A collision of professional development experiences, otherwise known as Collider 2016, took place on campus last week as students began their fall break.
Hosted by Mount Vernon’s Institute for Innovation (MVIFI), Collider is a professional learning forum meant to set conditions for our faculty and staff to interact and exchange ideas across our divisions and schools. It is “for the people, by the people, and of the people.”
“This half day of collaborative activity was designed so collectively, we might forward our strategic objectives as a school of inquiry, innovation, and impact. Collider helps us all to vary our routes, challenge assumptions and #LiveFully,” says Bo Adams MVIFI’s Executive Director.
Adams continues, “Our goal was to provide several opportunities to collide with colleagues across all divisions to advance some of the work they have already been tackling in their classrooms and school-wide.”
The schedule was designed to allow plenty of choice, requiring each individual to build and create rather than passively consuming. Each session focused on various aspects of 1) the project approach/project-based learning, and 2) the MV Mindsets, which helped to increase cohesion and interconnectedness among all faculty so they might continue their journey to seek to be the best in developing and delivering a 21st century learning experience.
MVPS Creative Director Trey Boden shares, “Events like Collider set Mount Vernon apart from other professional development experiences. We believe in our faculty and all they can contribute to our School’s strategic mission. With so much talent under our roof, learning from each other in this way simply makes us stronger.”
Faculty/staff feedback:
“My school allows us to CHOOSE our own professional learning paths at Collider, homegrown conference!”
“I liked the purposeful collision across divisions and the intentional thought and prep of the sessions. Everyone was invested and it was a success!”
“I love the opportunity to collaborate with other divisions on the same topic. Very eye-opening and impactful.”
“It was a great day for all faculty and staff to come together to learn. We could put aside the urgent and give time to the important. I enjoyed coming together with all divisions and roles to learn. I really enjoyed the mindset assessment tuning protocol session and the visual note taking session I attended.”
“It is a hands on, experiential approach to professional learning – it helped me connect the ideas of PBL and DT to real life scenarios, and I got to know co-workers better in the process.”
“Collider was great. I love that our school prioritizes all-school professional learning and that so many of the speakers/presenters are our teachers. We have some amazing work going on.”
Weaving together design thinking, BIE gold standard PBL, & MV Mindsets.
Faculty & staff share PL “of the ppl, by the ppl, for the ppl.”
What resources might we read, watch, tinker & explore with as we dig deeper in our questions?
Share out of questions about our white t-shirts.
Teams celebrate their collaborative ostrich trophies by taking and posting a selfie.
8:45a – 12:00p: Expeditionary Learning [3 hour session]
8:45 – 10:15a: Yes! We have STEAM program
8:45 – 10:15a: Project Tuning Protocol
8:45 – 10:15a: MV Mindset Task and Assessment Tuning Protocol
8:45 – 10:15a: Innovator’s Toolkit: Spark, Build, Hack
8:45 – 10:15a: Flip the Script: Projects then Learning Outcomes
8:45 – 10:15a: DT, PBL & Mindsets
10:30 – 12:00p: What’s In a Grade?
10:30 – 12:00p: PBL Ready, Set, GO!
10:30 – 12:00p: MV Mindset Visible Thinking Routines
10:30 – 12:00p: Making: Where Learning Happens
10:30 – 12:00p: Innovator’s Toolkit: Collaborative Techniques and Visual Note-taking in the Classroom
10:30 – 12:00p: Hallmarks for STEAM
10:30 – 12:00p: Discipline Mash-up
