Webinar Recordings

Leading Effective Professional Development for K-12 Educators

As a K12 leader, you know that often the most well-planned professional learning initiatives can receive tepid response. This isn’t due to the competence of the leader, or to the relevance of the content! Often it has everything to do with the content feeling overwhelming (redundant, bloated, burdensome), and as a result, outcomes fall flat.

During “Leading Effective PD for K-12 Educators,” you'll get bite-sized strategies you can use as a leader to make professional learning more engaging, and more impactful. During the session, we engaged in the following topics:

• Fostering a welcoming learning environment to encourage participants to contribute

• Structuring professional learning to target actionable strategies that teachers can immediately implement in their classrooms

• Creating engaging practice that fosters collaboration and feedback within the professional learning

EdConnective coaches Immogen Klossner and Dr. Natasha Ward share practical strategies you can use to deliver engaging professional learning your teachers will appreciate. Includes BONUS COVERAGE with extra time for Q&A! There were more questions than we could answer in the allotted time, so we took a little time to cover them!

Download: Follow along by downloading the Participant’s Guide.

Master the “4 R’s” to Support and Retain Teachers

K-12 Leaders are looking to support teachers in ways that don't feel like "one more thing" added to teachers' plates. With surveys suggesting up to 25% of teachers are looking to leave teaching, teacher support and retention are as important as ever.

EdConnective expert coaches Imogen Klossner and Labonnie Smith lead “Supporting and Retaining Teachers through the Four R’s.” During this interactive webinar, participants:

• Identify small but impactful changes that create a stronger school culture

• Discuss how to build relational trust with teachers and transform power dynamics to facilitate collaboration

• Make a plan to impact change in teacher support through the Four Rs of Respect, Relationships, Reflection and Rest.

Download: Follow along by downloading the Participant’s Guide.

Trauma Informed Leadership: Practical Strategies for Lead Educators (+ Bonus Coverage)

Education leaders are struggling to find practical ways to support teachers. Teachers need to feel supported in ways that "supports" like new curriculum or new technology don't provide, mostly because those supports feel like "one more thing to do."

Through a lens of equity, EdConnective instructional coaches Dr. Natasha Ward (EdD) and Destiny Shantell Woodbury (M.Ed) provide practical strategies for lead educators to truly support teachers. This session will cover topics such as:

• Building Strong and Supportive Relationships

• Empowering Educators’ Agency

• Exploring Individual and Community Identities

AND BONUS COVERAGE! Attendees had a lot of great questions, and we take a few minutes at the end to address more of them!

Download: Follow along by downloading the Participants Guide.

Bonus supplement: Exploring Identity Markers Guide

Teacher Self-care: Reducing Burn-out as a Lead Educator

Teachers are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and while putting students first find it almost impossible to take time for themselves. Lead Educators are in a difficult position in supporting teachers, and what about their own self-care?!? Lauren Vargas (M.EdL) shares practical advice for school and district leaders to support teacher self-care including:

• Turning Self-care talk into self-care action

• The role of school leaders in reducing teacher stress

• Simplification and Flexibility

• Promoting a healthy work-life balance (leaders included!)

Panel Discussion: Top Teacher Questions about Virtual Learning

During this panel discussion, EdConnective coaches answer top questions from teachers as they've transitioned to distance learning and give practical advice on questions within a wide range of topics. Topics include:

• Culturally responsive teaching

• Teaching equitably to support diverse learners at a distance

• Social and emotional well-being

• Virtual classroom management to engage students

• Leveraging additional learning time (like summer!)

• Family engagement

Panel Discussion: Virtual Teaching Through an Equity Lens

Ensuring equity and access for all students has been a prevalent question since the moment we knew we were going virtual due to COVID-19. Our expert panel fielded questions from educators and gave practical insights into some of the major challenges district and school-level educators are facing including:

• Narrowing the digital divide in the virtual classroom

• Blended learning and the virtual classroom for the '20-'21 school year

• Social and Emotional Support

• Out of Sight, Top of Mind - supporting the students you can't see

• Asset-based vs. deficiency-oriented mindset

Workshop: Key Remote Teaching Proficiencies to Minimize Learning Loss

Workshop leaders Lauren Vargas (M.EdL) and Rashaida Melvin (M.Ed) share practical tips for helping your teachers master key remote teaching proficiencies to minimize student learning loss. Topics include:

• Creating a simple yet effective remote learning space

• Building meaningful relationships with students and their families

• Engaging students in rigorous content in order to turn potential learning loss into accelerated learning

Supplemental Document: Key Remote Teaching Proficiencies to Minimize Learning Loss

Workshop: How to Go Virtual for Teacher Support

Schools and districts everywhere are making a sudden transition to remote/virtual learning on a scale never seen due to COVID-19, In this workshop, Will Morris (M.Ed) and Lauren Vargas (M.EdL) share helpful tips and frameworks for administrators to use as they are challenged to support teachers virtually.

Supplemental Document: The Remote Teaching Mindset

EdConnective hears from school and district administrators every day through our team of expert virtual coaches. Will and Lauren are able to share practical advice for administrators based on those interactions.

Is EdConnective right for your school or district? Learn more about Virtual Coaching Options, and fill the form below for a brief consultation.