TAISI TEACHERS CONFERENCE 2017: 3 rd - 4 th March CONNECTED LEARNING Taj Deccan,
Considering the positive feedback we received from participants last year, we decided to follow the same format for the Teachers Conference this year, that of four different strands, for each section of the school. This year we have the added advantage of a fantastic keynote to start the workshops off. Each speaker brings their years of experience, their own talent within the classrooms and within schools (many of them are teachers), as well as their perspective of our theme, Connected Learning. In these digital times, has the very meaning of the word changed? We challenged our presenters to help us find a balance in the very understanding of the word connected. While as schools, we don t want to be digital luddites, we still believe in making the best interpersonal connections with learning and between ourselves as possible. We leave you in the able hands of Len Duevel, Amanda Cooke, Sasha Marshall, Kim Edwards and Tanya Nizam. Happy learning! Anu Monga Chairperson TAISI Head Office, C/o Geddalahalli, Hennur Bagalur Road Kothanur Post, Bangalore 560077 Tel: +91-80-28445852 / 28465060 Fax: +91-80-28465059 Email: info@taisi-india.org 2
Connected Learning Workshop Details Early Years Amanda Cooke Elementary School Sasha Marshall Middle School Kim Edwards High School Tanya Nizam Agenda-3 rd March Time Description 8:30 am Registration Keynote by Len Duevel 9:00 am 10:30 am Building Collective Knowledge and Understanding: Setting Priorities for How We Learn 10:30 am 11:00 am Tea Break into School Section Strands 11:00 am 12:30 pm Session 1 12:30 pm 1:30 pm Lunch 1:30 pm 3:00 pm Session 2 3:00 pm 3:30 pm Tea 3:30 pm 5:00 pm Session 3 Agenda-4 rd March Time Description 9:00 am 10:30 am Session 4 10:30 am 11:00 am Tea 11:00 am 12:30 pm Session 5 12:30 pm 1:30 pm Lunch 1:30 pm 3:00 pm Session 6 3:00 pm 3:30 pm Tea 3:30 pm 5:00 pm Session 7 3
Speaker Profile and Workshop Description Keynote Speaker Early Years Len Duevel, Retired Educator and Global Volunteer Len Duevel retired in June, 2015 as the Primary School Principal of the International School of Stavanger, Norway, after 42 years of service in the school. Prior to becoming a principal, he taught grades 1, 3, 4 and 6, he was also the school s Curriculum Coordinator. He holds a Bachelor s degree from Moorhead (Minnesota) State University, a Master s Degree in Teaching, Curriculum and Learning Environments from Harvard University and a PhD in Educational Administration from Purdue University. Len teaches graduate university classes for Endicott College, he was a charter member of the ECIS Curriculum Committee, and was one of the original writers of the International Schools Curriculum Project, and has served on 14 accreditation visiting teams. Since retirement, he has volunteered in international schools in Egypt, India, Latvia, Madagascar, Norway, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan. Keynote Description: Building Collective Knowledge and Understanding: Setting Priorities for How We Learn - How we learn is part of what we learn. The methodology a single teacher, a school or a larger organisation chooses will define learner outcomes. Setting priorities for a common methodology within the school creates a process for students and teachers to acquire skills, develop understanding and build knowledge. Learning how to acquire knowledge and skills whilst capturing and developing potential at critical stages are important elements in this lifelong process. Our metaphors of school defines how we connect and participate in the learning process. Using case studies and examples, participants will gain better understanding of successfully engaging students in school s core values, mission and vision. Amanda Cooke, Early Years Specialist, Charles Sturt University Amanda has over 20 years of experience in teaching young people. Her experience includes primary and early childhood education, middle management, leadership and research. She has experience in a range of educational approaches that include Montessori, Reggio Emilia and inquiry based learning (PYP). Amanda brings a wealth of personal teaching experience to her presentations. She is an advocate of reflective practice and pedagogical growth. Amanda has recently completed a 6-year tenure as ELC coordinator at a leading Melbourne independent school and will begin a PhD candidature at Charles Sturt University, Australia in 2017. Amanda presents on a range of topics including positive behaviour