November 12th Edition

AWSA Update

Developing Teacher Leaders: Building Capacity for the Future

Over the past two decades, school districts have established teacher mentorship programs to attract new candidates and support their professional growth. As districts compete for top candidates from a shrinking pool of applicants, they are increasingly promoting their mentorship programs. Similarly, candidates are more often asking about mentoring when weighing multiple job offers. Mentoring programs help new teachers feel supported and connected, which is essential to long-term retention. These programs also create leadership opportunities for experienced teachers. Read more here.

The Case for Constraints: Why AI Needs a Bounded Universe in Education

As Scott Galloway puts it, “AI is not going to take your job… someone who understands AI will.” I’m not sharing this to suggest anyone is lining up to replace you as a teacher. Rather, I share it to highlight that we’re in one of the most human-centered professions, and AI has now entered our world. If you understand how to use it well, it can’t replace the human side of your work. It will free you up to focus more on it. By putting AI to work on the administrative tasks that drain our time and energy, we can show up more fully for the parts of the job that matter most. Read more here.

Beyond the Grade: Seeing the Full Story of Student Learning with Progressions

How do we ensure our students have mastered a standard? What steps do educators need to take to reach this mastery? Unpacking standards is a great starting point, but creating learning progressions to reach mastery provides a learning pathway that is developmentally appropriate. Read more here.