#CELI17

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of going to the Long Island Connect Educators' Summit in Farmingdale. #CELI17  What an amazing experience!  It is a learning and collaborating experience that I look forward to each year.  The event is the brainchild of Dr. Bill Brennan, an innovator who welcomes creativity!  The opportunities in Farmingdale for the students and teachers are boundless!   I am fortunate that I work in this district.

One of my former students was on the welcoming panel.  Mia is now in middle school and was poised and well spoken.  She is a learner who has been given the opportunity to create and think outside the box because of her experiences in the Farmingdale Schools.

The day is set up in breakout sessions.  There are three sessions.  The first two sessions are scheduled before the event.  Attendees can choose what they want to learn about.  I attended: 

Building Cultural Competency in Our Schools
Denise Toscano, Principal, Elwood School District
Michelle Ottley, Teacher, Elwood School District
Marsha McLeod, Teacher, Elwood School District
Maureen Hull, Asst. Superintendent, Elwood School District
Room: 601
This workshop will cover how to include community leaders and activities in your schools to promote acceptance and respect for all cultures in your school.  Based on the work of Doc Sheila and Don Gately.

These forward-thinking educators shared their experiences and led the conversation about race in our schools.

For sessions two I attended:

HOPE® Skills: 5 essential skills for a competitive edge in life!
Bob Wolf, Founder, HOPE® Skills Presentations & HOPE® the Student's Bridge To Business
Room: 609
These skills prepare you to meet, earn support from and work effectively with people, the one constant in every job and career. Every student can learn and apply them! They complement the academic curriculum schools teach and help build self-confidence & self-esteem. And, as a student grows, the skills grow with them becoming more refined over time. Students with these skills will: Interview Successfully, Network Effectively, Build Supportive Relationships, Be a Productive Team Player & Be a Confident Leader.

Bob Wolf discussed life skills that we need to ensure our students have.

Session three is an open forum that is determined as the day unfolds. Attendees create a conversation they want to lead. As the day progresses, you sign up for what interests you. The choices were vast.

It was another great day for collaboration and learning! Thank you, Dr. Brennan, for leading the way!

My First Post

I am very excited to be entering the blogging world!  Thanks to my friend and esteemed colleague, Kathleen Sokolowski.  Kathleen is a motivator of writing and technology!  I am lucky to work with her.

I am the Literacy Coach at Saltzman East Memorial Elementary School in Farmingdale.  I am a wife, mother, marathon runner and lover of learning.  I am blessed to work in a district that supports my love of learning; even more blessed to work in a building of teachers who are the kindest people I know!

Every day I get to work with amazing teachers who want to get better at their craft.  My room is a think tank for learning!  Today was one such day...

We had a follow-up learning day to a Learning Walk.  A Learning Walk is a particular type of professional development day that we participate in here in Farmingdale.  Learning Walks are opportunities for the teachers to learn from each other.  We visit each other's classrooms looking at student learning and teacher lessons.  The teachers develop a focus question - something that they want to study together.  For example, What evidence is there that the students are writing with stamina, engagement, and volume?  This idea came from a teacher who wanted to study Writing Workshop.  I shared her idea with our colleagues, and others quickly wanted to be a part of our walk.  A Learning Walk consists of no more than five teachers, and we follow specific protocols as we visit each other's classrooms.

After we share our 'noticings' and 'wonderings' about what we saw in each other's rooms, we decide upon a topic to study further.  These teachers decided they wanted to read DIY Literacy by Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts and create demonstration notebooks.  We spent the day watching the DIY Literacy videos and diving into their book.  It was such a great day of sharing ideas and learning from each other.