RSAC 2024

The Olympia District engaged with ROE 17 in 2019 to create a math framework that was rooted in responsive instruction and problem solving. The work with the ROE started with professional development around shifting the manner in which math was taught. The shift from memorizing algorithms to a strong number sense and problem solving foundation, was initially difficult for staff. After multiple years of professional development, work to make the framework more robust, and providing our staff with math coaching, our growth continues to climb. In the session we will share the key elements in our journey and provide participants with resources that they could (and should) use to move their math instruction, and student's math performance, forward.

"Start Strong to Stay Strong!" is a session designed to equip educators with the tools and strategies necessary to establish a conducive learning environment right from the beginning of each school day. The program emphasizes the implementation of rituals and routines aimed at fostering a sense of safety, belonging, community, and self-efficacy among students. By incorporating elements such as personalized greetings, purposeful partnering, community building activities, dedicated family time, and goal setting exercises, educators will learn how to create a nurturing atmosphere that sets the stage for successful learning experiences.

Participants will explore the significance of each component of the "Strong Start" framework and discover practical techniques for seamlessly integrating them into their daily routines. By prioritizing relationship-building and social-emotional development, educators will not only enhance student engagement but also cultivate a classroom culture where every individual feels valued and supported.

Moreover, "Strong Start" recognizes the crucial role of a positive classroom climate in optimizing tier one instruction. By laying the groundwork for a cohesive learning community, educators can facilitate more effective teaching and learning experiences, ultimately leading to improved academic outcomes for all students.

Join us in "Start Strong to Stay Strong!" and embark on a journey towards creating a classroom environment where students thrive, relationships flourish, and learning happens from the very first bell.

Ready to highlight successful strategies and celebrate best practices within your school setting? We’ll show you how to provide opportunities for colleagues to showcase their craft and learn from one another. See how we embrace five-star instruction and foster shared leadership through peer visits, share fairs, and more! It’s time to let your staff take the stage and shine!

In our rural slice of education, we are building relationships through our building relationships. Seven years ago a major shift occurred in our building and the new administration was tasked with changing building culture. Through extensive effort and data collection to identify needs progress had consistently been made with staff culture. Student culture continued to suffer, namely due to acting out behaviors and lack of parent support and/or follow through, which left staff culture on a plateau and also impacted student’s academic achievement. Through the challenges of a high poverty, drug use, and domestic violence school district we have chosen to implement a people-first model each day of the 2023-2024 school year focusing on touches of our humans each and every day. Every student and adult has a “touch” or interaction from the principals at some point throughout the day, 500 humans daily. These “touches” head off challenges before they ever get a chance to fester and grow into problems. These types of interactions take time management, care, thoughtfulness, grace, and humility. Ultimately, you solve problems by making connections, being proactive, and fostering great relationships through communication.

All students deserve to acquire writing skills. Most teachers are ill-prepared to teach writing. In this session, I demonstrate how to write narrative essays aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Session participants’ writing skills will be improved as will their learners’. During this workshop, I model strategies for brainstorming ideas, selecting an idea, planning a story, and writing the essay. Participants participate in each step, collaborate and share ideas, as writers often do.
First, I have participants craft a writing oath to themselves, agreeing not to be critical of their writing. Next, I model two methods of generating ideas and allow participants to practice creating a list of story ideas. Then, I model how to select an idea and turn it into a “first, then” statement. Participants will select an idea and do the same. Afterward, we discuss time order transitions and create a quick plan of the essay. We review the plan and make adjustments. We then consider elaboration strategies and add details to our plan. Lastly, I model turning my plan into a narrative story. Participants then do the same.
All participants leave this session with both resources and links to resources so they are able to return to their classrooms with the skills and confidence to teach their students to write. As a result of this session,, they will be able to model their thinking, decision-making, and writing for their students. Later, they will coach and support their students while following the process.

It is no secret that teachers are facing intense learning barriers in the classroom today. In this session, teachers will work on worthwhile ways to build successful scholars from the ground up, igniting a love for learning along the way. Teachers will be introduced to the “Core 4” goals to develop a rigorous, meaningful classroom environment that increases student achievement.

What do you want your students to be able to do at the end of the year? We will lead teachers in developing individualized “Core 4” learning principles. From there, teachers will create a blueprint for success that establishes how to get to your students to reach new heights.

The cornerstone of this session will be creating Growth Mindset Gadgets. These student-generated building blocks are color-coded with meanings, positive affirmations, and can be used with any lesson across the curriculum. Scholars can continually monitor their learning process, offering opportunities for immediate intervention and student leadership. As a result, your classroom environment is transformed into a site where all stages of learning are celebrated.

Student engagement continues to be a struggle in math, especially as students get older and the purpose for learning the mathematical concept becomes less clear and interest wanes. But what if math could be taught through storytelling? In this session, the presenter will share how using Dan Meyer's "Three Acts of a Mathematical Story" in her 5th grade classroom increased engagement and excitement for math. In addition, attendees will learn the basics of creating their own 3 Act Tasks and will leave with an abundance of resources, organized by standard and grade level, that can be implemented in classrooms immediately.

Illinois Assessment of Readiness: three words that bring anxiety and stress to many educators. What if you were given the resources to develop formative and summative assessments that mirror IAR? We will discuss how you can incorporate IAR-style assessments into your curriculum throughout the year so you can avoid the IAR prep that is crammed into the months of February and March.

The Common Core State Standards provide us with clear student learning goals for each grade level, but what is instruction actually supposed to look like to realize those goals? Many educators and school districts assume that practicing the discrete skills outlined in the standards such as finding the main idea and determining cause and effect are what the authors of the CCSS had in mind. However, the authors actually wrote that “the standards themselves are not the goal of daily instruction; understanding the texts encountered and being able to express that understanding is.” This session will discuss the research and associated instructional practices one district used to significantly improve student literacy outcomes.

The notion of using AI in the classroom can be controversial. While there is good reason to be cautious, this session introduces four basic strategies for using AI to simplify your teaching. Participants will learn about MagicSchoolAI and ChatGPT and have time to exchange implementation ideas and explore using either or both sites after each strategy is introduced.