Bright Spots: Sharing impactful practices throughout a district

Dear Educator,

I just had the opportunity to spend two days with amazing educators in Frederick County, Maryland. They have a strong teacher leader program and I loved my time with the FCPS Vanguards. Each year Vanguards strategically learn and develop competence and confidence through micro-credentials and they in turn teach, lead and coach colleagues towards more blended and personalized learning practices.?

There are so many Bright Spots in their work and I’m excited to highlight one example of how a teacher is creating more opportunities for learner agency and creativity.?

With Gratitude,

Katie

BRIGHT SPOT OF THE WEEK

Creating Powerful Opportunities for Educators

There is so much value in observing other teachers, yet teachers often don’t have the opportunity to see others in action. To make impactful practices visible across the district, the teacher leader team developed The?Innovators Ignite website, a monthly series featuring best practices in personalized learning featuring FCPS teachers and classrooms. I especially love their tagline:?

“Engage WHEN you want to learn and HOW you want to learn!”

Check out?this video?from Renee Damskey, a 3rd grade teacher from Middletown Elementary sharing how she provides choices for how students demonstrate what they know.?

Another reminder that when we create opportunities for educators to learn in powerful ways and have agency, they create powerful opportunities for students!

Interested in discussing how you might create more opportunities for educators to learn in your school or district? Let's connect!

RESOURCE ROUNDUP

Below are some resources that support leadership development and promote agency in educators.

1. Book club final session TODAY!?I am so excited for the final session in our?Evolving Education?Book Club to start and I hope to see you there! Join us?today, October 27 at 3:30 pm PT.?Register now.?Missed last week's book club? Catch up on the conversation and watch the full recording?here.

2. Unleashing learner agency.?By empowering individuality we become better together. In this blog post, Devin Vodicka shares how learner agency impacts a learning ecosystem.?Read now.

3. Making the most of time with students.?This article?from Getting Smart makes the case for a compelling balance of skill building and interest-based, interdisciplinary courses that go deep into inquiry and authentic application.

LET'S SHARE OUR BRIGHT SPOTS!

How do you value learner agency? Share your?#LCBrightSpots?on social media!