F.O.C.U.S. Forum 2014
Utilizing Data Strategically to Inform Instruction
A Special Three-Day Professional Development Event
To ensure students exit the district with the 21st century skills necessary to be college and career ready, Woodridge School District 68 is implementing an Academic Transformation Plan.
To accomplish this transformation, teachers as well as school and district leaders will need to be as effective as possible. Continually expanding their knowledge and skills to implement the best educational practices is of highest priority.
This three-day event has been developed to provide district staff an opportunity to continue to strengthen their professional practice by learning from national and international leaders in education.
It is our hope that all staff attending this event will not only enjoy learning with their colleagues but leave with the enhanced knowledge and skills necessary to better their performance and raise student achievement.
Featured Speakers
Tom Hierck
- Tom Hierck has been an educator since 1983 in a career that has spanned all grade levels and many roles in public education. His experiences as a teacher, an administrator, a district leader, a department of education project leader, and an executive director have provided a unique context for his education philosophy.
Tom is a compelling presenter, infusing his message of hope with strategies culled from the real world. He understands that educators face unprecedented challenges and knows which strategies will best serve learning communities. Tom has presented to schools and districts across North America with a message of celebration for educators seeking to make a difference in the lives of students. His dynamic presentations explore the importance of positive learning environments and the role of assessment to improve student learning. His belief that “every student is a success story waiting to be told” has led him to work with teachers and administrators to create positive school cultures and build effective relationships that facilitate learning for all students.
Tom has co-written a number of best selling books, most namely: Pyramid of Behavior Interventions: 7 Keys to a Positive Learning Environment, RTI is a Verb, Engaged Instruction: Thriving Classrooms in the Age of Common Core and Navigating Achievement for Struggling Students with the Common Core State Standards. All will be available for purchase at the conference.
Gerry Varty
- Gerry is assistant superintendent of learning support services for Wolf Creek Public Schools in central Alberta, Canada. He leads professional development, mentors new teachers, and facilitates the work of professional learning communities at all levels. He is also the coordinator of Wolf Creek's participation in the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement. In this role, Gerry works to ensure the balanced distribution of leadership capacity, introduces and guides new initiatives in schools, and helps to manage and facilitate educational change at all levels.
- Gerry has been a classroom teacher (grades 3–12), principal, and director of curriculum and instruction. He has also served in several advisory positions as a respected leader in mathematics education.
- Gerry has been recognized as an Alberta Excellence in Teaching finalist and as a Distinguished Administrator. An outspoken advocate of lifelong learning, Gerry's work in promoting, developing, and sustaining both assessment literacy and instructional fluency among educators is grounded in research, relevance, and relationships—all keys to successful change initiatives.
Nicole Dimich Vagle
- Nicole Dimich Vagle has a passion for education and lifelong learning, which has led her to extensively explore, facilitate, and implement innovative practices in school improvement. She works with elementary and secondary educators in presentations, trainings, and consultations that address today’s most critical issues all in the spirit of facilitating improved support of student learning.
- Nicole was a high school reform specialist, where she worked closely with school and district staff to support the implementation of small learning communities. This work included coaching individual and teams of teachers in assessment, literacy, and high expectations for all students. Nicole also helped facilitate and implement a data templates project in collaboration with the University of Minnesota. As training coordinator, she helped elementary and secondary educators design templates to track and analyze data.
- A former middle and high school English teacher, Nicole was also a program evaluator and trainer at the Princeton Center for Leadership Training in New Jersey. She produced a training DVD that illustrates a protocol for examining the effectiveness of assessments and student learning. A featured presenter at conferences throughout North America, Nicole empowers educators to build capacity for and implement formative assessment practices, common assessment design and analysis, data-driven decisions, student work protocols, and motivational strategies.
- Nicole co-wrote the best selling, Motivating Students: 25 Strategies to Light the Fire of Engagement. Copies of the book will be provided for all in attendance and made available at the conference for purchase.
