Iowa ASCD
Iowa ASCD:  January Newsletter

January 1, 2011
Greetings!
 
Welcome to Iowa ASCD's first digital newsletter, a recommendation the members made in our fall survey.

Please join us for our spring conference, The Curriculum Leadership Academy, on April 13-14 as well as any or all of the webinars we are offering.  

Also please take a look at the honor one of our Iowa schools received - the first ASCD Whole Child Award!

We look forward to increasing our service to you and wish you all the very best year ever.

Sincerely,
Lou Howell
Executive Director of Iowa ASCD
January 4 - 3:00 - 4:00 P.M.:   ASCD Webinar - Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom with Carol Tomlinson and Marcia Imbeau
The prospect of "managing" a classroom of young learners is daunting to most teachers at the outset of their careers.  Over time, most teachers become more comfortable with "managing" students.  Nonetheless, "classroom management" remains a key impediment to using differentiated instruction for many, if not most, teachers both veteran and novice.  

This webinar will explore three critical questions that may inhibit teacher confidence in establishing classrooms that are flexible enough to attend to the range of learning needs of students in those classrooms.
- What is the difference between leading students and managing them?
- What are some steps in effectively leading students?
- What are some strategies for managing the details required for effective and efficient differentiation?
 
Join this webinar as a way of reflecting on your own classroom or classrooms in your school or district, and to strengthen your understanding of what it means to be both leader and a manager in a setting designed to address the learning needs of all students in the classroom.

Register at  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/747110336
January 12 - 4:00 P.M.  Webinar with Dr. Margaret Heritage

Iowa ASCD is excited to have Margaret Heritage present a follow-up webinar from the Summer 2010 conferences.  Please join Dr. Heritage on Wednesday, January 12, 2011, at 4:00 P.M. to hear her share additional information on exemplary teaching and the "nuts and bolts" of student learning criteria. 

Please participate in this webinar with Dr. Heritage on January 12 at 4:00 P.M. by accessing the following URL:   http://mbaea.na4.acrobat.com/ascd/

If you have never attended a Connect Pro meeting before: Test your connection: http://iowaec.na4.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/go/connectpro_overview

January 19 - 3:45 - 4:45 P.M.  Webinar with Dr. Doug Fisher

Dr. Fisher will present on Wednesday, January 19, 2011, at 3:45 furthering his presentation on Gradual Release of Responsibility.  Dr. Fisher will focus on strategically using prompts, cues and questions to facilitate students' increased responsibility for task completion. Participants will leave the webinar with additional "tools" for effectively reaching students in the classroom. 

To participate in this opportunity with Dr. Doug Fisher, please access the following URL at 3:45 P.M. on January 19.

http://iowaec.na4.acrobat.com/r68731502/


If you have never attended a Connect Pro meeting before: Test your connection:   http://iowaec.na4.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/go/connectpro_overview

January 25 Webinar - 2:00 P.M.:  Getting to "Got It" with Betty Garner

Have you ever wondered why some students "get it" and others don't?  In this session, international consultant, Betty K. Garner, will share what she learned from students about how they learn.

When students are having difficulty with reading, math, remembering, following directions, or lack of motivation, they often need to develop their basic cognitive structures to process information for meaning. These structures develop "Metability," the dynamic process of learning, creating, and changing, which equips students to learn how to learn for life.  

Topics will include
  • A brief overview of cognitive structures and how they function to process information for meaning.
  • Practical suggestions on how to help struggling students develop and use their basic cognitive structures to make sense of information presented in class.
  • Integration of questioning and coaching strategies within daily curriculum to stimulate cognitive engagement.
  • Awareness of the spiritual dimensions of learning - the immaterial, intangible aspects of effective teaching and learning.
Participants are invited to share their questions, insights, comments, and suggestions. They are also invited to participate in research by sharing their personal definitions of teaching and learning.  A brief summary of some of Dr. Garner's research is available in her ASCD bestselling book, Getting to "Got It!" - Helping Struggling Students Learn How to Learn.

Register for this ASCD webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/798651704

ASCD Honors Malcolm Price Laboratory School, Winner of ASCD's First Vision in Action: Whole Child Award

The University of Northern Iowa's Malcolm Price Laboratory School (PLS) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, is the winner of ASCD's first-ever Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award. ASCD honored Price Laboratory School today at its Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in San Antonio, Tex. The award recognizes schools that move beyond a narrow focus on academic achievement to take action for the whole child, creating learners who are knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically active, artistically engaged, prepared for economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling.

