June 17, 2009
Ongoing Activities for 2009-10
These will be funded through district-allocated AEIN funds. All are required for district funds.
o Network Schools Academy: UAA, October 1 & 2, 2009.
o Principals/school leaders retreat: UAA, February 5 4-8PM & February 6, 2010 8:30AM-4PM
o Celebration & Symposium: UAA, April 26 & 27, 2010
New Events are intended to support mini-networks, cross-school collaboration, innovative additions to the preservice programs at UAA, and distance education. They will be directly supported by AEIN funds.
o AEIN Literacy Conference: Math, Science literacy, Language Acquisition, & Content Literacy mini-network participants will be invited to a three day event around developing literacy K-20. November 1-3, 2009 at the Coast International Inn.
o Considering a multidisciplinary secondary teaching certificate: This design team event will include both university and K-12 experts in initial design of a multidisciplinary certificate for small and rural school teachers. A two-day meeting in early 2010 will kick off the talks, followed by ongoing electronic communication.
o Next steps in distance education: This May event will bring together university faculty who have honed their skills in distance education. This will be a sharing and learning event.
Request for Proposals are available. Groups of two or three schools can apply for up to $10,000 ($6500 for 2 schools) to support their logic models through networked learning. For example, these funds can be used for school visits targeted at providing collegial observation and feedback, one idea that emerged at the C & S.
Nested Courses for School Improvement will again be offered. School leadership teams work with Pat, Ed, Nancy, and Susan to hone the facilitation skills they use in developing and implementing school-based logic models. School staff can earn credit from their site-based collaborative learning.
Mini-Networks to Continue: Communities of practice (mini-networks) will continue next year. Some will feature new facilitators.
o Jane Parrish of Aniak will facilitate the Math group
o Rob Taylor of Bartlett High in Anchorage will facilitate a Science Literacy group
o Seanna Gunn of West Homer Elementary will facilitate the Content Literacy group
o Nancy Boxler & Jim Powell will continue with Language Acquisition
o Pat Chesbro & Ed McLain will co-facilitate the Network Leaders’ Forum
o Lee Henrikson & Gwen LeFebvre will work on mentoring/induction
We are hoping that all groups will have co-facilitators as the year progresses. More information will be coming in August.
Technology Mentoring
We heard you. Participants from the Celebration & Symposium clearly asked for support for E-Live, NING, and other tools we’ve been using in AEIN. Therefore, we are working on ways to support network partners in use of the communication tools we are using. Specifically, we are considering ways to develop a school-based tech mentoring cadre.
Fiscal Notes
o It is especially important to devise a budget for this final year of the grant. We want to be sure the money is spent (wisely, of course).
o Documenting & submitting match continues to be important. Time spent implementing logic models, work on content literacy, leadership team activities all count. We are obligated to report about $1.3 million additional match before the grant’s end.
