Every family in our school has different preferences in terms of their own home and work communications. Using technologies like e-mail and webpages to connect with diverse families is quickly becoming "old news" with the introduction of today's "two-way" social media tools like mobile school apps, Google+ Hangouts, Facebook, Twitter, Voxer, Skype and blogs. Some of our families don't have access to technology, so home visits and other low tech innovation efforts become key to ensuring the communication gap does not become greater and geared only to those with constant access.
 
Following a focus on stakeholder feedback solicitation, participants will learn how their district can safely and responsibly leverage high and low tech innovation to differentiate their communication efforts between school and home. You will not only leave with a "menu" of communications to infuse into your own schools and organizations, but these will be modeled LIVE during the workshop with other parents and educators around the world. The final piece of the workshop will focus on sustainability with the inclusion of the weekly professional learning Twitter chat called "#PTchat" - a free and open virtual mentoring space for those working to deepen home-school partnerships.
 
Dr. Joe Mazza, formerly lead learner (principal) at Knapp Elementary School, a diverse learning community the North Penn School District and K-12 Manager for Connected Teaching, Learning & Leadership in the district, now serves as the Leadership Innovation Manager with the Graduate School of Education at Penn. Joe has spent his career working with students, teachers & families as a 3rd grade teacher, bilingual assistant principal, middle school vice-principal and now elementary principal. In each setting, he has assumed the role of TV studio producer, webmaster and school technology integration coach. He was recognized as the 2013 recipient of EdTech Digest’s Leader Setting a Trend Award and a finalist for Elementary Principal of the Year at the 2013 Bammy Awards in Washington, DC.
Joe’s research on Principals’ Use Of Social Media Tools To Build Home-School Partnerships connected him closely to the work of family engagement researcher Dr. Joyce Epstein. Much of his work revolves around translating the work of leading family engagement researchers into today’s growing use of social media. He is currently working with the Institute for Educational Leadership as a national consultant on Family & Community Engagement in Washington, D.C. His passions lie in activating student voice, engaging all families, building teacher leadership and making technology integration as ubiquitous as possible. Building meaningful relationships are at the heart of his daily work in teaching, learning and leadership.

Meeting Families "Where They Are" w/ Dr. Joe Mazza

Workshop Title: Building Diversity Responsive Learning Communities
3-16-16

Diversity is who we are, now and into the future. Our collective history is replete with injustice to diversity, violence to diversity and oppression of diverse others. Therefore, as we seek to establish a gender-fair, race aware direction, we must actively work to ensure that the injustices of the past and the resultant laws, habits and traditions that created hierarchies of race, social class, gender, ability and sexual orientation, and of religion, age and ethnicity are recognized and neutralized. Given the intensive demographic changes in school districts across the country, how can educators create and sustain effective learning communities that address the diversity, achievement and social well-being of all students? During this workshop, administrators and instructional staff had the opportunity to engage in a rigorous, disciplined process of study, reflection and evidence-based action that focuses effectively addressing the challenges and opportunities facing educators who serve an increasingly diverse population of students and families. Through this workshop, participants explored how the model may be customized to meet the needs of their own learning communities. 

Key areas of focus in the workshop:
* An Introduction to Diversity and the Social Construction of Identity
* Diversity Responsive Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
* How School Leaders Can Embrace Change: Diversity Responsive Leadership
* Home/School Relationships and “Priority Teacher/Parent Interactions”
* Developing Diversity Responsive Action Research Projects That Demonstrate Teacher/Administrator Efficacy
* School Community and Change: The Whole is Greater Than the Parts
* How Schools Value Changing Demographics As A Natural Aspect Of Community-School Development

Randolph Carter currently directs the efforts of the Eastern Educational Resource Collaborative. East Ed’s mission is to serve as a resource to
schools, colleges, families and agencies and support the establishment of equitable, anti-bias, multicultural environments. Randolph and his team are providing in-depth and sustained assistance and support to multiple urban and suburban schools, districts and independent schools throughout the country in this effort. He is a Fellow in the Harvard University School Leadership Program, Graduate School of Education, where he received a Masters Degree in Education with a school leadership qualification. He was a former middle school reading specialist, school administrator and a national association staff member. Randolph currently serves as a board member of Fielding Graduate University and the Institute for Community Enrichment. He is a member of the Education Committee of the New Press and his publications include peer-reviewed articles and book reviews published in national journals.

