Sharing Successes and Charting Courses
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Hosted by the University of Notre Dame, the Alliance for Catholic Education, and Higher-Powered Learning.
March 23-24, 2023
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
Table of Contents:
About
Blended and personalized learning is a growing movement across the nation, including in Catholic schools. Over the past decade, hundreds of Catholic schools have incorporated adaptive online learning into classrooms to better serve their students. Though there are a number of forums and spaces in which blended learning leaders and practitioners can gather to share best practices and collaborate, BLiCSS is the singular opportunity for leaders and teachers in Catholic education specifically to form a unified mission and vision for blended learning in Catholic schools and collaborate to share best practices from across our schools.
To fill this need, we created the Blended Learning in Catholic Schools Symposium with two goals in mind:
To gather thought leaders in the blended-learning space with an explicit connection to Catholic schools to share ideas, bright spots, and challenges.
To develop our shared capacity to implement high-quality blended learning in Catholic schools.
Our theme for this year is "Sharing Successes and Charting Courses." In our post-pandemic education landscape it is important to positively frame challenges as opportunities to learn and to celebrate successes in every corner of the world of Catholic education. We recognize that there is a plurality of courses to take going forward as each of our organizations is aligned to meet a different need and aimed to meet different goals. In light of this, BLiCSS will offer the opportunity to hear others' experiences and reflect on our own charted course.
The symposium is hosted by the University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education. It will take place March 23-24, 2023 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Please see the Agenda, Speaker, Travel and Accommodations, Registration and FAQs sections below for more information.
Schedule and Program Book
All events will take place at Our Lady of Grace Church and School, located at 5071 Eden Ave Edina, MN 55436.
Thursday, March 23
1:30-2:00 - Registration (Commons)
2:00-2:30 - Welcome Mass (Church)
2:30-3:00 - Conference Welcome and Orientation (Dining Room)
3:00-5:30 - Sharing Successes Programming (Breakout Rooms/Dining Room)
3:00-3:15 - Ignite Talks - Diocese of Bridgeport and iDEAL at Loyola Marymount University
3:15-3:20 - Transition
3:20-4:05 - Breakout Sessions
4:05-4:15 - Break
4:15-5:30 - Sharing Success Stations
5:30-7:00 - Cocktails and Dinner sponsored by Curriculum Associates, creators of i-Ready (Dining Room)
Friday, March 24
7:30-8:00 - Coffee (Commons)
8:00-11:30 - Charting Courses Programming (Breakout Rooms/Dining Room)
8:00-8:10 - Reorientation and Keynote Speaker Introduction
8:10-9:00 - Keynote - Rodney Pierre-Antoine
9:00-9:15 - Break
9:15-10:00 - Breakout Sessions - Groves Literacy Partnerships and Blessed Sacrament
10:00-10:05 - Transition
10:05-11:00 - HPL Network Presentation
11:00-11:10 - Break
11:10-11:45 - Charting Courses Reflection & Networking
11:45-12:00 - Closing
12:00-1:00 - Lunch (Dining Room)
BLiCSS 6.0 Program Book.pdfBLiCSS 6.0 Program Book PDF
Speakers and Sessions
Keynote Speaker
Rodney Pierre-Antoine
We are thrilled to announce that Rodney Pierre-Antoine will be the keynote speaker at the sixth annual Blended Learning in Catholic Schools Symposium (BLiCSS). Rodney serves as the Executive Director of Lumen Christi Academies in Oakland, California.
Rodney has been an educator in the Bay Area since 1998. That year Rodney was accepted into Teach For America, after graduating with a BA in Communication from the University of Maryland. Rodney was placed in Oakland where he taught 5th Grade at Hoover Elementary School for 6 years before transitioning to the Oakland Diocese. Rodney has served in a number of leadership roles in the Diocese, first as a vice-principal for 2 years, then a school principal for 8 years, first at St. Felicitas in San Leandro and later St. Jarlath in Oakland. He also served as the Director of the Notre Dame ACE Academies, a national network of Catholic schools. Rodney has a Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Notre Dame's Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program.
For more information about Rodney and Lumen Christi Academies, visit their website at lumenchristiacademies.org.
