Maine ASCD Weblog

Coming up for air...

...briefly.

It has been a wild month with registrations for the 11th Annual Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference breaking all records. Our current totals are just shy of 900 making this by far the largest NEAC in history, and clearly the biggest event I've been directly involved with.

Needless to say, we have been very busy with fax machines humming and phones ringing off the hook. But the good news is that we are still accepting registrations and would love to have you join us.

If you have not seen the line-up of speakers and presenters, you'll quickly understand why we've been so busy. Our speakers include . . .

• Rick & Becky DuFour
• Pam Robbins
• Mike Schmoker
• Willard Daggett
• Chris Dede
• Doug Reeves
• Andy Platt & Carolyn Tripp
• Nancy Love & Susan Mundry

There is still time to register, so come and join us for the 11th Annual Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference as we collectively make history!

~John Brandt

More Room At The Inn

If you have been following the website for the Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference, you know that we have already broken all records for registration and attendance. At this point over 600 people have registered and the Boston Park Plaza has run out of accommodations for the conference.

We have been able to secure an additional block of rooms at the Boston Sheraton hotel near the Prudential Center. Information about how to access those rooms at the special conference rate are posted on the NEASCD website.

If you are planning on attending the conference this year, I would not wait much longer as it looks like we will sell out for the third year in a row!

~John Brandt

Busy Times

It goes without saying that the fall is a busy time for all educators. For the small staff at Maine ASCD this is also very true. BTW, our staff includes two part-time people who work almost full-time at this time of the year.

The busyness has been created by having a very successful fall conference - Leadership in Literacy: A School-Wide Partnership presented by Maine ASCD's own Peter Lancia. The conference was held at the beautiful Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport and 80+ Maine educators enjoyed the fine presentation.

Also contributing to the busyness has been a record-breaking number of registrations for the Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference. This event, now in its 11th year, is featuring an all-star cast of speakers ranging from Rick & Becky DuFour, to Doug Reeves, to Mike Schmoker, to Pam Robbins with many other great presenters. Over 450 people have now registered to attend which is more than 200 over last year at this exact time. As Maine ASCD is the fiscal agent and registrar for this event, the office has been jumping!

Throw in a niece's wedding in New York and a presentation at the ACTEM fall conference, an life has been very interesting.

So, I apologize for not keeping the blog up to date, and will try to make some postings today to offset that.

~John Brandt

Joyce Freeman, 1935-2007

Maine ASCD mourns the loss of Joyce Freeman who passed on September 24, 2007.

In addition to being a teacher and administrator in Brunswick and MSAD 6, Joyce served as President of Maine ASCD from 1988-1989. Prior to this, Joyce served on the Maine ASCD Board of Directors from 1983 and was on the Board during the time the Journal of Maine Education (JME) was founded. During this period, the JME grew quickly to become the high quality publication that it is today winning the Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence In Affiliate Publication from ASCD four times!

Joyce will also be remembered as an excellent Faculty Mentor in the Masters in Education Distance Learning Program at the University of New England.

We are indebted to this fine professional for her service to the Association and to the children of Maine.

More about Joyce's career on the Maine ASCD Board

Joyce's obituary in the Portland Press Herald

~John Brandt

Congratulations Jeanne

Jeanne Whynot-Vickers will be Portland's interim superintendent through June, according to the Portland Press Herald. Ms. Whynot-Vickers was the district's assistant superintendent and has been a teacher and administrator in the Portland Schools for 26 years. Read a message from the Interim Superintendent.

Jeanne is an active member of Maine ASCD and served on the Board of Directors from 2000-2002 and as Treasurer of Maine ASCD from 2002 - 2006.

Congratulations Jeannie!

~John Brandt

Adolescent Literacy is HOT

So says the International Reading Association and reported by blogger Kate at the Center for Leadership in Education. This should come as no news to Maine educators who have been struggling with this issue for several years.

It looks like Maine educators may have been paying attention to the research and guidance that has been offered for the past few years. Our attendance at conference sessions over the past few years on the topic of literacy has been growing and we fully expect that trend to continue. For that reason you won't want to miss Peter Lancia's workshop "Leadership in Literacy: Developing a School-wide Partnership" on October 9th. There are still seats available, but they are going fast.

