SESSIONS
September 2 VT DOECommissioner Armando Vilaseca, Deputy Commissioner Rae Ann Knopf, and Standards and Assessment staff: Gail Taylor, Kathy Renfrew, Julie Conrad, Kathy Renfrew and Lois Fuller
As has become an annual feature of the opening session of VTCLA, the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner will join us to discuss the focus of the VT DOE for the year, issues that we have in common, and questions that we might have especially about the waivers that are now possible. They will join us in the afternoon.
We have asked Gail Taylor and members of the Standards and Assessment Department will join us in the morning to share professional development plans for the Common Core, additional information from SBAC on Assessment development and new resources on the VT DOE CC website, as well as anything else they think it is important for curriculum leaders to be thinking about.
Place: Capitol Plaza, Montpelier 8:30-3:00
October 7 – Loree Silvis- Implications of the Common Core math standards for K-6 math curriculum and instruction.
In this session, Loree will walk us through the main issues of the Common Core as they unfold for K-6 math curriculum and instruction. Together we will discuss and plan various strategies to take as we bring the information back to our home districts.
Place to be announced.
November 4 – Julie Conrad – Implications of the Common Core math standards for 7-12 math curriculum and instruction, with a particular focus on mathematical practices, especially modeling (examples and curriculum and instruction resources) and suggested processes for engaging 7-12 math teachers in understanding and beginning to take steps toward alignment with the CC. The session will be interactive allowing for questions, and planning for district level work.
Place to be announced.
January 6 – Sue Biggam- Changes in Thinking about Reading and Writing in the Common Core
The focus for this session will be on the Reading and Writing Common Core Standards with special attention given to the significant changes in thinking about text complexity and genres in writing. A framework for working with teachers for looking at the Common Core will be a part of this day’s work. Sue will also involve participants in a review of the Vermont Reads’ ALOFT (A Literacy Overarching Framework for Teaching) for grades 3-6.
Place to be announced.
February 3, March 9, May 4 Community of Practice Sessions (COPS)- Community of Practice Sessions are an opportunity for practitioners to learn from each other’s current work. Topics for these sessions are developed as a result of the sessions planned in the fall. This year, in addition to following up on the work we each are doing to respond to the Common Core, we have identified several other topics that might emerge into a COPS session. They are: 1) Assessment: (Data turned into instructional practice; Data processes; What data is useful? What assessments give us the best information to inform instruction?); 2) Special Education/ Regular Education connections in the era of the Common Core and RtI: and, 3) Distance Learning—for whom, for what and how?
Place to be announced.
