ABOUT
A coalition of organizations working to provide free events and resources for educators, parents, and students who are ready to explore new and powerful ways to think about education and learning.
When we say "learner-centered education," we mean a system of education that recognizes and values young people as unique and whole human beings with the agency to chart and live out their distinct journey of learning.
This is a transformational shift away from the conventional, school-centered education system that asks young people to adapt to a standardized, one-size-fits-all approach to learning.
Click to read more about a learner-centered vision (from Education Reimagined)
THE GAMEPLAN
1
KEYNOTES | 12:00 - 1:00 PST
Register for the Summit and use the Zoom link you receive to watch the keynotes. You won't want to miss these speakers!
2
SESSIONS | 1:00 - 2:00 PST
Participate in sessions led by educators, leaders, and learners. Each session has its own unique Zoom link — see below for the links and to learn more.
3
AFTER THE SUMMIT
You'll receive an email with session recordings and resources from presenters. We will also be sharing a place to continue the conversation.
KEYNOTES
SESSIONS
SESSIONS
Round 1 12:45-1:45 PST
JOIN
Leadership
Learning
Equity
JOIN
JOIN
Round 2
2:00-3:00 PST
JOIN
Leadership
April 28 | 12:00 - 2:00 PST/3:00 -5:00 EST
Have questions or want more information? Contact:
Supporting Latinx Educators and Students During Crisis
Presenters: Edgar Palacios and Susana Elizarraraz from Latinx Education Collaborative
Summary: Join us for a conversation about the lessons learned in the last 6 weeks on how best to support Latinx educators and students. We will share data of what is and isn't working in our community and source other ideas from the greater collective.
System Leaders for a New Way forward
Presenters: Tom Vander Ark, David Miyashiro, Kim Smith, Patricia Deklotz
Summary: Two of America's leading superintendents—David Miyashiro, Cajon Valley, and Pat Deklotz, Kettle Moraine—will be joined by Kim Smith, League of Innovative Schools, to discuss the path forward in a conversation moderated by Tom Vander Ark, Getting Smart.
High School Competency-based Learning - What Does it REALLY Look Like?
Presenters: Keith Nuthall and Julie Bamba
Summary: Odyssey STEM Academy and Gibson Ek high schools share a similar vision to empower learners by tapping into their interests and gathering evidence to demonstrate competency. Learn about the Good, Bad, and Ugly in our journey.
Cultivating Curiosity through At-Home Project Based Learning
Presenters: Dr. Michelle Pledger and Mari Jones
Summary: In a COVID-19 compromised context, it can be challenging for caregivers to provide meaningful learning experiences for young people. This session will take you through the steps of designing a project based on student interests. Not only is this engaging, but it allows students to do work that matters to them and their community. Participants will leave with a step-by-step guide to implement this project in their own homes!
Hip-Hop as an Exemplar for Innovation
Presenters: Timothy Jones and Missy Elmer
Summary: The goal for this session is to recognize Hip-Hop as an exemplar of innovation to move us from grief to opportunity and from novel to sustainability. This session will use hip hop to create a metaphor for imagining and creating a new way of being in schools after COVID.
Designing New School Models During COVID-19 and Beyond
Presenters: Dr. Katie Martin and Dr. Devin Vodicka
Summary: What do value most about learning? How can we prioritize these principles now and in the future of education? As schools will likely need to create alternative models for the next 18 months, we need to think about how schools can adapt to meet the needs of learners where they are through in-person, hybrid, and virtual options? Join Dr. Katie Martin and Dr. Devin Vodicka for an exploration of what’s possible for our schools now and what will be increasingly necessary to ensure that all students are empowered as lifelong learners.
Distance Learning ... AMP'D Up
Presenters: Sean Brandlin, Jake Booterbaugh, Kim Stern. Carley Finkel
Summary: How can we engage our students and generate enthusiasm for learning in a distance learning environment? Join us to learn more about El Segundo's AMP'd Learning Model that capitalizes on the key drivers of motivation: opportunity for Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. At the core of this student-centered approach are authentic learning tasks that focus on mastery, targeted instruction, student ownership, and multiple learning paths.
Supporting K-8 Students & Teachers with Distance Learning
Presenters: K-8 Student Designers and Lead Exeprience Designers Jaclyn Vasco, Julie Mori, Dana Clarkson, Ellen Bartow, Kyle Asmus
Summary: Join Design39Campus K-8 educators and students as we share stories and practical applications you can take back to your learning context during Distance Learning. At D39C, we 'Rock Tumble' through daily collaboration, utilize a 'Best Version Yet' mindset, elevate 'Voice & Choice' through 'Learner Agency' and use "Neuroscience" and the power of "Feedforward" because the future is a place WE create.
