As members of the Steering Team, we couldn’t be more pleased with the quality of work being put into play by Virginia’s lead innovation teams. The Ignite talks highlighted the exciting work you are accomplishing to take small steps to big change across the Commonwealth. Small steps can be as simple as no worksheets on Wednesdays or using an exhibitions model as a venue for students to share interesting, rich project work. We will have Ignite talks available to you in the next month.

The many small steps shared by your teams caught our attention because the changes you are making make sense and will lead to deep change. As a member of the first cohort in the emerging Virginia is for Learners Innovation Network, you are sparking critical shifts in philosophy, policies, professional expectations, and practices – shifts that are essential to all students attaining the competencies established in the Profile of a Virginia Graduate. As we move forward, we want to encourage your sharing ideas, practices, and resources that can help every division reach success with all learners. Our themes of equity, engagement, and deeper learning are elevated because of your taking the risk to join this team of innovative educators.

Sincerely,

Robin Crowder

Program Director for Education Leadership at James Madison University

Pam Moran

Executive Director of the Virginia School Consortium for Learning

Gena Keller

Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning, Virginia Department of Education

Our Network’s innovations nearly broke the internet! Reconnect with the learning from this collection of tweets shared around the question: “What small steps are we taking toward big change?” Bonus challenge: Use the tweet collection to find five new teammates to follow!

On July 25, educators and community members representing 30 Virginia school districts traveled from all corners of the Commonwealth to continue their participation in the Virginia is for Learners Innovation Network. The afternoon featured Birds of a Feather discussions that participants helped to determine and ultimately led conversations in. Amos Fodchuk, President of ALP, shares insights from the session he led on managing innovation and change. Read more about it on the ALP blog!

As noted by Becky Ellis, the paperback edition of Ted Dintersmith’s latest book, What Schools Could Be, is now available for book clubs and background reading. Please contact Becky to find out more. Want some help with getting the word out about innovation in your schools? Try using this study guide from Ted.