2016 WASDA Summit
INTRODUCTION
I attended the 2016 Wisconsin Summit for Data-Informed Leadership on March 1st and March 2nd. The Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators hosts the conference each year at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, WI. The Baraboo School District sent a district-wide team in an effort to build capacity related to data-informed leadership. I was selected as a representative from my 5th grade level to bring back great information for my peers. The conference aimed to provide participants with sessions that focused on data and assessment practices, in addition to offering strategies to school districts to help strengthen data review processes.
STANDARDS
WI Teacher Standards:
Standard 9: Teachers are able to evaluate themselves
Standard 10: Teachers are connected with other teachers and the community
IRA Standards:
IRA Standard 3: Candidates use a variety of assessment tools and practices to plan and evaluate effective reading and writing instruction.
IRA Standard 6: Candidates recognize the importance of, demonstrate, and facilitate professional learning and leadership as a career-long effort and responsibility.
REFLECTION
I thoroughly enjoyed this conference with the various Baraboo School District staff. There were representatives from all different grade levels and schools, which made the conversations diverse. I participated in a breakout session about mindsets and how these mindsets affect not just the students but the teachers as well. In this session we discussed shifting values and shifting school cultures as well. Some examples of this are: shifting from teaching as private to teaching as a collaborative practice; shifting from "quick fixes" to continuous growth. I learned the importance of adopting a continuous improvement mindset, and received a graphic on growth and fixed mindset that I was able to use at my Spring parent-teacher conferences just a few days after the summit.
