Preview: 2020 National Summer Institute Virtual Training

Next week, NIET will kick off its virtual summer institute with nearly 500 educators joining from across the country. This year's summer institute was designed to address the most pressing needs of the upcoming school year, and our team will facilitate a range of discussions for teachers and leaders. Here is a preview of what each session will include.

Unfinished Learning – Transitioning into the New School Year

Presented by Dr. Ann Shaw and Theresa Hamilton

In Unfinished Learning, Dr. Ann Shaw and Theresa Hamilton will equip educators with tools to help gauge students' level of understanding from the previous year and analyze curriculum and student data from previous years. Educators will understand how to fill in the gaps in student learning while also continuing to use the curriculum from the current grade level, and they will be able to begin the process of creating an action plan to address the needs of students while addressing unfinished learning. While the details of the upcoming school year are unknown, being equipped with the tools to pick up where students left off will be vital.

Guiding question for this session: How can the development of a standards and content recovery plan assist a school or district in their efforts to improve learning outcomes for students?

Virtual Student Engagement – The Essentials!

Presented by Vicky Condalary and Dr. Davita Lancelin

Student engagement and ownership is an essential aspect of a positive learning experience, but how do those traits translate to a virtual setting? In this session, Vicky Condalary and Dr. Davita Lancelin will lead a discussion of how online learning can be structured to promote engagement and excite students into taking responsibility for their education. By first identifying and understanding the areas in which the teacher can provide instruction that prompts student ownership, the challenge of engaging students becomes simpler. This presentation will offer an overview of tools that can change the way virtual education occurs.

Guiding question for this session: How can online learning be structured to promote student engagement and ownership?

Strengths-Based Coaching: Giving Teachers a Seat at the Coaching Table

Presented by Jodi Leckbee Chan and Erin Foster

Coaching is an essential part of developing and growing as an educator, and strengths-based coaching is a unique approach to personal development. Jodi Leckbee Chan and Erin Foster will guide participants through how strengths-based coaching not only helps individual educators to grow, but how it can also positively affect student outcomes and school culture. By learning how to recognize and admire their strengths, educators can understand and believe that they are capable of more – and put that into action. This session will also explore how to practice strengths-based coaching in a traditional and virtual setting.

Guiding question for this session: How can leveraging teachers’ strengths shift a school’s culture of teaching and learning?

Instructional Expertise: What does strong instruction look and sound like in a virtual classroom?

Presented by Jen Oliver and Jill Crain

Transitioning from a traditional classroom to a virtual setting comes with a variety of challenges. The NIET rubric and a virtual instruction companion tool are two key resources that are intended to help educators navigate the change in routine. This session will help educators understand how to use high-quality teaching practices in a virtual classroom and provide school and teacher leaders with an understanding of how they can use the virtual instruction companion tool to provide ongoing professional development. Participants will leave with an understanding of what the NIET Teaching Standards look like when applied to online teaching, ideas for how to transform and strengthen their virtual lessons, as well as see how teachers can impact student achievement in a virtual setting.

Guiding question: How do I utilize the NIET rubric in a virtual setting?

Let's Take a Virtual Learning Walk!

Presented by Laura Roussel and Lindsey Parker

Being able to observe and learn from other educators is a wonderful way to promote growth, but can that experience be replicated virtually? Laura Roussel and Lindsey Parker will explain the process of a virtual learning walk and how it can be used for individual and group professional development. Educators will learn more about how a learning walk, or classroom walk-through, can be used as an opportunity to develop support techniques and next steps to benefit educators and students. Participants of this session will walk away knowing the benefits of learning walks for teams, understanding the key elements of a learning walk, and being able to plan how they can use a learning walk in their own school – whether in-person or virtual. 

Guiding question: How can you utilize virtual learning walks to define support for teachers and leaders?

We are excited to continue working alongside educators as they prepare for the unknown this upcoming school year and reflect on what they experienced this spring. Next week's sessions are just one opportunity. To read more and view other modules and webinars from the NIET team on virtual instruction, visit our website.

Learn more about the 2020 NIET Summer Institute.