Redesigning Lessons for Deeper Learning
Presenters: Dr. Scott McLeod
Summary: While recognizing the challenges of our current situation, we also know that our students and graduates still need to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers; creative collaborators; excellent communicators across a variety of analog, digital, and online multimedia; and active, engaged, culturally-aware, global citizens. This is true even during 'emergency remote instruction.’ Indeed, the pandemic may give us opportunities to experiment with some new learning and teaching modalities because of the removal of state and federal tests and other accountability mandates. Join Scott for a conversation around instructional redesign and organizational possibilities!
Reframing Mindsets to Find Opportunity Amidst Chaos
Presenters: Ulcca Joshi Hansen and Becky Ellis
Summary: Join for a conversation about how we might look at the traditional schooling practices, now disrupted by COVID, and what could be made possible. Participants will be able to work collaboratively on a design question and start to see how small shifts in the questions we ask can lead to seeing more possibilities than ever to reimagine education.
Virtual ParentCamp: Where Family, School and Community Connect, Strengthen and Collaborate for Kids!
Presenters: Laura Gilchrist and Julie Pile
Summary: The significance of human connection to the quality of our lived experience has never been more evident than right now. ParentCamp believes wholeheartedly that everything needed to create a bright future for “OUR KIDS” is already within EVERY family-school-community and thus our purpose is to help every family-school-community become ONE TEAM. Join us to learn HOW your family-school-community, using #VirtualParentCamp processes and design, can CONNECT in relational trust, STRENGTHEN (self and family-systems), AND COLLABORATE, walking together -- with kids -- in a beautiful thing we call collective efficacy or synergy.
What Parents Want in a Post-COVID World
Presenters: Mira Browne
Summary: School closures have thrust parents into the role of teachers, and made navigating the complexity of school and home that much harder. After weeks together sheltered-in-place, many parents now have a much deeper understanding of their kids—what they struggle with, how they learn, and even who they are and what they care about. Before COVID-19, research consistently showed that parents not only wanted their kids to succeed in college, they also wanted their kids to grow up to be independent, curious and resilient adults. In this session, Prepared Parents Co-founder and Executive Director Mira Browne discusses how two previously separate sectors—schooling and parenting—have merged to create a new normal for both families and educators. We will address what parents want in a post-coronavirus world, and how should schools engage them.
Don’t Put the Genie Back in the Bottle!
Presenters: Dr. Pam Moran, Lu Young, Ira Socol, Natalia Smith (learner), Joe Matthews, Justin Bathon, Karen Perry
Summary: Participants will converse with panelists from a variety of roles in education, and will take away actionable strategies for addressing a mission-driven challenge of, “How will we create equity, access, and opportunity for every child?" We’ll explore with you what we should keep, toss, reimagine, or create to accomplish such a mission. Recently, boundaries of school and home have blurred and we've seen examples of the best of what flexible learning can be - independent and interdependent, place-based and virtual, connected and collaborative, communicative and deep, engaging and adaptive. We are experiencing this real-life simulation to build an educational system from scratch- it hasn't all gone well but we are learning as we live it. Our team, connected together through Next Gen Leadership, will dig in with you to explore actions grounded in core values of empathy and equity that can help us build a learner-centered future for young people in all of our communities.
Never Waste a Crisis: Digital Learning Strategy to Build Resilience and Student-Centered Learning
Presenters: Amy McGrath, Todd Jones, Sarah Rich, Kay Johnson
Summary: To date, we have not realized the benefits that fully integrated digital learning offers our students. COVID19 has revealed that glaring gap, but the crisis also offers an opportunity for change. Let’s talk about digital learning integration as a way forward for resiliency and a path to individualized learning over a lifetime.
Learning that Looks Like You: How to be Seen in Education
Presenters: Deborah Olatunji, young learner and author
Summary: What image comes to mind when you think of your education experience? Join Author Deborah Olatunji for an interactive discussion on how to transform the system to reflect the values and cultures of all students, rather than the mainstream image we've seen for the past 200 years. You will engage with different stories from her book, Unleashing Your Innovative Genius: High School Redesigned, and share your own about what you want education to look like.
Yes We Can! Using a Lesson Template to Facilitate Meaningful Personalized PBL
Presenters: Kevin Gant and Nadirshah Eford
Summary: Participants will engage in a Bookend Lesson that shows how to connect student goal setting, Deeper Learning Rubrics, and student-centered instruction. We connect this lesson structure into the scope of Project Based Learning. They will leave with a template lesson plan, and a rubric from New Tech Network around Oral Communication.
Simple Ways to Teach Yoga & Mindfulness During Distance Learning
Presenters: Brynne Caleda, M.Ed, e-RYT
Summary: Learn how to integrate simple yoga & mindfulness practices into your distance learning plan in this interactive workshop with Brynne Caleda, co-founder of Yoga Ed. During this 60-minute session, you will explore how you can help yourself and your students feel grounded and focused in the online learning space by understanding, planning, and teaching easy-to-use yoga & mindfulness tools during the virtual school day. No prior experience necessary.
SUMMIT DESIGN TEAM
For questions or more information contact: newwayforwardsummit@gmail.com