Updated Jan. 19, 2010.
I-SS is hosting the First Annual Iredell Statesville Innovation Showcase at the Statesville Civic Center on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. According to the announcement there will be a focus on strategies and simple processes that positively impact student success. There will be booths by teachers and administrators with breakout sessions throughout the day. The event is free and open to the public.
Mathew Fail announced at the Committee of the Whole meeting that there would be some 68 presentations with about 150 presenters. He also said that they were expecting participants from a number of other school districts. Click on the link below to access the announcement.
Innovation Showcase
This is a workday for I-SS. Are teachers being informed of this event? Have they been told that they could spend part or all of the workday attending the Innovation Showcase? No? Why not? Because I-SS does not believe that one-day conferences, workshops, or meetings are beneficial to teachers.
The following statement is taken directly from the I-SS web site. It is located in the Professional Development section under the Continuous Improvement tab.
We believe that professional learning improves the knowledge and skills of our faculty and staff, and can lead to changes in classroom practice and increased student learning. Professional development that is not on-going or collaborative (aka One-Shot Workshop) rarely translates into classroom application or student impact. Research shows that the most effective professional development combines meaningful job-embedded practice with support from instructors through on-going feedback and coaching.
I-SS says that one day workshops do not translate into classroom application or student impact. Yet, at the same time I-SS is spending taxpayer’s money to organize and present such a workshop. Where is the reasoning in that?
I have received the following information from Jessica Mellen, I-SS Graduate Fellow.
The event will be held at the Statesville Civic Center on January 26, from 8:45-4:10 (and closed from 12-12:50 so that presenters may have a brief lunch break). This event is similar in style to a science fair, in that the majority of presentations are on display boards (some complemented with technology) in a large exhibit hall. There will also be concurrent seminar-style presentations which will delve deeper into some widely applicable strategies. Each of the seminar-style presentations will be held 4 times throughout the day--twice in the morning, and twice in the afternoon.
The presenters are all I-SS staff who have volunteered to be a part of this event. The requirement for entry was simply that presentations should demonstrate strategies that are having a positive impact on student learning! At this point there are over 70 presentations scheduled (including the seminar-style sessions), and 150 presenters and volunteers from the I-SS staff.
The goal of this event is to both share knowledge across the district, and to celebrate successes that students, teachers and staff are having in their classrooms and buildings. The project team has been working closely with principals to make sure that all I-SS staff has the opportunity to attend the event, as they are the intended target audience.
There will be a Welcome Table, from which any further questions can be answered and information will be provided on the day of the event.
I do think that this type of event can be valuable to teachers. It is always good to see various instructional methods that are beneficial to students. I only wish that I-SS administrators would acknowledge the fact that I-SS teachers could learn from similar events that are sponsored by other school systems and by professional organizations.
I also received the following Showcase information and schedules from Ms. Mellen.
The following schedules are color coded to match a shift schedule for the schools. In efforts to make this event as accessible as possible for all I-SS staff to attend, schools have been approved and encouraged to bring their staffs to the event on school buses.
All visitors are welcome to attend whenever best suits their schedules: please do not feel obligated to follow the shift schedule. You are welcome to arrive and depart (if you plan to do so) at any point during the day that the Showcase is open. Visitors are also welcome to participate in the raffle, which will be drawn at the end of each of the four shifts noted in the schedule. We will also be soliciting feedback about the event via comment cards throughout the day.
Click on each schedule to enlarge it.
Teachers have been told about it and most schools are providing transportation to/from.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Paul? Teachers are trying to share the wonderful things they are doing in their classrooms with students and you need to attack them too?
ReplyDeleteTeachers can share wonderful ideas on facebook or our own ISS web page. We have technology. I say use it!!! Don't waste my time with things I have seen many times !! This better count as reading credits!!!
ReplyDeleteAll we have done this year as teachers is have meeting after meeting. Teachers will never be paid for the amount of time that has been spent at ISS in the last 7 years and still counting. Not in a million years !!!
ReplyDeleteHey ,you forgot to mention filling out surveys, or going over evaluations for PLCs, or continually keeping up with PLCs still...,and bubbling in tests for students who cannot on PAs. It is as if they have so much time at the central office that they continue to find more papers and excuses for teachers to fill them out. Some things become redundant when used over and over.
ReplyDeleteWe as teachers were told we were going and this is a required workday.
ReplyDeleteSame here... was told it is required.
ReplyDeleteHow condescending; they know better what will benefit our teaching than we do? They are not in our classrooms ( not in a meaningful way -- high and mighty CWT's do not count!)
Is there no end to the total lack of respect for teachers?
We just got word that it is not required but we are highly encouraged to attend. Will those of us not attending be in the "dog house?!" An extra day in the classroom would be more beneficial.
ReplyDeleteThe two comments above are sooooo right!!! Those central office administrators just don't get it--and I get the distinct impression they just don't care what teachers have to put up with. All those high and mighty administrators would be up in arms if we treated our students the way they treat teachers!
ReplyDeleteIs it a required workday or not???
ReplyDeleteAnother year with Klaene's rhetoric, oh yay! Get a hobby. You look like a model train kind of guy.
ReplyDeleteWas this planned by SIT teams for each school and no one told about it until it was time to go?
ReplyDeleteProfessional development should be addressed by the SIT teams at their
prospective schools. Quit making last minute decisions without teachers involved.
Ditto, January 25, 2010 9:45 PM !
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that some are being told that attendance is mandatory while others are not required to go?
I haven't spoken to a single teacher who feels that tomorrow's dog and pony show is anything other that a big waste of time!! Guess we can just add this to all the other wasted time this year! Lesson planning will have to be done at home, as usual.
Great job today presenters and attendees! I walked away with a lot of interesting ideas and information. It was so great to see all of the hard work that all of you do for our students! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteSo impressed by the POSITIVE energy shared at the showcase. Thank you, presenters, for sharing your great ideas!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a good day as well. In 1-2 hours you get a chance to talk to lots of wonderful teachers and get some ideas for your own classroom.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear that the showcase was a success. That is the kind of activity that the system needs. When Dr. Sherrill was the director of elementary education, he held quarterly meetings of grade levels by districts. It was always nice to meet with other k teachers from different schools to discuss our classrooms and to exchange ideas.
ReplyDeleteIt was much better than staff development at our schools. Thanks presenters.
ReplyDeleteI love finally getting to see other teachers in the same grade level or not. It is not the showcase , but the energy so wonderfully shown by the teachers!!!
ReplyDeleteI just love seeing other teachers at other schools.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need a showcase. We just need to meet together once or twice a year as a grade level and we will know what is going on at other schools. I just enjoyed seeing other teachers in ISS so much.