PLS, a prekindergarten through 12th grade public school with a diverse population of 369 students, is located on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). As part of UNI's College of Education, the school is a setting for clinical teacher education and research at the prekindergarten through high school levels and conducts professional development for its own faculty and for faculty at schools across the state. The state has passed legislation allowing the Iowa Department of Education and UNI to develop Iowa's first statewide Research and Development school at PLS.

"We are honored, humbled, and thrilled to be named ASCD's first Vision in Action award winner," says Bridgette Wagoner, interim director of Price Laboratory School. "Price Lab's success can be attributed to our relentless focus on providing students with a challenging and relevant curriculum in a safe and trusting environment that feels like a family. Our committed teachers really care about our kids, and our kids really care about each other."

PLS was selected as ASCD's first Vision in Action award winner because it has taken specific steps to ensure that students at every level-from preschoolers to high school juniors and seniors-are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged:

  • Healthy. All K-10 students at Price Laboratory School participate in daily physical education classes and a weekly health program that ultimately prepares juniors and seniors for a Healthy Active Lifestyles course that empowers them to take responsibility for their own health and fitness via real-world experiences. The school also recently launched a new breakfast and lunch program called the Grassroots Caf� that provides students with fresh, organic foods from local farms. The program, which features made-from-scratch meals, has drastically cut down on the amount of processed foods and trans fats served to students.
  • Safe. PLS's comprehensive school counseling program has created a physically and emotionally safe environment for its students with an emphasis on character education. Students are deliberately taught about their right to be who they are and their responsibility to respect others. The school's counselors have instituted a bully prevention program-Be a Buddy, Not a Bully!-for its elementary students that has been adopted by schools worldwide.
  • Engaged. Price Laboratory School recently began engaging its students through project-based learning that allows them to focus on topics of their choosing. During the January term, 11th grade projects included hosting a radio talk show, participating in service learning, investigating string theory, and job shadowing. The school's 8th graders worked in small groups on an empathy project to develop films on a variety of tough issues such as the danger of gossip, cyber bullying, and using slurs. The films raised awareness, engendered empathy, and called viewers to action. In May, all K-12 students will participate in this type of learning.
  • Supported. All 6-12 students at PLS participate in cooperative advisory groups that meet daily at the middle school level and at least twice a month at the high school level. Advisors function as "school parents" who advocate for and mentor their assigned students.
  • Challenged. Every child at PLS participates in a college preparatory curriculum and is held to the highest expectations. To prepare students for postsecondary success, the school's Juniors/Seniors Options Program provides students with multiple pathways and flexible scheduling so they can personalize their curriculum and plan for the future. Some of the options students can choose from are dual enrollment university courses, individualized study, internships with local businesses, cadet teaching, and senior projects.

PLS has taken a coordinated and cohesive approach to implementing these whole child practices, ensuring that they connect to the school's broader improvement and planning framework and are sustainable despite potential changes in funding and personnel. The school has also engaged a variety of stakeholders, including students and adults from within the school and university and from the local community.

ASCD Executive Director Gene Carter says, "ASCD has long been committed to the development of the whole child and is ready to move from sharing a vision to inspiring action. We commend Price Laboratory School for delivering on its vision by taking tangible steps that result in learners who are civically active, prepared for economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling."

PLS is seeing the results of its comprehensive, coordinated whole child approach. It has a perfect graduation rate, and 97 percent of its graduates enroll in two- or four-year colleges. Its students rank second in the state for college freshmen grades earned in the most advanced courses. When compared to high school graduates from other Iowa schools, graduates from Price Laboratory School rank among the top 10 percent for overall GPA for college freshmen courses.


Meet Dr. Angela Peery, Presenter at the Summer Institute in Dubuque on June 20 and 21, 2011

Dr. Angela Peery is a Senior Professional Development Associate with Doug Reeves' organization, The Leadership and Learning Center. Besides various leadership roles at the building, district, and state levels, she has been an instructional coach in low-performing schools, a high school assistant principal, and a literacy consultant for the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, co-teaching and designing lessons with teachers in high-poverty, at-risk schools.

Dr. Peery has been a co-director of a National Writing Project site. She has published three books: Deep Change: Professional Development from the Inside Out (2004); ARRIVE: Improving Instruction through Reflective Journaling (2005); and Writing Matters in Every Classroom (2009).  

