VILS Fall 2022 Virtual Mini-Conference: Full Schedule

11:00am EST

Opening & Keynote

Join us in kicking off this mini-conference with a very special Keynote where we get to hear from our biggest why: our students.

Moderators

Dan Foreman

Director Of Learner Centered Experience, Digital Promise

Speakers

Sara Bordelon

Project Director, Community Networks, Digital Promise

Hi all! I'm Sara, but I go by Bea. I'm a former middle school Math teacher (6 years) and Instructional Coach (6 years). I am now an Instructional Technology Trainer at VILS. I love my family, my friends, the mountains, house plants, and most of all I love dogs.

Thursday December 8, 2022 11:00am - 11:30am EST
Zoom

Opening & Keynote

Audience District Leads, IT Leads, Principals, Coaches, Hotspot Liaisons, Teachers

11:45am EST

Surviving and Thriving: Wellness Strategies

Slide Deck

High levels of stress are affecting teacher health and overall well-being, resulting in teacher burnout, lack of engagement, job dissatisfaction, poor performance, and even teacher turnover. If a teacher is unable to manage their own stress adequately, their instruction suffers, ultimately impacting student well-being and achievement. It's time that we prioritize staff wellness.

In this session, participants will explore trauma-informed practices grounded in research and the conditions of chronic stress on the brain, and discover strategies for supporting themselves and each other's social and emotional competencies at school and beyond.

Moderators

Sherry Loftin

Project Director of Teacher and Coach Learning Experience, Digital Promise

Sherry Loftin is a transformative education leader and product director specializing in developing innovative solutions that help teachers and coaches integrate emerging technologies in the classroom. As the Project Director of Teacher and Coach Learning Experiences at Digital Promise... Read More →

Speakers

David L. Jackson

Digital Promise

Thursday December 8, 2022 11:45am - 12:30pm EST
Zoom

Live Sessions of Choice

Audience Coaches, Teachers, District Leads, IT Leads, Principals, Hotspot Liaisons

11:45am EST

Using Data to Inform Cross-Functional Collaboration

Slide Deck

Looking at data in cross-functional, collaborative teams can be an illuminating experience. By examining, we will explore the value it holds and how the partnership between professional learning leaders and technology leaders can strengthen the response to data and support sustainability.

In this session, participants will explore the value of data to enhance collaboration and learning, learn to leverage cross-functional partnerships to access and interpret data, and identify cross-functional, actionable responses to support learning outcomes.

Moderators

Todd DeSando

Associate Director of Learning Delivery, Digital Promise

Speakers

Erin West

Associate Director of Learning Delivery, Digital Promise

Jane Miller

Digital Promise

Nicole Adell

Digital Promise

Thursday December 8, 2022 11:45am - 12:30pm EST
Zoom

Live Sessions of Choice

Audience District Leads, IT Leads, Principals, Coaches, Hotspot Liaisons
Digital Handout - Google https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ejX3z9Me6Y1SGyp20Y3h7rMhu4-ubJKzxOQ_beaTy0/copy?usp=share_link
Digital Handout - PDF https://digitalpromise.box.com/s/epyfsfdh0safjwo981cu7gcjl9bk8vsv
Digital Handout - Microsoft https://digitalpromise.box.com/s/93fm6j4p0w0u8gf3mhad1o0vw2l8rtjp

12:45pm EST

Digital Citizenship: Looking Beyond the First Month of School

Slide Deck

How do you help students cultivate and manage their digital identity as they establish positive, safe, legal, and ethical behaviors? Join us as we explore strategies for ongoing digital citizenship integration, check out great resources, and provide an opportunity to share.

In this session, participants will explore best practices to support students with their digital identity and create or enhance digital citizenship plans to be inclusive of staff and students' device care.

Moderators

Todd DeSando

Associate Director of Learning Delivery, Digital Promise

Speakers

Rebecca Lama

Associate Director of Professional Learning, Digital Promise

Jane Miller

Digital Promise

Karla Kiper

Technical Project Director, Digital Promise

Thursday December 8, 2022 12:45pm - 1:30pm EST
Zoom

Live Sessions of Choice

Audience District Leads, IT Leads, Coaches, Principals, Teachers

12:45pm EST

Start with VILS Coach Super Friends and Build Classroom Game Changers

Slide Deck

In this interactive session, we’ll explore the origin story of the Wichita Public Schools' 12 VILS coaches who started as strangers and grew to be dynamic teacher leaders. Discover how these VILS coaches inspire higher levels of student agency and authentic learning experiences through daily collaboration and innovative professional learning based on the TIM-O framework. In addition, participants will walk away with a collection of resources, out-of-the-box teacher professional learning ideas, and a framework for creating their own VILS Super Friends team.

