East Aurora School District 131: Instructional Coaching Team Presents At Learning Forward 2021 Annual Conference

Aurora IL

23 December, 2021

8:50 AM

Description

Press release from East Aurora School District 131: December 22, 2021 Each year, Learning Forward's annual conference acts as a collaborative gathering place for K-12 educators who aspire to equity and excellence in teaching and learning within their own district communities. Speakers and practitioners from all over the country deliver presentations and classroom strategies meant to empower educators to advance their own professional learning in sustainable ways. Part of the conference's mission is to enable educators to share their own classroom experiences with peers in the field, sparking action-oriented conversations meant to inspire change in their own learning environment. This year, District 131's Instructional Coaches represented East Aurora at Learning Forward's 2021 virtual conference. The team of 34 coaches, led by Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Brad Wieher, shared their models for instructional best practices and goal setting in classrooms K-12. Instructional coaching is data-driven and goal-oriented by nature, as coaches work with classroom staff to set concrete plans for increasing student achievement and addressing student needs to enable success at every level. For Instructional Coach Carol Mertes, Keynote presenter Kyle Schwartz's book, I Wish My Teacher Knew, hit at this key purpose. "Schwartz…took it to the next level and posed the question of how can schools make teachers develop that same sense of belonging [as students]. This was…a catalyst to my thinking of how I can, as an instructional coach, respond to the needs of the 'whole' teacher, build strong staff relationships, and deepen their sense of belonging." Empowering teachers to structure their learning environment in such a way to respond to student needs and build interpersonal relationships is at the heart of an instructional coach's classroom endeavors, according to Mertes. "As an East Aurora instructional coach, I am to build the capacity of my colleagues and enhance their instructional practices, to ultimately impact student learning so all children can reach their full potential." Offering over 100 sessions for attendees to listen to and engage with, the Learning Forward Conference allows educators like Mertes and the rest of the EA Instructional Coaching team the opportunity to explore new ways of setting instructional goals and student outcomes in measurable ways. Congratulations and thank you to all staff who represented East Aurora at the annual conference. Your dedication and continuous professional growth are meaningful bricks in the path moving towards great things happening in EA! This press release was produced by East Aurora School District 131. The views expressed here are the author's own.