How we Connect
August 2016
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ARTICLES
Learning Forward updates
Learning Forward Team Grant awardees Meet this year’s winners of the Learning Forward Foundation Team Grant, given to a team of educators making an effort to advance Learning Forward’s vision: […]
Grassroots Movement
Working with their classmates and coaches in the Learning Forward Academy, learning leaders in the Aptakisic-Tripp School District No. 102 in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, developed and implemented an action plan to support teacher-driven professional learning that would lead to improved student literacy. (Available to the public.)
From The Director
I love connecting people who care about the same thing or can help each other with a particular task or goal. So, as you can imagine, I love networking. However, you […]
Abstracts
Twitterpated: I found my learning community. You can, too. By Eric Celeste Perhaps the most important reason networks are important to professional learning is this: By their nature, they create […]
5 Core Roles Of Central Office Learning Leaders
Nearly 20 years ago, we wrote an article titled “Multiple roles of staff developers” (Killion & Harrison, 1997). We found ourselves in conversations with colleagues like us who had assumed […]
Intentional Connections Help Bring Rigorous Content To Life
In our district, we have realized the importance of creating intentional connections within and beyond our buildings so that everyone has the capacity to bring rigorous content to life and […]
Book Club
Collaborative Leadership: Six Influences That Matter Most By Peter M. DeWitt What type of leadership do you practice? If your answer is transformational or instructional, you’re not alone. Many of […]
Nebraska Affiliate Empowers Change Agents Statewide
This year’s winner of the Learning Forward Foundation’s Affiliate Grant is Learning Forward Nebraska, under the direction of Chad Dumas. The affiliate’s three-year plan for professional learning proposes to expand […]
Teams Outline Plans For ESSA Funds
Learning Forward and the National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future (NCTAF) hosted Agents for Learning Competition finalists July 21-22 in Chicago. The 12 finalist teams presented their plans for […]
Lessons From Research
What the Study Says University faculty led a three-year teacher professional development initiative to integrate technology into instruction in two rural, high-poverty middle schools in the Southeast. The study demonstrates […]
Tool
As more educators and policymakers embrace Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning (Learning Forward, 2011) for planning, implementing, and evaluating professional learning, they may be ready to ask: Now what […]
Essentials
Elementary focus, Learning preferences, Better than a Band-Aid, Student achievement, Teacher diversity
What We Say And What We Mean
We use a lot of jargon and shorthand in education, just as other professions do. Our shorthand helps us move quickly through conversations, establishing that we have a shared understanding […]
What Student Writing Can Teach Us About Teaching
A program from the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project aims to improve the teaching of academic writing and, in doing so, increase student achievement. Three specific practices would transfer easily to any professional learning community.
Algebra? There’s An App For That
Florida’s Algebra Nation is an online learning system for teachers and students. Schools that were frequent users in 2014-15 report significant impact on student achievement in algebra 1.
Cloud Coaching
Web-based coaching shows significant promise for linking teachers to highly expert practitioners. This is especially important in districts that cannot afford to hire full-time school-based coaches or to train and […]
The Virtual Workroom
Four years ago, high school social studies teacher Amy Presley was in a rut. She wanted to do more than teach students facts about history. She wanted to create meaningful […]
Open Doors, Open Minds
Energized by a sense of curiosity and anticipation, a group of observing teachers moved quickly down the elementary school hall toward the host teacher’s classroom. The group had come together […]
Bridging Silos
Growing up in rural America, we passed silos on our way to school filled with silage, a combination of whole maize plants, beets, grass, and alfalfa. While the ingredients varied […]
Twitterpated
This issue is personal for me because the advice it contains about breaking out of silos and building networks is so relevant. As someone who has spent his career writing […]
Up Close: Deep Smarts Start Here
Because many school and system leaders and policymakers advocate and support teacher collaboration as a means to improve student achievement, it’s important to understand how collaboration, teacher characteristics, and school […]
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