In this session, participants will explore strategies for innovative teacher professional learning and how to design scaffolds for VILS coaches efficacy and agency.

Moderators

Jeremy McBrayer

Associate Director of Professional Learning, Digital Promise

Jeremy is the Associate Director of Professional Learning for the Central region on the VILS team. He was previously the Director of 21st Century Learning in a school district in the suburbs of Chicago. In that role, he was able to implement a full 1:1 program, standards based grading... Read More →

Speakers

Dyane Smokorowski

Coordinator of Digital Literacy, Wichita USD 259

Thursday December 8, 2022 12:45pm - 1:30pm EST
Zoom

Live Sessions of Choice

Audience District Leads, Principals, Coaches, Teachers

12:45pm EST

Surviving and Thriving: Wellness Strategies

Slide Deck

Moderators

Sherry Loftin

Project Director of Teacher and Coach Learning Experience, Digital Promise

Speakers

David L. Jackson

Digital Promise

Thursday December 8, 2022 12:45pm - 1:30pm EST
Zoom

Live Sessions of Choice

Audience District Leads, IT Leads, Principals, Coaches, Teachers

12:45pm EST

Why Students Need to Understand Their Own Learner Variability

Slide Deck

There is no such thing as an average learner. Helping students understand that they each bring a unique constellation of strengths and challenges to the learning process empowers them to leverage their strengths, learn from their mistakes, and advocate for their needs. This supports developing a learner mindset and understanding how and when to use technology to support learning effectively.

In this session, we'll explore our guide for teaching students about learner variability and dive into lessons created by VILS coach Renee Dawson on how to teach middle schoolers about learner variability.

Moderators

Erin West

Associate Director of Learning Delivery, Digital Promise

Speakers

Renee Dawson

Crawford W. Long Middle School

Renee has been in the education field for 16 years. As a Special Education teacher, she taught in elementary, middle, and high school settings in self-contained, co-taught, and resource environments. Currently, she is an Educational Technology Specialist in Atlanta Public Schools... Read More →

Jessica Jackson

Practitioner Partnership Director, Digital Promise

Thursday December 8, 2022 12:45pm - 1:30pm EST
Zoom

Live Sessions of Choice

Audience District Leads, IT Leads, Principals, Coaches, Teachers, Hotspot Liaisons

1:45pm EST

Ongoing IT Success Through Management

Slide Deck

This session will explore the role IT plays in partnership with schools to support the Middle-of-Year meeting process. This includes partnering on Element 4: Consistent Access within the school portfolio and ongoing support of inventory, gap orders, digital citizenship, and student tech teams. Come collaborate, share, and walk away with strategies for success.

In this session, participants will explore the Middle-of-Year meeting process, partnerships, and criteria for Element 4: Consistent Access. Participants will work to identify strategies for success with the inventory process and make connections between the inventory and gap orders that occur in January.

Moderators

Todd DeSando

Associate Director of Learning Delivery, Digital Promise

Speakers

Zac Opps

Digital Promise

Elliott Barnes

Technical Project Manager, Digital Promise

Thursday December 8, 2022 1:45pm - 2:30pm EST
Zoom

Live Sessions of Choice

Audience District Leads, IT Leads, Coaches, Principals, Teachers, Hotspot Liaisons

2:45pm EST

EdCamp Experience & Closing

This is an unconference, participant-driven component of the event and relies on attendees submitting requests for topics of discussion. Topics were submitted as participants registered and could include such topics as: Teacher Leader Corps, Micro-credentials, Student Tech Teams, Student Engagment, MOY meetings, etc.

Learn more about an Edcamp experience here.

Moderators

Erin West

Associate Director of Learning Delivery, Digital Promise

Speakers

Sara Bordelon

Project Director, Community Networks, Digital Promise

Thursday December 8, 2022 2:45pm - 4:15pm EST
Zoom

Edcamp & Closing, All Attendees

Audience District Leads, IT Leads, Principals, Coaches, Hotspot Liaisons, Teachers