Saturday, June 14, 2014

TASSP 2014 Reflection

This past week I attended TASSP conference in Austin. Throughout the three day conference, there were a variety of sessions to choose from and several well-known speakers. Day 1 for me consisted of Trends, Tools and Tactics for the 21st Century Learner (Kevin Honeycutt), The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction (Sean Cain), Effective Digital Leadership: Moving Our Schools Forward, Building the Capacity of Schools to Meet Student Needs (Pedro Noguero), and TEA Foundation High School Program Graduation Requirements Update.
I decided to purchase Cain's book - The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction and plan to read it during my 2 weeks off this summer. I took the following ideas from another session on day 1:

  • Flip beginning of year procedural items to a prerecorded blog allowing more time for staff development geared toward improving student performance
  • Use of Fast Follow on Twitter
  • Professional weekly Twitter Chat Times for my own professional development/growth
Day 2 began at 8am with Tools to Increase Rigor in Your School. During this session, the presenter shared a research-based definition of rigor and elaborated on 4 key aspects found in the definition - environment, expected, supported, and demonstrates. The environment must be safe and secure, routines and procedures established, use of positive language (refrain from negative comments), and celebrate progress. "Expected to learn" meaning it's not enough to have high expectations; we have to put them in action. In addition during this sessions, the presenter shared 5 Tools for Increasing Rigor in Your School.
  • Tool 1 - Culture Framework
  • Tool 2 - Ownership and Shared Vision
  • Tool 3 - Managing Data
  • Tool 4 - Advocacy Scorecard
  • Tool 5 - Instant Credit Recovery
Day 2 ended with a fun-filled session on Team Building…An Important Piece of Professional Development. My staff has expressed the desire to engage in activities to build more camaraderie. During this session, 51 participants actively engaged in 7 different team building activities. I am so excited to try several of these with my staff in August. 
Day 3 things began to wrap up with Steve Gilliland: Making a Difference in Education. If you have not had the opportunity to hear Mr. Gilliland speak he has a unique way of sharing stories about his family and work experiences to insightfully focus on the conscious choices people make daily that impact the lives of others. His stories are heartfelt, humorous, and real. 

No comments:

Post a Comment