January 18th EditionAcademic and Career Planning (ACP)Happy New Year! After a busy and productive fall, the Academic and Career Planning (ACP) team is looking forward to 2017 and continuing to share the message and resources needed for successful Academic and Career Planning with school leaders around the state. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the ACP Team recently held a very successful Academic and Career Planning (ACP) Leadership Conference in December under the theme “ACP: Equipping Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Opportunities”. This conference was hosted to assist teams from Wisconsin school districts to learn from others and prepare for ACP implementation required to begin in fall 2017. Moreover, communications leading up to the conference challenged districts to consider how ACP can be used in their overall planning and quality improvement efforts for developing college and career ready students in their district. The 21st Century High School English Classroomby Deb Erdmann, Director of Instruction, Delavan-Darien School District Think of your high school English class. What comes to mind? Romeo and Juliet? The five paragraph essay? Edgar Allan Poe? Today’s high school students need far more than required readings. Being a digital citizen means being able to collaborate on different technology platforms, connect readings to real-life scenarios, and do critical problem solving while developing analysis skills. Meet Kristin Parker, who continues to transform the vision of high school English class. Like many high school teachers, Ms. Parker teaches multiple classes - English 11, English 9, and Latino Literature. In each class, she has transformed her instruction from the standard read-the-book-write-an-essay format to real life applications leveraging technology to both increase engagement and develop her students into savvy technology users. One or more projects will be highlighted in this article. Wisconsin School Counselors Celebrate National School Counseling Week, Feb. 6–10, 2017by Stacy Eslick, Executive Director, Wisconsin School Counselor Association National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the Wisconsin School Counselor Association (WSCA) and American School Counselor Association (ASCA), will be celebrated from Feb. 6–10, 2017, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of professional school counselors within school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. The special week honoring school counselors provides recognition for school counselors who "implement comprehensive school counseling programs, a vital part of the educational process for all students as they meet the challenges of the 21st century," according to Governor Scott Walker. THE 2017 National Principals ConferenceConnecting great leaders across all levels, the 2017 National Principals Conference is the first-ever joint national conference of Pre-K–12 school leaders. This dynamic conference and its four session strands will motivate you to collaborate across the continuum and shape the trajectory for student success. Come to Philadelphia, July 9–11, 2017, and turn theory into practice, create opportunities across all grade levels, and make connections that will last far beyond the conference. To kick-off the new year we are offering a $50 discount on the standard registration rate with the promo code NEWYEAR17. This offer will run from January 9–27.Visit www.principalsconference.org for details. December 21st Poll ResultsIn their recent book, Coherence (2016), Fullan and Quinn state: "Effective leaders need to build both competence and confidence. They build competence through developing knowledge and skills; they build confidence by cultivating a safe, non-threatening collaborative culture with adequate supports."
When you think about your school, what does leadership need to develop more?  |