues. Note: Please bring your laptop to the session.
Preventing Teacher Burnout – A Pathway to Greater Teacher Well-Being and Retention
Location: Salon E
Presented by: Ayodele Harrison & Maya Jenkins
Are you feeling overwhelmed, tired, stressed? Are you practicing self-care yet still feel you may be on the brink of burnout? We all know that teaching is an intellectually, physically, and emotionally demanding profession and that teacher burnout is a major reason that teachers leave the profession at alarming rates. So what can we do about it? The CREATE Teacher Residency Program is using an innovative approach to supporting educators in the Atlanta Public Schools district with the development of healthier responses to daily stressors, especially remaining focused and calm during difficult conversations and emotionally-charged situations. In partnership with Emory University, CREATE offers Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT®), a multi-week program that deliberately and systematically works to cultivate compassion, and reduce stress and burnout. In this session, experienced CBCT practitioners will lead an interactive experience to explore compassion as a pathway to greater teacher well-being and retention.
Create Your Own Learning Experience
Room: Bowie
Don’t see a session that fits your need? Suggest a topic, Write it on a sign-up, and hold your own session.