On April 20th (one week today) we will be getting together one last time at Holy Trinity School to share our Action Plan journeys and celebrate a year of professional growth. For all of us April can be a crazy month where more and more seems to pile onto our plates as we make the mad dash towards June. Some of you may be feeling some stress regarding this upcoming face to face session. Please don’t. We have set up the day to be a fun and engaging celebration of learning.  EVERYONE has moved forward in some way and has something valuable to share. That being said there is still LOTS of time (24 days in fact) to “Action” your Action Plans. Use the next four weeks to start, continue, refine or finish your action plans. Facilitators and coaches are standing by to support you should you want or need any help. The home stretch is in sight!!!

Getting ready for April 20th – What do I need to do??

In order to facilitate a great day of sharing we have made a final face to face checklist for you to follow. Please work through the items in order and connect with your group facilitators if you have any questions.

1. Continue actioning your Action Plan – (Refine – Reflect – Repeat)

2. Grab your own copy of the Action Plan Story slide deck –

3. Start thinking about your final Action Plan post

4. Watch this “How to publish your Final Action Plan post” – (6 min video) ***

5. Fill in our Final Face to Face prep Survey. (2 min) – Due April 13th

6. Start thinking about who from your school might benefit from Cohort 21 next year

7. Book coverage for April 20th

8. Watch – How to Publish your final Action Plan Post and link to or embed your Action Plan story deck. (video) ***

9. Publish your final Action Plan Post and embed your Action Plan Story Deck – Due April 20th

10. See you on April 20th @ HTS at 9am

    ***The above videos will outline “what is due” on April 20st and give you an idea of how we would like you to share your Action Plan stories with us. We have set it up in such a way that you can work right up to the very last second before we meet because you will have already handed everything in 🙂 A

***Your final Cohort 21 post should be a reflection of the your last few months of thinking and iteration as you executed your action plan. It should also include a link to or embedded copy of your Action Plan Story slide deck. See this as your “End of the beginning” post. Tell us where have come from and where you want to go next. Share what worked and what didn’t, what you would have done differently and what surprised you? Can you share reflections from your students or staff? Share pictures or links of what you created, the more context the better. Imagine you are a new teacher stumbling onto your blog. How might you inspire them to follow in your footsteps?

What will the Final Face to Face look and feel like?

In true Cohort 21 fashion we have created a comfortable small group sharing format that will allow you to share your “Action Plan Story” back to the group that helped you formulate it back in January. There will be no standing & delivering; rather, there will be lots of sharing and discussion. Your shareable, digital presentation will be included in an archive with everyone else’s, so that the cohort along with the rest CIS Ontario community may benefit from the great work that has been done. Check out last years Action Plans to start thinking about how you will share your story.

Have you booked your coverage yet?: This is a Friday event.

Have you thought about who from your school might do Cohort 21 next year? Mull it over as we will be asking you to nominate a colleague for next year. Share the attached infographic with one colleague who you feel might enjoy this type of PD and help grow this community.

Looking forward to seeing you call soon!

Justin, Garth, Leslie, Derek, Celeste, Shelley, Adam