Leadership Forum: Stephanie Hirsh

Our first event of the 2008-2009 school year, which was also our first CSDC Leadership Forum was a big success! NSDC Executive Director, Stephanie Hirsh worked with 35 educators representing many areas around the state, such as Colorado Springs, Eagle County, Pueblo, Grand Junction, Elizabeth, Boulder, Buena Vista and the Metro area. The Learning Educator, written by Stephanie Hirsh & Joellen Killion was used as the basis for our work together. Stephanie engaged individuals/teams in conversations regarding principle-driven professional learning. She also provided information about the most current vision, research and practices in professional learning. Participants had the opportunity to network with educators around the state who are engaged in this important work.

The following are a few comments from participants:

“I loved networking & discussing principles, ideas & thoughts with colleagues from other districts.”
“This was ‘just-in-time’ learning for me. Thank you!”
“The book will be so helpful to me.”
“I plan to revisit & ‘stretch’ my goals.”
“We need to be clear about our principles.”
“Stephanie was incredibly inspiring. My work has been validated. Thank you!”
“Principles, not practices must be our guide.”

Participants were asked to reflect on their learning in three ways: thoughts about the information, challenges, and one action they plan to take. Some representative examples include the following:

Thoughts:

Principles act as a guide for exceptional professional learning.
It’s important to identify principles with administrators & teachers.
Professional development is indispensable!
Building teacher leadership systemically is critical.
Many teachers have expertise to share, but may need to be invited/encouraged to share.
Collaboration is not optional.

Challenges:

Evaluating the effectiveness of professional learning
Maintaining focus and momentum
Getting clear about & modeling our principles
Getting teachers to explore & share their expertise

Actions:

Clearly articulate my principles.
Help teachers explore their own expertise.
Be clear about our principles.
Use this information with leadership teams and principals now.
Finish reading the book and implement these ideas.
Create a book study group using this book.

Thanks to all of you who made time to attend this important event.

Downloads from this Leadership Forum:

• PowerPoint Files:
  • Vision 4Mb
  • Learning Educator 18Mb
  • Our Vision 19.5Mb
• Flash previews (will appear in pop-up window; click on slides to advance):
  • Vision
  • Learning Educator
  • Our Vision
• PDF files
  • Principle Reflection
  • Partner Interview
  • 2007 Vision Assessment
  • 1997 Vision Assessment