guidance, creativity, literacy and maths in play, and engaging children in learning. Workshop Description: Education for a Changing World - Exploring the role of play and teacher led learning for young learners in the 21st Century - This workshop will discuss the skills, knowledge and dispositions essential for young learners in the 21st century. With focus on play based and teacher led approaches, we will explore strategies to develop capable and confident learners who can be successful and positive contributors to an ever-changing world. Sessions will challenge participants to critically reflect on their own practice and work collaboratively with others to develop a toolbox of ideas. Ideas will include strategies for developing creativity, independence, social/emotional confidence and dispositions for learning all within a balanced structure of play and teacher led teaching and learning. 4
Elementary School Be introduced to a cycle that supports guided inquiry Identify the key purposes and supporting strategies for crucial stages of the cycle Work in teams to develop key elements of an inquiry unit Middle School Sasha Marshall, Head of Early Childhood, International School of Brussels and Co-Director CGC: Sasha Marshall is currently serving as the Head of the Early Childhood Centre at the International School of Brussels. Prior to this, she was Deputy Head of Primary and PYP Coordinator at the International School Dhaka, Bangladesh and several years ago, Head of K. International School Tokyo for a period of three and half years. She has a broad range of experience as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, trainer and evaluation team member in International schools. Sasha has been a Primary Years Program trainer for the International Baccalaureate as well as a team leader for the International Baccalaureate Authorization Teams in the Asia Pacific region. Sasha has been involved in the planning, support and implementation of a K-12 inquiry based, concept driven curriculum and is extremely interested in the development of whole school continuums of International education. She is a Co-Director of the CGC - Common Ground Curriculum and supports training for the organization on inquiry. Workshop Description: Developing Conceptual Understanding through Guided Inquiry - This workshop is designed to introduce participants to a guided inquiry approach through teaching-learning that provides opportunities for students to move beyond being passive recipients of knowledge to become knowledge builders, capable of creative and theories and innovative solutions to problems. As part of this two-day workshop, teachers will: Use a conceptual lens to develop understanding goals that focus on inquiry Kim Edwards, Education Consultant Kim Edwards works as an Education Consultant for SEQTA Professional Services providing professional development for teachers and school leaders. Throughout her 30 year teaching career in Australia, she held a variety of teaching and senior roles in schools. These included 10 years as a Head of School and 11 years as a Deputy Principal in a very large independent school. Kim is a very experienced International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) workshop leader, school visit team leader and works with the IB to train their new workshop leaders and school visitors. Recently, Kim was involved in the MYP curriculum review. Kim has a Masters of Education and travels widely across the Asia Pacific region working with schools and teachers. Workshop Description: What makes the difference to student learning? - This workshop is aimed at supporting teachers to enhance their pedagogy using a range of online tools that connect the teacher and student. Using an inquiry model, participants will explore ways to differentiate the curriculum to enhance student learning that facilitates and strengthens the communication between school and home. The workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on their own practices and identify key actions moving forward. 5