Building Diversity Responsive Learning Communities w/ Randolph Carter

@backannelEDU
S2 Episode 03: We're Going 1:1 Next Year, #bEDU0203

One school principal is serving on a 1:1 committee in the district. She is reaching out to the PLN, or personal learning network, to gather input for her and also to bring back to local colleagues.

3 WAYS TO INTERACT: 
1) HASHTAG IT: Discuss this episode on social media using hashtag: #bEDU0203. The hashtag stands for backchannelEDU Podcast Season 02 - Episode 03. (The next episode will be #bEDU0203).

2) USE YOUR VOICE on the public backchannelEDU Voxer group by visiting www.tinyurl.com/voiceit. Be sure to listen to the episode before you join the group.

3) SHARE IT, EMAIL IT, PRINT IT: Generate a conversation by sharing the 6 minute recording with a friend or colleague.

The backchannelEDU podcast(@backchannelEDU) is a production of Penn's Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Ed Leadership (@MCDPEL) and the MC Innovation's Lab (@MCiLAB).

RELATED LINKS: 
www.gse.upenn.edu/midcareer
www.twitter.com/backchannelEDU
www.facebook.com/mcdpel


We're Going 1:1 Next Year

This workshop is designed for district superintendent or assistant superintendents to learn more about a valuable tool and processes for developing a baseline assessment of district/school high leverage equity practices. The LEAD Tool™ helps school leadership teams start dialogue and sustain action in expanding educational opportunities, improving school climate, and attaining equitable outcomes. It provides teams the opportunity to examine practices and policies through the lens of 10 research-based equitable practices and to bring families, communities, and other stakeholders into the conversation. Teams can use the rubrics to assess their personal and organizational strengths, challenges, and progress. http://leadtool.educationnorthwest.org/

Rob works to strengthen partnerships and advocate for Education Northwest so that the organization can continue to support education agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. He also directs the Oregon Leadership Network—a statewide initiative focused on improving instructional leadership, assessing leader performance, and enhancing equitable practices. Prior to joining Education Northwest, Rob was the federal liaison for the Oregon Department of Education’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He also served as a teacher, assistant principal and instructional coordinator, and directed Education Northwest's Science and Mathematics Education Program from 1992 to 1995. http://educationnorthwest.org/oln

*This production is powered by the MC Innovations Lab (@MCiLAB), an innovative component of Penn's Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Ed Leadership. Learn more at www.gse.upenn.edu/midcareer

District & School Equity Assessments w/ Rob Larson

Youth-adult leadership posits students, teachers, and schools benefit when young people participate in the decisions that impact them on a daily basis. Even though youth-adult leadership research highlights a wide-range of benefits, more often student leadership is undermined by sociocultural conditions and structural arrangements. Traditionally, adults do not consider students as a source of valuable insight. Adults’ negative images that students are incapable of informing and leading school change end up supporting their exclusion in structures and decision-making processes, positioning students on the fringe of school change processes, rather than making them central partners. That being said, there are a plethora of examples where students are integrated into district, school, and classroom-level change initiatives that have produced more socially just, democratic institutions. 

Our session will investigate the principles, practices, and challenges of integrating youth leadership into school decision making. We will explore the following questions: Can students be trusted to help govern their schools? What does youth-adult leadership look like? What outcomes happen when youth are genuinely included into major school decisions? What major hurdles are there and how can they be addressed? What are some first steps that can be taken?

