Best Conference Ever

The National Staff Development Council (NSDC)Conference is by far the best conference I have attended... and as a professional developer I have attended my fair share.

The pre-conference sessions on Sat. and Sunday are with some of the most renowned speakers from across the nation. Two years ago, I spent the day with David Sousa talking about applications of brain research. I am still using the information I brought back from the workshop.

Monday through Wednesday are numerous sessions on just about any topic imaginable.... math, professional learning communities, school improvement, literacy, technology, induction, mentoring and the list goes on......

What makes this conference stand out from all the others is the quality of the presentations. Facilitators go out of their way to model effective staff development practices. I leave, not just with good content, but also with effective strategies to share the learning.

NSDC's annual conference is in Washington, DC this year. It will be held from December 6-10, 2008. I don't think it is planned to be in the east coast again for some time...... Consider going, you won't regret it.

Comments

kemeigh said…
I too, had a great time at the last NSDC conference in Dallas Texas. It is so close to us in PA that I highly recommend the "journey" to Washington D.C.
I spent the day with Shirley Hord discussing Professional Learning Communities. The PLC is "a staff that shares visions that have an undeviating focus on student learning, and support norms of behavior that guide decisions about teaching and learning." Ellie Drago-Severson's work on adult learning complemented and supported what I learned about PLCs. Again, go to the conference if at all possible. You will not be disappointed!
September 26, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Libraries as the Hub of School Improvement

Image
I love school improvement! It sounds geeky and surreal, but it’s true. I practically get goose bumps talking about continuous improvement and high leverage instructional strategies. We have worked hard at our IU to offer comprehensive services to support our school districts and truly thought we had most of the territory covered. However, turns out we never considered the role of school libraries as a source of school improvement. Summary of Research Concludes (Findings from 19 State and 1 Province including Pennsylvania) : “A substantial body of research since 1990 shows a positive relationship between school libraries and student achievement. The research studies show that school libraries can have a positive impact on student achievement—whether such achievement is measured in terms of reading scores, literacy, or learning more generally. A school library program that is adequately staffed, resourced, and funded can lead to higher student achievement regardless of the soc...
Read more

Planning for Differentiation

Image
An article in the Washington Post, Schools Look At Providing More Time For Teachers caught my eye recently which looks at teacher planning time. As you might imagine, teachers feel they lack planning time.... and they may have a point. The amount of planning time has stayed constant while requirements for inclusion and accountability have increased. My question is do we design curriculum to address these challenges from the onset or do we expect teachers to plan lessons, adjust their instruction for a variety of diverse learners, grade assignments, connect with parents and other colleagues, make copies in a 40 minute planning period? Why not differentiate the curriculum from the beginning? The graphic to the left depicts the Curriculum Planning Pyramid (Schumm, Vaughn, & Leavell, 1994) which represents how curriculum might be organized to meet the needs of all learners. The base represents the most important concepts you want ALL STUDENTS to learn. The middle layer represents...
Read more

Luau as a Metaphor for School Improvement

Image
The luau, once called the aha aina, was an event that was designed to unite the participants and foster good will, thanks and praise. The purpose of the luau could have been to celebrate accomplishments, honor heroes or gods, or commemorate important events. While some ancient foods represented strength or virility, other foods might symbolize virtues or goals the participants hoped to achieve (from To-Hawaii.com) A luau, in other words, is all about reflection. What is going well? What are the next steps? This is exactly what our school improvement teams did last week. They reflected on the level of implementation of their plan and the level of effectiveness. Participants spent the morning going through their plans goal by goal – looking back toward accomplishments and looking forward to next steps. We over-laid these discussions with information on managing and effectively facilitating change. We read Implications for School Leaders Facilitating Change , which is from H...
Read more