2017 Annual Conference

Learn how school districts are meeting the need to raise K-12 standards to new heights with the expectation that all students will graduate ready for college and careers. In this session you will learn what strategies for teaching, learning, and assessing students towards college readiness. You will hear from Cypress Fairbanks ISD and others that understand the ACT solutions that are part of College Readiness goals.

This session illuminates the process of how redesigning onboarding and a podcast series came to be. We will address the craft and classroom details for creating podcasts. Additionally, we will discuss multidisciplinary design, prototyping, and scaling innovation. The presenters will discuss the technical aspect of getting the project started, the significance of dialogue, and the role risk plays in innovation, which in the end serves to onboard and retain employees.  You will not want to miss this engaging, innovative session that brings “the district” and “the classroom” together. 

Often Special Education teachers enter into the profession without possessing a strong understanding of the responsibilities that fall to them as case managers and instructional support facilitators. This session will describe a process that was used to develop professionals on the job to effectively support their students during the IEP development, ARD process, teacher collaboration, and classroom instructional strategies.

Bastrop Middle School endeavors to embed professional development into daily practice. How? We practice teaching, study teaching, video our teaching and reflect on our teaching. This session will tell the truth about our efforts to change and innovate in the real world of public school and share our journey to integrate systems which change instructional practice. Systems for change include Instructional Rounds, Teach Like a Champion, Professional Learning Communities, and Data processing protocols.

Mission: School Transformation is helping Texas schools integrate digital pathways into professional learning for school leadership. Experience professional learning opportunities designed specifically for campus leaders and district administrators. mySTN is a virtual space for instructional leaders to engage in learning around the Visioning work, build leadership skill, and cultivate professional support networks. Come see how this new professional learning opportunity can move your district forward in the School Transformation work.

Who are you designing professional development for?  Do you seek first to truly understand the needs of stakeholders?  In 2016, North East ISD challenged our district instructional leaders to utilize the components of Human-Centered Design Theory to generate innovative ideas to improve our practices.  Through this process, ideas were incubated and hatched.  This session provides participants with an overview of how we used Human-Centered Design Thinking to re-examine and redesign professional development in our district.

As technology continues to permeate classrooms, personalized and blended learning havegained traction among educators and policy makers. Many believe that the power of technology and personalized learning will finally allow teachers to individualize instruction for our increasingly diverse students. However, while technology and classroom innovation are certainly important, a deep understanding of exciting developments in the field of neuroscience and how students learn is essential.In this session, you will learn how applying the findings of neuroscience, integrating carefully curated instructional technology, and supporting expert teaching will lead to student-centric classrooms “where learning never stops.”

What tools do you have in your toolbox to ensure every student receives literacy instruction by all teachers and in all content areas? Birdville ISD is making BOLD choices regarding literacy instruction PK-Grade 12. Participants in this session will learn about Birdville ISD’s comprehensive plan for literacy professional development for principals, assistant principals, academic coaches, and teachers. Included will be ways to address struggling readers at all levels, as well as advancing our most proficient readers. “The ability to read, write, and communicate connects people to one another and empowers them to achieve things they never thought possible.” International Literacy Association. Come join us and connect with others on the “literacy for all” journey.