learning-forward-2016-annual-conference-program

PRECONFERENCE SESSIONS
DECEMBER 3, 2016
SATURDAY
9 AM - 4 PM
WEDNESDAY TUESDAY
MONDAY
SUNDAY
SATURDAY
PC105 |
Supporting 21st-Century Thinking
Classrooms: Leading a Renovation,
Not a Revolution
There is
crushing
pressure on
teachers to
revise their
practices
in order to better prepare students for
a 21st-century world. Learn how to
help teachers enhance the amount and
quality of students’ thinking without
significantly disrupting existing teaching
practices. Understand how to create a
thinking classroom that is not the result
of any specific method, but builds on five
principles of teaching and learning that
can support and add value to any initiative
or strategy. Find out how to support
respectful, incremental, but transformative
change in your school or district.
Participants will:
• Understand the value of redirecting
professional learning efforts towards
helping teachers embed powerful
educational principles and less on
implementing prescribed practices.
• Engage in professional reflection and
consider what aspects of practice can be
affirmed, revised, or aspired to so as to
best ensure success for all students.
• Plan for leadership that can assist
teachers in putting quality thinking at the
core of their teaching practices.
Roland Case, The Critical Thinking Consortium,
Vancouver, BC, Canada, case@sfu.ca
Roland Case is executive director and co-founder
of The Critical Thinking Consortium, a nonprofit
association that has provided professional
learning support for over 150,000 educators.
Case was a professor of curriculum at Simon
Fraser University in Vancouver. He has edited or
authored over 100 published works. His most
recent book written with Garfield Gini-Newman
is Creating Thinking Classrooms: Leading
Educational Change for a 21st Century World
(The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC2), 2015).
In addition to his teaching career as school
teacher and as a university professor, Case has
worked with classroom teachers across Canada
and in the United States, England, Israel, Russia,
India, Finland, and Hong Kong to support the
infusion of critical thinking. Case is a recipient of
Confederation of University Faculty Associations’
Distinguished Academics Career Achievement
Award.
Garfield Gini-Newman,
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada,
gini.newman@utoronto.ca
Garfield Gini-Newman is an associate professor
at OISE/University of Toronto and a senior
national consultant with The Critical Thinking
Consortium. Garfield has also authored several
articles, chapters in books and seven textbooks,
and has taught in the faculties of education
at York University and the University of British
Columbia. His most recent book co-authored
with Roland Case, Creating Thinking Classrooms,
has received widespread praise from leading
educators across Canada and internationally.
Area of Focus: Student Learning
“
This is a wonderful conference filled with valuable
information, effective classroom strategies, amazing
”
educators, and fun-filled events.
~Beth Thompson
26 Learning Forward 2016 Annual Conference | Register Online Today
PC106 |
Building an Effective Teacher
Leadership Program
Learn about
a variety of
approaches
to the
creation of
powerful
teacher
leader programs that make an impact
on student learning. Examine the
characteristics of effective teacher leader
programs along with the standards for
teacher leadership. Leave with a draft plan
and actionable next steps for creating or
refining a teacher leader program at the
school or district level.
Participants will:
• Identify possible roles and responsibilities
for teacher leaders along with the needed
support from site administrators.
• Compare the role of teacher leaders in
district/provincial initiatives.
• Study scenarios of teacher leadership at
the site level using various models.
• Gain skills needed to facilitate teams, and
create and implement a vision for teacher
leadership.
Cindy Harrison,
Instructional Improvement Group,
Broomfield, CO, harrison.cindy@gmail.com
Cindy Harrison has worked in education
for more than 30 years as a teacher, district
staff development director, and middle
school principal. She works with districts and
schools in the areas of instructional coaching,
organizational change initiatives, professional
learning communities, staff development,
leadership teams, and facilitation. She coauthored
the books Taking the Lead: New Roles for
Teachers and School-Based Coaches (NSDC, 2006)
and Coaching Matters (Learning Forward, 2012).
Justin Darnell, Denver Public Schools, Denver,
CO, justin_darnell@dpsk12.org; @jdarnelldps
Justin Darnell leads the design and
implementation of a cohesive teacher leader
development system for Denver Public
Schools. His efforts ensure that the more than
1,200 teacher leaders in the district have the
comprehensive professional learning necessary
to make an impact on peers and students at
their schools. Darnell previously taught for six
years in Denver Public Schools; he made the
difficult decision to leave the classroom because
he wanted to extend his impact on students
by helping Denver Public Schools move from
pockets of excellence to systems of excellence.
Area of Focus: Leadership