Next spring we will be bringing in Jim Burke to present specifically on adolescent literacy issues. Information on that program is still in the development phase, but stay tuned.

Also if you are a Literacy Leader in your district, why not consider joining the Maine Literacy Leaders Network, a Network of Maine ASCD. Any Maine ASCD member may join the network and immediately be linked with others in the group via the MLL listserv.

Maine ASCD will soon be adding a Adolescent Literacy resources section to our website that will be for members only. Stay tuned members.

And of course if you are not a member, you can join today!

~John Brandt

New Maine ASCD Website in the Works

Please pardon our appearance . . .as we perform a complete redesign of the Maine ASCD website.

Over the years, we have endeavored to keep the Maine ASCD website updateD, looking trendy, and using the latest technologies. It has easily become a full time job! So, to alleviate some of the burden, we have installed a content management system called Drupal and will use this to update and maintain the Maine ASCD website. Among the many things Drupal can do is allow the site to be updated and maintained from any locale where one has access to the web. This means that basically any computer can be used. If staff are away from the office computer, the updates can still take place. And, different people can be put in charge of updating different sections of the site.

Another unique feature of Drupal is the ability to give access to certain parts of the website only to registered users. This means we will be able to segregate certain content and provide access only to active members. For example, at some point in the future we may provide a completely digital version of the Journal of Maine Education in addition to the print version, but only active members will be able to access the contents.

The new system will eventually be built out to allow for more active participation between and among members including more discussion groups, wikis and other Web 2.0 features. One thing we are moving towards is a system that will allow members to edit their own membership information on-line and subscribe and unsubscribe to different contents, listserv, etc.

So, we apologize for the inconvenience of having the site down for a few days, but we are working hard to get all of the original content back on-line as soon as possible. We hope you will enjoy the new site when it is up and running.

~John Brandt

Maine ASCD Networks Created

At their April meeting, the Maine ASCD Board of Directors voted to form a system of member-initiated groups designed to unite people around a common area of interest in the field of education. Called the Maine ASCD Networks, these new groups will allow allow network members exchange ideas, share information, identify and solve problems, grow professionally, and establish collegial relationships.

Mirrors after the successful ASCD Networks, the Maine ASCD Networks will be flexible, fluid, and based on the needs of its participants. Each network is operated independently and provides different resources to its members.

The first Maine ASCD Network is the Maine Literacy Leaders Network (MLL); a network of educators committed to enhancing literacy education in all schools. The MLL meets five times during the school year to discuss topics of interest, study and share professional resources, and collaborate on program planning. The MLL theme for the 2007-2008 school-year is “Leadership and the Literacy Specialist.” Meeting topics include: implementing new programs, the role of the literacy specialist/coach, collaborating with administrative leaders, and coaching strategies. Meetings are informal and are held after school hours at a central location.

More information and to join the Maine ASCD - Literacy Leaders Network

More information about Maine ASCD Networks

~John Brandt

Spring is Here!

With temperatures hovering near 80 today in Augusta, it feels a bit more like Spring!

With that in mind, there is still time (and room) to register for our Maine ASCD Spring Events including:

The Reading Workshop: Creating Space for Readers and Reading Instruction

with Frank Serafini

April 27, 2007

Augusta Civic Center

Sponsored by Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)

AND

Dine and Discuss

Professional Learning Communities That Work
at Saco Middle School

May 9, 2007

4:00 - 6:30 pm

Saco Middle School

Register for both events at http://www.maineascd.org/procal.htm

~John Brandt

New NEAC Journal

As a new feature for this year's Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference, the Northeast ASCD Affiliates have announced the formation of a new professional journal.

The new journal will be published in both a paper and digital format and will be made available to all conference registrats in digital format. Please check with your local affiliate to see if they will be sending the print version to their members.

Here is the Call for Papers:

The Northeast Affiliates of ASCD are seeking articles from practitioners describing programs and practices that focus on Professional Learning Communities. The following guidelines will be followed:

• Articles must be submitted electronically as Word documents to wayne.annie@sbcglobal.net
• MLA format 1500 word maximum;
• graphics as pdf files
• Deadline for submissions is August 1, 2007

For more information about article submission, please contat Wayne Sweeney at Connecticut ASCD