Look who is coming to dinner

In my last post, Like planning a flash mob, I was talking about the complexities of planning an upcoming professional learning opportunity. I will have that "opportunity" tomorrow and I am excited about it. I was very nervous we'd only have a few people, but we are over 30 now, and I have had to add spaces to present.

The day, which is about 21st Century Literacy, has attracted a pretty wide group of teachers, most of whom will be presenting about what they are doing this year. It is designed to be a conversation between professional learners about what they are trying and how it is going. Some of those coming will present for an hour, some for a half hour. I like the fact that some will talk about co-teaching experiences as well.

We are going to have a very diverse group of people who are coming to share what they have been doing to meet student needs. They are sharing their learning along 1 or 2 of the themes of the day: assessment for learning, struggling readers, learner engagement, differentiation, and digital learners. Here is a look at who will be there.

• READ teachers - teachers who work with reluctant or even no-readers on acquiring literacy skills. These teachers are a part of our division's priority of Literacy for Life.
• EAL teachers - teachers whose students speak English as a second or additional language. These teachers are working on language acquisition in addition to literacy skills.
• Pod and Grant teachers - teachers who have been given different or additional technologies to meet a specific instructional need. In the case of the grant teachers, presenting about their action-research is a required part of the grant process.
• Secondary teacher-librarians - are teachers who manage our learning resource centers/libraries, and work with teachers and students to support learning. Our TLs are typically full-time in the library. This year our TLs have been working on creating a digital presence for our libraries.
• SITLs - some of our Secondary Instructional Technology leaders will be present. They work with teachers in individual collegiates through planning, instructional and technical support. Almost all collegiates have an SITL, some of which have release time to work with teachers.
• Classroom teachers - a number of classroom teachers, particularly English/Language Arts teachers are coming to present what they have been trying in their classrooms.

Throughout the course of tomorrow and the next day, some teachers and our professional development team will be documenting their experiences learning. I'll be posting on this blog, others will capture video, build digital stories and use other web 2.0 tool. Expect to hear a lot from us.