This two-day workshop will explore: The role of inquiry in a differentiated classroom How to use conceptual lenses to differentiate instruction The role of feedback and its potential impact on student learning and achievement How to provide quality feedback to enhance differentiated instruction A range of online tools that enable simple authentic differentiation High School examiner, workshop developer and workshop leader. She has taught Secondary Sciences, A level and IBDP Biology, IBDP Environmental Systems & Societies, IDBP Psychology and TOK. Tanya has a BSc in Chemistry with Biotechnology, an MSc in Psychology and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education. Workshop Description: Connection through self-knowledge - This workshop opens up questions of what it means to be a productive young adult in the world today and in the future. With rapidly changing modes of communication and information that can both limit and expand personal identity, we will investigate how education in High Schools can be personalized for high achievement in academics as well as in gaining a sense of confidence in the roles they will play as they move on into a wider society. Using resources from current educational theories and research, in this workshop, educators will develop understandings and strategies for the following topics: Which frameworks can we use to plan our units and courses to support personal engagement? How can we support wider creativity with modern tools of communication? Can we redefine our concepts of teaching and learning in this way? Developing inquiry for life-long learning using wider resources including learning networks of people. Tanya Nizam, Western Academy of Beijing Tanya Nizam has taught for 17 years in the UK, The Netherlands, Singapore, Vietnam, Egypt and, is currently teaching in China. She has held the positions of Head of KS3, Head of Science and IBDP Coordinator. She is an IB For students to connect with their own beliefs with the ability to challenge their own and others assumptions. During this workshop, learning models will be explored and, through hands-on collaboration, participants will develop materials to use within their own professional context. List of Participants Name School Name School Anjali Nair Lekha Ravi Archana L N Lilly Elizabeth Arshiya Fathima Mary Sheeba Chandrika Jaisimha Mitali Biswas Chitra Iyer Nagaraj Cini Poulose Padmaja Murari Thayi Deepak M Babu Rajitha Ravi Minasandra Diana Rachel Smith Rukmini Gupta Jaanhavi Urs Sandeep Khatik Janet Roshini Santa Banerjee Keerthi Makam Shahnaz Parveen 6
Shobha Nayar Pandit Sonia Bedi Sujatha Krishnan Trishna Chaudhuri Sharmila Mukherjee Garima Dua Meenu Huria Rashmi Saini Renu Arora Rohit Pande Nisa Baig Priscilla Steven Chanchal Singh Hariom Phull Nandita Mathur Niranjan Bose Rajes Sarkar Sukannya Khan P Bharti Shamsunnisa Begum Champa Nicholson Joanna Cornelius Pallavi Gopalan Parvati Gupta Ranganath Daruri Sheila Ramesh Sunita Mary Verghese Urmila Mahajan Venu Odeti Huma Pershad Krithika Venkat Lakshmi D Lakshmi Suresh Albert Ferreira Anu Heyworth Jeya Lakshmi Name School Name School Calcutta International School, Calcutta CHIREC, CHIREC, Glendale Academy, Glendale Academy, KC High, Chennai KC High, Chennai KC High, Chennai KC High, Chennai Mercedes Benz International School, Pune Mercedes Benz International School, Pune Melita Samuel P. Satyavani Richa Punnamraju Trupti Vora Ambika Menon Oberoi International School, Annalisa Almeida Oberoi International School, Archana Tamhankar Oberoi International School, Chaitaly Shah Oberoi International School, Hemal Panchal Oberoi International School, Laxmi Narang Oberoi International School, Natasha Contractor Oberoi International School, Samreen Butt Oberoi International School, Deepika Seth Sanskar School, Jaipur Neena Singh Sanskar School, Jaipur Rashmi Tanwar Sanskar School, Jaipur Ratna Srinivas Silver Oaks, Bangalore Uma Devi G Silver Oaks, Bangalore Robert Imholt SUNY Buffalo State Gayatri Tahiliani The British School, New Delhi Monica Bahl The British School, New Delhi Sonica Puri The British School, New Delhi Tripti Wilson The British School, New Delhi Deepali Trivedi The Gaudium School, Sangeeta M The Gaudium School, Biju Devi The Heritage School, Gurgaon Esha Jain The Heritage School, Gurgaon Aruna Maheshwari The Indian Public School, Erode Kavitha Ramesh The Indian Public School, Erode Parasakthi Ayenan The Indian Public School, Erode Shiv Kumar The Indian Public School, Erode Alpna Varma The Shri Ram School Kirti Ghaswalla The Shri Ram School Sumita Kohli The Shri Ram School Vrinda Verma The Shri Ram School Josheta Hari TISB Training Academy, Bangalore Monalisa Sarkar TISB Training Academy, Bangalore R. Chithra TISB Training Academy, Bangalore Seetha Chandrakumar TISB Training Academy, Bangalore Sonali Gollerkeri TISB Training Academy, Bangalore Vinita Nair TISB Training Academy, Bangalore Jagadish Raju Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Bangalore R Suseela Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Bangalore 7