Thank you to the Advanced Learning Partnerships coaching team for sharing the experiences and project work of the Virginia is for Learners Innovation Network!
Summertime is Not Down Time for the Innovation Network
At this time of year, many of us want to think of relaxing with friends and family, but many of the Innovation Network members are keeping busy this summer. Some divisions ended the year with a call to team members to consider innovative initiatives for the Fall. Others celebrated good work already completed. And still others are planning or participating in professional learning to start the 2019-20 school year off right. We hope these stories from the Network inspire you and keep you motivated throughout the summer, and we look forward to sharing your story in an upcoming issue.
Congratulations to all of the recent graduates of every grade and good luck to the Class of ’19!
I Belong Here…
Educators from five #VALIN districts got to hear from Lily first hand about how authentic learning impacted her high school experience. A follow up conversation revealed even more of the backstory and you can read it here.
Moving From Pockets to Culture of Deeper Learning
Manassas Park City Schools embraces innovation and strategic risk taking. Read about how they have accepted the challenge to implement the Profile of a Virginia Graduate in an authentic, shared and transparent way.
A Visible Path Forward
These cards, in the hands of Suffolk City Public Schools leaders during a #VaLIN cohort meeting, lead to a design session that resulted in a description of the current state of the innovation team’s work. Learn more about the broad reach of this work.
Follow us on Twitter #VaLIN #VAis4Learners
Hopewell Innovation Coaches Exploring the Power of Video to Drive Change
Suffolk City Innovation Team Turning Insights Into Action
Learning About What a Medical Academy Could Look Like at SVHEC
What Schools Could Be
Ted Dintersmith is graciously donating copies of his latest book, What School Could Be, to participating members of the Virginia is for Learners Innovation Network. Initial team members received hard cover copies at the March Institute. Paperback copies are now available. If you would like paperback copies of What School Could Be for additional staff, students, or parents, please contact Becky Eliis at rge4bc@gmail.com and she will arrange to get them to you at Martinsville at our next meeting. To have your copies available by July 25, please contact Becky by July 11.
How do you PBL?
Don’t be shy! Share your story on how you implement PBL in your school or division, just like Jennifer Miller, Supervisor of Community Connections from Loudoun County. Jennifer shares a response to the question “Who creates PBL Topics?” from teachers in her division, sharing how teachers and students collaborate on topics and closing with a great example of working with community partners on implementing PBL units together! Check out her fantastic response and share your stories on the PBL FLIPGRID for the Network. Feel free to share with some PBL experts in your school or division so they can provide their stories, too. Thanks!
Powhatan County emPOWer Conference
Our #VAis4Learners teammates in Powhatan invite members of the cohort to join their upcoming educational conference, emPOWer. The conference will be held on August 8, 2019, at Powhatan Middle School from 9am – 3pm. The theme for this year’s conference is “Learning from Each Other” Click here to register on or before May 30, 2019.
Save the Date! July 25 #VaLIN Meeting
WHEN
Thursday, July 25th, 8am-4pm
WHERE
191 Fayette Street
Martinsville, VA
MORE INFORMATION
Our next meeting of the Virginia is for Learners Innovation Network will be on Thursday, July 25, beginning with breakfast at 8 am, prior to our scheduled time together from 8:30 am – 4 pm. We will meet in Martinsville at theNew College Institute. By the week of July 8, you will be sent an email with more specific information about the schedule for the next VaLIN Institute on July 25, 2019.
The Virginia School Consortium for Learning values the professional learning network of Virginia’s associations that have a unified mission to provide high quality professional development and promote rich contemporary learning experiences of learners across the Commonwealth. Thank you to Karen Richardson, VSTE Executive Director, for writing this guest post about VSTE services for the VaSCL LiftUp Learning Blog. You can follow Karen on twitter @witchyrichy and VSTE @vste.
Digital technologies have taken their place in classrooms across the Commonwealth. From Chromebooks to robots to 3D printers, students and teachers are using technology to connect, create and communicate in often unimaginable ways. Fortunately for Virginia schools, the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) offers a professional learning community dedicated to innovative, effective integration of these technologies.
The Annual VSTE Conference We are best known for our conference, held annually in early December. We feature internationally known speakers and over 90 exhibitors showing the latest and greatest. But, we are particularly proud of our presenters. Most are educators from across Virginia who gather to share their expertise with their fellow attendees. There are over 320 sessions to choose from along with meet ups and tweetups and parties where you can network. The conference will be held December 8 – 10, 2019, at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center.
Leading Ed Forum In addition to the annual gathering, VSTE offers other face to face learning events. In particular, several years ago, we saw a gap in opportunities for educational technology leaders. We partnered with the Virginia Department of Education to create the Leading Ed Forum. This two-day event, held annually in mid-October, features programming for division level technology and instructional leaders with sessions related to digital equity, broadband, and student data privacy and opportunities to connect with leaders from the VDOE. The Forum will be held October 9 – 10, 2019, at Longwood University. Registration will open soon.
Tracey Dingus and Melissa Warren from Bristol Schools show off their Regions of Virginia review game created during the Invention Literacy Workshop on April 9 in Abingdon, VA.
Makey Makey and More Other partnerships allow us to get digital technologies into the hands of Virginia’s teachers. Through JoyLabz, best known for their Makey Makey invention kits, we offer the five-hour Invention Literacy Workshop. You can learn more here: https://vste.org/vste-partners-with-joylabz-to-provide-makey-makey-training/
Through our partnership with Teach Wonder, we are able to offer deep discounts on Wonder Workshop robots and online courses for teachers. You can learn more here: https://vste.org/robots/
Membership in VSTE is free. Visit our website ( http://www.vste.org) and click Join Now. You’ll get a weekly newsletter that will help keep you up to date on all our activities. While you are there, be sure to browse the home page: we’ve been collecting blog posts from Virginia educators with tips and techniques for integrating technology.
Find us online via Twitter (@vste) or Facebook (@vsteonline).
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