Getting Better @ Getting Better
Tuesday, June 2
Improvement for Today’s Students: What We Have Learned Working Online
11:00 a.m. ET 10:00 a.m. CT 08:00 a.m. PT
25-Year Retrospective and Welcome
KEYNOTE: What Have We Learned From Online Learning That Can Help Us Reimagine Education?
In this session, Professor Amanda Godley, IFL Fellows Victoria Bill and Allison Escher, and educators from diverse school districts will share experiences and ideas about how remote teaching and learning can help us reimagine ways to make K-12 education more engaging and equitable. Dr. Godley will provide a national perspective on the educational issues that have arisen as a result of COVID-19 school closures such as equity, differentiation, assessment, and relationships. Following her keynote, we will hear how educators from Schenectady, New Brunswick, Syracuse and Weehawken have worked to improve and transform online learning.
Followed by a Leaders’ Discussion with Speakers
Aaron Bochniak, Superintendent, Schenectady City SD
Eric Crespo, Superintendent, Weehawken Township SD
Melanie Cifonelli, Director of Math, Syracuse City SD
Jamie Gulotta, Supervisor of Math, New Brunswick PS
Keira M. Scussa, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, New Brunswick PS
Select Readings and Materials
IFL 25 Year Retrospective (YouTube)
Principles of Learning Booklet (PDF)
The Education Trust: 10 Questions for Equity Advocates to Ask About Distance Learning
External Links
1:00 p.m. ET 12:00 p.m. CT 10:00 a.m. PT
Facilitating High‐Level Math Tasks in a World of Virtual Instruction
Laurie Speranzo, IFL Fellow
As teaching and learning are being propelled into an online world, many teachers are grappling with ways to advance conceptual understanding with students. This session will explore engaging students and facilitating meaningful math learning virtually.
Materials
Moving from Quick Write to Essay
Donnell Armstrong, Wilmer-Hutchins High School Teacher, Dallas ISD
Sara DeMartino, IFL Fellow
Darlene Seeley, W. T. White High School Teacher, Dallas ISD
Writing, especially text-based writing, is often presented to students as a process they come into cold, meaning they aren’t asked to extend their prior thinking work, such as the thinking done in quick writes, as they compose text-based essays. This session will introduce you to a test of change that asked students to work from a comprehension quick write to generate a text-based essay. You’ll hear from teachers who have enacted the test of change and consider the potential of a quick write to essay task as an instructional test of change to use with your students.
Materials