Sharing Successes Speakers
Shannon Tabaldo & Meaghan Crowley-Sullivan
iDEAL Institute at Loyola Marymount University
Experience, Connect, Reflect: iDEAL’s Approach to Professional Development
Loyola Marymount University’s iDEAL Institute provides professional learning in teaching and leadership through the integration of technology for the benefit of all students. Their unique approach to blended learning professional development includes active components of experience, connection, and reflection to ensure interconnectivity across a school and organization. Join this session to learn more about their approach and the unique way that they organize professional learning and support.
Alan Barnicle
Diocese of Bridgeport
Sustaining Blended Learning through Professional Development, Routines, and Artifacts
The Diocese of Bridgeport's Office of Catholic Schools started its diocese-wide blended-learning initiative in 2019. Al and his team work with teachers, principals, diocesan coaches, and administrators to train educators in blended-learning principles and to sustain this initiative. Al will share with you his lessons learned and experience in implementing and sustaining their program across all 23 diocesan elementary schools. Please feel welcome to bring questions or any materials that you may have!
Charting Courses Speakers
Megan Cerbins
Blessed Sacrament - Milwaukee, WI
Flexible Grouping Across Grade Levels to Promote Personalized Learning.
In the wake of the COVID pandemic, students have been struggling with social-emotional delays along with academic delays. As this school year went on, Blessed Sacrament recognized that our 3rd-5th graders were continuing to struggle to show academic growth. In order to address the situation, the 3-5 teachers developed an out-of-the-box strategy to be able to best address the social-emotional and learning gaps. Each group is a flexible group that consists of students within 3rd-5th grades within similar academic levels. Come and learn about the successes and lessons we have learned along that way as we fully personalize our student's learning and our teacher's instructional strategies.
Katharine Campbell, Scarlett Wand, & Lindsey McDermott
Groves Learning Organization and St. John Paul II School - Minneapolis, MN
Groves Learning Organization (GLO) in a Blended-Learning Classroom
Effective blended-learning classrooms incorporate both strong teacher-led instruction and individualized adaptive online learning. Come learn about how Groves Learning Organization (GLO) works with teachers to implement whole-group instruction with small-group targeted intervention to build foundational literacy skills. Informed by both formative and standardized data, GLO and teachers track and target student growth to effectively ensure all students learn to read. A blended-learning framework serves to align GLO whole-group and small-group literacy instruction with opportunities for practice.
Travel and Accommodations
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) is about a 15 minute drive away from the Our Lady of Grace campus.
There are a variety of hotels in the Twin Cities area from which to choose. Due to the symposium being hosted at Our Lady of Grace School as opposed to a hotel, we have not reserved a block of rooms. There will not be transportation provided between the conference and hotels, so please plan your travel accordingly.
The following hotels are among the closest to the conference venue (about 10 minutes by car).
The downtown areas and the Mall of America are about 15 minutes away from Our Lady of Grace by car and have a multitude of hotel options as well.
Registration
There are two steps to registration. First, please complete the registration survey. Second, please either pay through the link below using a credit card or email us at hpl@nd.edu if you wish to pay through another method.
STEP 1) Click here to complete the registration survey for BLiCSS 6.0.
STEP 2) Click here if you wish to pay for the conference by credit card. If you would like us to pay by check or prepare an invoice for you so that title funding can be applied, please email hpl@nd.edu and we will assist you.
Registration will close on March 8, 2023. Please note that there will be no refunds on tickets purchased after March 15, 2023.
FAQs
Who is invited to participate in the Symposium?
The Blended Learning in Catholic Schools Symposium will gather thought leaders and practitioners in the blended-learning space with an explicit connection to Catholic schools. All are invited to attend; however, the symposium is geared toward thought leaders and school administrators.
What is the cost of attending the Symposium?
There is a $95 fee to attend the Symposium. Details are included in the "registration" section. If you are having any issues with the registration page, please email hpl@nd.edu. The Symposium fee will cover all conference sessions, a cocktail reception followed by dinner on Thursday evening, and morning coffee and boxed lunch on Friday. Financial assistance is available.
Why Minnesota? Won't it be cold in March?
You may be right! You never know with spring in Minnesota! Be sure to check the weather and bundle up if need be! It will be worth it to highlight the great work happening throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
What is the appropriate dress for the Symposium?
Feel free to dress however you feel most comfortable. Most people will likely wear business casual.
I am a facilitator or presenter for a session at the Symposium. Where can I find the guidelines for my session?
A member of ACE's Higher-Powered Learning team should have reached out to you via email to coordinate your session. If you need more information, please email the team at hpl@nd.edu.
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