Discover the transformative power of student leadership at West Oak Middle School! Join us for an enlightening presentation on how our Student Ambassadors program is revolutionizing student engagement and empowerment. Through a focus on promoting voice, choice, and agency, our ambassadors are shaping a school culture where every student feels heard, valued, and empowered to make a difference. This presentation will delve into the innovative strategies and impactful initiatives spearheaded by our student leaders, offering valuable insights for educators, administrators, and parents looking to cultivate leadership skills and foster inclusivity in their own communities. Be inspired by the stories of our student ambassadors and learn practical strategies for nurturing leadership qualities in young learners. Whether you're a seasoned educator seeking fresh ideas or a parent eager to support your child's leadership journey, this presentation promises to ignite your passion for student-driven change. Join us in celebrating the incredible achievements of our student leaders and discover how you can empower the next generation of change-makers!
Explore Coyote Track interactive visualization tool. This online site centers around coyote ecology and behavior related to data collected from radio-collared coyotes in urban and rural areas of Illinois. Using real data, this workshop will guide participants through the visualization data tool and standard-based lessons that support the unit. Participants will learn about how and why scientists are studying coyotes in Illinois including learning about telemetry and how the information is gathered. The workshop is geared toward teachers of Illinois high school and middle school students. Upper elementary teachers are also welcome as the information can be used with younger students.
In this session, we will share a real life example of how we designed a Guaranteed Viable Curriculum (GVC) for the Middle School Advisory program in Hawthorn District #73. We will explore the process including the vision, leadership team formation, data collection, planning, and implementation stages. We will discuss how to create a middle school advisory framework and evidence-based practices that foster positive, strengths-based relationships between staff and students. We will also explore Community Circles, and the role they play in cultivating learning environments that are safe, positive, and inclusive of all learners. Participants will learn how they can replicate the process for their specific school setting.
With 18 years of experience in both the classroom and as a district level administrator, Lindsay is an educator at heart. Lindsay's passion and talents are seamlessly embedding SEL and mindfulness practices into daily classroom routines, creating environments where trust and community... Read More →
With the 2010 inception of the ELA CCSS, the push for a cohesive, common curriculum and literacy experiences came to the forefront of schools. However, the resources and materials of the past do not necessarily connect with our current demographic of students. Research shows that students are motivated and engaged in texts and tasks when they perceive them as pertinent to their lives. Schools champion a focus on equity, inclusion, and the celebration of diversity, but the required curricula do not necessarily reflect these values and student voices. How can students use their schema to decipher, interact, and construct text if they lack the necessary background, experiences, tools, and the desire to do so? Literacy instruction should include the cultures, backgrounds, and language practices of all students. This session will provide strategies for bridging CCSS standards and texts with multimodality and relevancy that appeal to students’ interests, identity formation, and range of ability levels to account for multiliteracies and view language as a resource. These facilitate students’ self-efficacy, a primary motivational determinant of achievement and a critical precursor to student success. We help students redefine literacy beyond an emphasis on skill and drills to unlock the transformative power within the classroom community.
In early 2022, as schools were coming out of two years of interrupted instruction, Clinton Junior High School received a “targeted” designation from the state. Limited infrastructure was in place in terms of a building leadership team whose purpose was to focus on academic achievement. Join the building principal and a teacher member of the school’s instructional support team as they share their experiences of addressing the achievement gap and fostering a mindset of continuous school improvement. Learn about the process of analyzing Math and ELA data and building staff capacity for strategic improvements in designation Year 1, as well as plans for moving forward in Year 2.