Kevin Bird
- Kevin Bird has worked in the British Columbia school system since 1999 as a teacher and administrator and is currently the principal of a kindergarten to grade 7 school in the Bulkley Valley School District. He also works as a consultant to various provincial Ministry of Education committees and speaks regularly at conferences and workshops in the area of assessment, lesson design and curriculum. Kevin’s schools have received regular recognition for their levels of improvement and the high performance of at risk students.
Kevin has co-created numerous assessment and behavioral tools and co-authored the book The ANIE (Assessment of Numeracy for Education): a math assessment tool that reveals learning and informs teaching. Used internationally these tools have, for a decade, been assisting teachers in their classrooms to reach all their students.
Before starting work with the school system, Kevin managed summer resorts and worked as a water ski and wakeboard instructor
- Copies of The ANIE will be provided to all in attendance and available for purchase.
Kirk Savage
Kirk Savage has worked in the British Columbia school system since 1998 as a teacher and administrator and is currently working as the Director of Instruction in the Chilliwack School District. Formerly, Kirk served as Principal of Yarrow Elementary School (K-6) and subsequently as Principal of AD Rundle Middle School (7-9).
Kirk has a keen interest in promoting and advancing best practice in terms of teaching pedagogy in the classroom setting. Engaging learners and reconnecting teachers with why they first entered the profession are driving forces behind Kirk’s educational leadership philosophy. The ANIE (Assessment of Numeracy for Education), a book co-authored with colleague Kevin Bird, serves as a beacon to help facilitate a change around the philosophy of mathematical teaching and learning in our K-12 system.
In addition to a career as an accomplished educator, Kirk also has a successful athletic career. A four time World Champion of Ultimate Frisbee, Kirk was an integral member of Team Canada from 1998-2012 and is currently competing as a professional on the Vancouver Nighthawks, in the MLU (Major League Ultimate).
- Copies of The ANIE will be provided to all in attendance and available for purchase.
Daily Agenda
7:30 am
- Registration
8:00 am
- Opening Keynote
8:50 am
- Break
9:00 am
- Morning Session
11:30 am
- Lunch (on your own)
12:45 pm
- Afternoon Session
3:00 pm
- Dismissal
Registration Information
District 68 Staff
Cost:
- Free
Additional Information:
- Six hours of CPDU credit will be issued for each day of attendance.
- Staff attending all 18 hours of the event will either receive 1 internal university credit or be paid at the $14 per hour agreed upon training rate.
Registration Information:
- Please RSVP for each day below no later than August 9, 2014.
Payment Information:
- Not Applicable
Non-District 68 Staff
Cost:
- $75 per day
- $200 if attending all three days
Additional Information:
- Six hours of CPDU credit will be issued for each day of attendance.
Registration Information:
- Please RSVP for each day below no later than August 9, 2014.
Payment Information:
- Checks made payable to Woodridge School District 68 will be collected on the day of each event.
Assessment in the 21st Century Schoolhouse
Keynote: Tom Hierck
Featured Speaker: Gerry Varty
Audience: All Levels
Wednesday, Aug 13, 2014, 08:00 AM
Jefferson Jr High School, Woodridge, IL, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Utilizing Assessment to Motivate Student Learning
Keynote: Tom Hierck
Featured Speaker: Nicole Dimich Vagle
Audience: All Levels
Thursday, Aug 14, 2014, 08:00 AM
Jefferson Jr High School, Woodridge, IL, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
The ANIE: A Math Assessment Tool that Reveals Learning and Informs Teaching
Keynote: Tom Hierck
Featured Speakers: Kevin Bird and Kirk Savage
Audience: Elementary Math Teachers
Friday, Aug 15, 2014, 08:00 AM
Jefferson Jr High School, Woodridge, IL, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Using Data as A Flashlight
Keynote: Tom Hierck
Featured Speaker: Tom Hierck
Audience: All Levels
Friday, Aug 15, 2014, 08:00 AM
Jefferson Jr High School, Woodridge, IL, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
For further information, please contact...
Greg Wolcott
Email: wolcottg@woodridge68.org
Website: www.woodridge68.org
Location: 7925 Janes Avenue, Woodridge, IL, United States
Phone: 630-967-2035
Twitter: @TeachLearn68