Bring Your Own Learning, Transform Instruction with Any Device, by Lenny Schad

When was the last time you were in a book study with the book’s author? 

Join us for a book study with Mr. Lenny Schad, Chief Information Officer & Education Technologist from Houston ISD, and author of the book, Bring Your Own Learning, Transform Instruction with Any Device.

Whether you joined us for his sessions earlier this year or not, purchase a copy of the book and join us for this author-led book study in three sessions.  

See details below, or view/click this flier.

Lenny Schad will connect to us via a remote connection from Houston and will be here in person for the sessions in September and November.  

Lindale ISD's Surratt Named Region 7 ESC Superintendent of the Year

Congratulations to the new Region 7 ESC Superintendent of the Year

Lindale ISD Superintendent Stan Surratt was recently named as the Region 7 Education Service Center Superintendent of the Year and will serve as the regional representative in the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) statewide program.

“It’s an honor to be selected as the Region 7 Superintendent of the Year,” said Surratt. “This honor is a great tribute to the Lindale Independent School District, and the wonderful work and success of the teachers, students, and staff.”

The Superintendent of the Year award program has honored outstanding Texas administrators since 1984 based on leadership in areas such as student performance, administration and school climate, school board and superintendent relations, school improvement, school and community relations, and management of finances, facilities, instruction, students and personnel.

“Region 7’s 106 districts and charter schools are blessed with wonderful leaders like Mr. Surratt who put the education and overall success of our students first,” said Region 7 ESC Executive Director Elizabeth Abernethy. “In his 15 years as a superintendent, Mr. Surratt has continued to show exemplary leadership skills and his dedication to the education of the students he serves, as well as to the support of his staff. We are proud for him to represent Region 7 at the state.”

In addition to feeling honored at being selected as the 2014 Region 7 ESC Superintendent of the Year, Surratt said he thinks this program helps promote an overall positive perspective on public education.

STAAR 3Di: Instruct, Implement, Impact

STAAR 3Di:  

Instruct, Implement, Impact

SAVE the DATE:  Session #043013 August 1, 2014

John Fessenden & Ervin Knezek, Lead4Ward Consultants, are coming to Region 7 ESC, August 1, 2014.

Leadership teams are charged with helping teachers meet the challenges of the assessment system and meeting the performance levels in the accountability system using with three years of STAAR data and additional local data.

Leadership teams will:

• Create engaged learning environments
• Analyze and prioritize data
• Describe vertical and horizontal trends
• Map identified areas for growth to the district curriculum
• Design and implement professional learning opportunities
• Connect professional learning to daily instruction and assessment
• Respond to demands of the accountability system

Team members may include: Administrators, Curriculum Directors, Principals, Teacher-Leaders

Designing for Engagement

Instructional Leaders Need to Know the difference in planning for instruction, and designing for engagement. Join your teachers as you learn together how to make the change toward more profound learning. 

As educators work across America to meet the needs of twenty-first-century learners and to teach new, harder concepts to their students, a pattern is becoming clear. Profound learning happens when students are engaged, and engagement hinges on customized classroom experiences that address students' needs, motives, and values. Engaging experiences do not happen by chance; they are the result of teachers designing work for their students.

Dates: August 14-15, 2014 and September 22-23, 2014
This is TWO DAYS of training.

Check out the Schlechty Center: http://www.schlechtycenter.org for more information.

Session 042513 - August 14-15, 2014
Click here to register.

Session 042521- September 22-23, 2014

Click here to register

Leadership Teams Build the Learning Environment through Tribes Learning Community:

Tribes Learning Community: Engage in Change

#041966:  Register Today

August 12-13, 2014 and October 27-28, 2014

View / Print Flier with Details.

Tribes is a highly effective hands-on training, which will leave you inspired, motivated, and skilled in how to provide every student with the knowledge, skills, and resiliency to be successful in a rapidly changing world. 

Learn to develop a positive learning environment, teach collaborative skills for social development, establish agreements, and ask reflection questions to increase learning. 

The session information Includes: stages of group development, selecting strategies, and initiating groups for planning and peer coaching.   Read more and register.

Watch this video of a musical video, "Engage in Change," written and performed by Chad Mills

Learn more about TRIBES:  visit this link for additional information.

Texas Principal: A Great Resource

A great resource for any principal, but especially for those in our state, is the blog called: Texas Principal, which began as a shared idea between two Texas ISD administrators.

The authors, who are former high school principals, set out to create a resource for sharing information between fellow principals and educators.  As they post on their website, "The ultimate result of that sharing of resources is the development, recruitment and empowerment of principals and education leaders."

Texas Principal established an online presence through Twitter (@txprincipalorg) on March 18, 2012 and their website followed, on June 14, 2012 during a presentation at the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals.

They provide various checklists and guides for principals that they have developed at Texas Principal or collected from external links for both new and veteran principals.  Some of the information is posted in a Google Shared Doc.  You can make these documents your own by making a copy in your personal Google Doc file.  Learn more about the paperless classroom with Google Apps for Education.

I have copied and adapted some of their checklists, and posted them on the Region 7 ESC website.

View them here.  If you do the same, or have other lists to share, please send them to vechols@esc7.net, and to the TexasPrincipal.net organizers.

We are better together.