Angela is also the creator of several professional development seminars for The Center, including the Writing to Learn series and Power Strategies for Effective Teaching.

Her family consists of husband Tim, three Labrador retrievers (Decoy, Madison, and Lady), and cat (Emma).  The entire brood resides on Lady's Island in the Beaufort/Hilton Head area of South Carolina.  

Please join us on June 20 and 21 at the Grand River Center in Dubuque when Dr. Peery will present on Power Strategies for Effective Teaching.  You will discover, practice, model, and be able to replicate as many as 15 of the most up-to-date, effective instructional methods can be used in your district/building/classroom the next day.  This process will help ensure delivery of the Iowa Core Curriculum and success of all students, including the gifted and those at risk.

Summer Conference with Heidi Hayes Jacobs: Developing Global Classrooms

Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs will be coming to Iowa on June 21-23, 2011. We hope that you will be able to attend this conference, along with other educators from across the state.

What year are you preparing your students for? 1980? 1995? 2025? Provocative and practical, Heidi Hayes Jacobs asks us to replace our dated curriculum with contemporary content and skills in a deliberate process called "upgrading." The strategies from her book, Curriculum 21: Essential Education in a Changing World, empower educators with specific ways to integrate web 2.0,digital tools, and global portals into each classroom.
  • How can each classroom teacher start the upgrading process?
  • How can we effectively globalize the curriculum?
  • What will new versions of schools look like in the future?
  • Are there signs of these now in the field?
  • What does 21st century leadership need to change to adapt to meet the needs of our learner?
Explore these questions and raise your own with internationally recognized curriculum expert, Heidi Hayes Jacobs, in what promises to be a lively and engaging event. She will share her newest project on how to upgrade professional development as well as provide you with specific resources for upgrading your classroom curriculum.

You can review an archived webinar addressing this conference at http://www.ascd.org/professional-development/webinars/heidi-hayes-jacobs-webinar.aspx
Thank you so much for your continued support for Iowa ASCD.  We look forward to providing you with additional learning opportunities.

Please visit our Iowa ASCD website for additional materials and supports for conference speakers.

Sincerely,
Lou


Lou Howell
Executive Director of Iowa ASCD
[email protected]
[email protected]
515.229.4781
Curriculum Leadership Academy

April 13-14, 2011:  The focus is on closing the achievement gap.  The academy will be at the Hilton Garden Inn in Urbandale (Interstate 80, Exit 129) and will feature Iowa practitioners/experts. 

 Please contact Sue Wood ([email protected] ) for additional information and/or sharing successes you have had in closing the gap in various sub-groups. 

Summer Institute in Lake Okoboji

June 16-17, 2011:  Better Learning through Structured Teaching:  A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility, co-authored by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey,  describes how teachers can help students develop stronger learning skills by ensuring that instruction moves from modeling and guided practice to collaborative learning to independent tasks.

Join Dr. Frey for this two-day conference helping educators "Teach for Understanding" and leading teachers to challenge students to engage in a variety of thinking-centered activities.
 
The Iowa ASCD contact is Julie Davies ([email protected]).

Summer Institute in Dubuque

June 20-21, 2011:  Power Strategies for Effective Teaching Seminar-Angela Peery; Grand River Center in Dubuque
 
Teachers, instructional leaders, and administrators will discover, practice, model, and be able to replicate as many as 15 of the most up-to-date, effective instructional methods that they can begin to use in classrooms the next day.  This process will help ensure delivery of the Iowa Core Curriculum and success of all students.
 
This two-day seminar focuses entirely on best instructional practices and how to select practices based on information gleaned from student work and data, including the successful use of non-fiction writing. 

The Iowa ASCD contact is Cindy Swanson ([email protected]).
 
Curriculum 21 Conference at Southeast Polk

June 21 - 23, 2011.  Heidi Hayes Jacobs will focus on developing global classrooms where students demonstrate 21st century skills.  The Iowa ASCD contact is Pam Vogel ([email protected]).
Quick Links

Iowa ASCD Mission Statement

 

The source for developing instructional leadership


Iowa ASCD Contacts

 

Executive Director

Lou Howell

[email protected]

 

President

Julie Davies

[email protected]

 

Membership Information

Bridget Arrasmith

[email protected]