About Marc:
Marc Brasof's (@brasof) teaching and research focuses on organizational leadership and teaching and learning. His leadership scholarship examines the role of student voice in school reform, how to distribute leadership to teachers and students, and create more democratic institutions. Marc’s research and practice centers on social studies, civic education, school community partnership, and project-based learning. He is the National Constitution Center's Education Fellow (2010-16) and The Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement Education Fellow, where he is developing national civic programming and materials. He serves on multiple boards including, Pennsylvania Council for Social Studies, Journal for Education Policy, Planning, and Administration, and Social Studies Journal. He is the author of Student Voice and School Governance: Distributing Leadership to Youth and Adults (2015). Marc’s most recent secondary teaching experience includes a number of years on the faculty of Constitution High School, a magnet civics high school in Philadelphia, PA, as founding and lead social studies instructor. Marc currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Education and Coordinator of Secondary Social Studies and English Education at Arcadia University (PA). https://www.linkedin.com/in/brasof/

Music by Stereotytans (stereotytans.com).

*This production is powered by the MC Innovations Lab (@MCiLAB), an innovative component of Penn's Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Ed Leadership. Learn more at www.gse.upenn.edu/midcareer

Integrating Youth Into School Leadership w/ Dr. Marc Brasof

Research has made a connection between student engagement and student achievement. Students who are engaged learn more and attend better to the instructional activities. However, today’s student brains are different than in past generations. They have been raised in a fast paced society with technology and multi-media devices and are often bored by traditional lecture-based learning. Engagement requires that students be attentive and be committed to the task assigned. As educators, our goal is to have students who not only complete the tasks assigned but also complete them with enthusiasm and an excitement for learning. In this session, participants will actively engage in learning about recent brain-based research and how it can be used to promote student engagement and maximize student learning in the classroom. 

Participant objectives for this workshop include:
1. Review of brain-based research as it relates to attention, learning and retention.
2. Examine how the adolescent brain differs from the adult brain.
3. Demonstrate a variety of exercises and instructional strategies that promote high level student engagement at every level.

About Shauna:
Shauna King (@ShaunaFKing) has a talent and passion for connecting with adults who have chosen to serve children. She is a former principal, classroom teacher, intervention specialist and Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) coordinator from Maryland. In addition to being a highly sought after speaker, Mrs. King serves as an adjunct instructor for LaSalle University and The Regional Training Center. As an independent consultant, Shauna is committed to supporting schools and districts that are implementing positive and proactive initiatives. She also serves as a certified presenter for The Upside Down Organization of Baltimore, and has presented internationally on topics including executive function, gender differences and the power of words. http://www.kingprofessionaldevelopment.com/

*This production is powered by the MC Innovations Lab (@MCiLAB), an innovative component of Penn's Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Ed Leadership. Learn more at www.gse.upenn.edu/midcareer

Brain-Based Strategies to Promote Student Engagement w/ Shauna King

A significant amount of content is available today through the Internet. Need to learn a skill? Google it! However, to be able to take advantage of that content, you need some foundational skills, such as: focusing, holding onto information while considering other information, initiating a task, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, persisting in a task, and more. These are the skills of executive function, without which, academic content is inaccessible. The rush to build academic achievement in struggling students has focused on better materials and better lessons. Still, a teacher can present the best lesson possible, but if students lack executive function, it will fall flat. Perhaps the missing link to student achievement is executive function.

Dr. Nancy Sulla, author and creator of the Learner-Active, Technology Infused Classroom, believes that the skill areas of executive function (working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning, reasoning, problem solving, inhibitory control, and self-awareness) are more critical to student achievement than we think. Her instructional model engages students in a problem-based approach to understanding and applying content, with students taking greater responsibility for their own learning. Join her for a one-day workshop that will immerse you in a student-centered learning environment that builds executive function. Dr. Nancy Sulla is the President of IDE Corp. -- Innovative Designs for Education -- and author of the books, Students Taking Charge, and It's Not What You Teach But How. Her instructional model, the Learner Active, Technology-Infused Classroom is a model for increasing student achievement through engagement, rigor, and responsibility. Her third book on executive function is due out spring of 2017 

Related Resources:
http://www.idecorp.com/
http://www.ideportal.com
Follow Nancy on Twitter at @NSulla

