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Bering Strait School District had a great Ed Conference this year. Stebbins (WBB) and St. Michael (SMK) hosted the entire faculty of BSSD for a week of learning and sharing. Keynote speakers, Lauren Giovingo and Holly Adkins, shared about “Response to Intervention“ and how schools work as teams to meet the needs of all our students.
Aside from the keynote and fabulous Museum Walk, based on the theme “It’s Possible!” all participants had the option of attending 1 of a handful of 2-day sessions. These sessions included:
- Response to Intervention with Holly & Lauren
- Positive Behavior Supports with Lyon Johnson (SMK)
- Balanced Math with Mary/Josh/Ryan (WBB) & Dianna/Brian (SMK)
- Cooperative Learning and Classroom Management with Kay Rochester & Jim Nelson (WBB)
- Connecting the Contents Through Project-Based Lessons, Thematic Units Performance Tasks and ILPs – Susette Carroll (SMK)
- Crisis Prevention Institute with Mandy & Shawn
- Cycle of Effective Instruction with Kelly & Linda
- Technology with Randy Fleharty/Gary Jacobson (WBB) & Damon Hargraves/John Concilus (SMK)
Here are just a few of the comments from the conference feedback sheets that show us how much of an impact this conference has made on the educators in attendance.
- “During the evening after the class was over on the first day, I reworked my whole math schedule to fit the balanced math program. I plan on starting it first thing Monday morning, even though it will take some time.”
- “I have a clearer idea on how to structure group work. The classroom management session was fabulous and provided great food for thought.”
- “I will have a unit that has been thoroughly thought out, connected and planned with ties to many content areas and activities within my village. I know that because the unit is on the wiki, others can also consider it as a resource.“
- “I know that I have excellent resources (National Park Service and arts instructors/websites) where I can go to enrich units I teach. I’ll be more prepared and thereby more flexible and confident.”
Other comments about the conference in general speak to the overall positive feeling and “family atmosphere” of large groups of people living in a school.
- “Our group spent the entire session sharing. It was the best part of the gathering.”
- “Lots of collaboration with peers at our sight as well as other sights. I enjoyed networking with my peers and having the time to discuss what is going well and seek input on things we could be doing better.”