*This production is powered by the MC Innovations Lab (@MCiLAB), an innovative component of Penn's Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Ed Leadership. Learn more at www.gse.upenn.edu/midcareer

Building Executive Functioning in the Classroom w/ Dr. Nancy Sulla

School systems are perfectly aligned with the results they get. What kind of systems, teaching, learning, and leadership will pave the way for a better future for all of our students? The potential of underachieving students is often neglected because of myths that perpetuate remediation rather than elicit and nurture the intellectual skills, dispositions, and behaviors these students need to be engaged and competent learners. This session will explore the critical questions to tackle and strategies to embrace when developing a bias-free tiered system of supports that provides equity of access to high quality learning for all of the young people we serve. 

Together, we will explore:
 The systems, practices and mindsets that perpetuate underachievement
 The impact of high-quality grade-level instruction, across a wide range of reading levels
 The integration of content for high levels of teaching and learning to build the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to meet the challenge and goals of the Common Core State Standards
 The engagement of students in the assessment process in a manner that allows them to truly own their learning
 The essential characteristics of effective interventions 

Amelia is the Vice President of Innovations and School Supports at American Reading Company. She most recently was the Assistant Superintendent of Pasco County, Florida Public Schools, and previously spearheaded the districtwide implementation of MTSS (RtI). 

Follow and learn with Amelia on Twitter at @ameliadgvl. Find her work at American Reading Co. at http://www.americanreading.com

Multi-Tiered System of Support for Future Ready Students w/ Amelia Van Name Larson

PennGSE's Mike Johanek & Michigan State's Rebecca Jacobsen discuss Betsy DeVos as the new Education Secretary. Originally aired on 12/17/16 by Wharton Business Radio (@BizRadio111).

Photo credit: Washington Post

*This recording is a product of the Mid-Career Innovations Lab (@MCiLAB), a component of Penn's Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Ed Leadership. Learn with us at http://www2.gse.upenn.edu/midcareer/

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

Penn & MSU Faculty Members Discuss Betsy DeVos as the New Ed Secretary

Stress levels in schools are at an all-time high, with pressures mounting from standardized testing, new mandates, and ever-increasing responsibilities. Mindfulness-based interventions and stress-reducing strategies can lead to improvements not only in teachers' social and emotional well-being but also in instructional climate and student engagement. (Jennings, 2016) During this workshop we will explore mindfulness as a self-care strategy and also as a tool to promote positive classroom culture. We will discuss ways we can learn to pause and respond to challenging classroom situations rather than react on autopilot.

Through demonstration lessons, group work, and partner exercises we will learn simple ways to put students in charge of their own attention and behavior, rather than spending valuable instructional time redirecting and reprimanding. Participants will leave with mindfulness exercises for teachers and students to help reduce stress and increase focus along with thinksheets and manipulates to be used across the curriculum.

Jenny Mills is the founder of Roots & Wings, LLC whose mission is to make mindfulness accessible to teachers, youth, and families. She received a Masters in Special Education and a BA in Psychology from Rutgers University and is dually certified in special and general education. Before opening Roots & Wings, Jenny served as a mindfulness instructor and literacy specialist at Arise Academy High School, a unique inner-city charter school designed for 14-21 year olds served by the Department of Human Services. Jenny has presented at international, national, and local conferences on the topics of literacy, formative assessment, and mindfulness. She has practiced meditation since 2005, and she currently partners with PennGSE to study the effects of the Roots & Wings Everyday Mindfulness for Schools teacher training. Jenny further co-teaches with the Penn Program for Mindfulness and the Penn Literacy Network. In 2015 she published her first children’s book, Mindful Moments: Trevor’s Tale and in 2013 produced her first guided meditation CD, Roots & Wings Mindfulness Meditations. Learn more at http://rootsandwingsonline.org/

Mindfulness-Based Strategies to Promote Active Learning & Positive Discipline w/ Jenny Mills

@PennGSE / @MCDPEL / @MCiLab
Innovation Leadership Manager, @Joe_Mazza

Penn's Mid-Career Innovations Lab

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