#TIES16 IT Stands for Innovation Teams

How do you take pockets of innovation and spread those classroom successes around your school and district?

Session Slides (link) 
twitter.com/froehlichm Mandy Froehlich is now the Director of Innovation and Technology for Ripon, WI schools.

The school had two separate teams; Tech Teams and Innovation Teams.
Tech Teams focused more on software/hardware implementation and support. They were more traditional roles who shared technology resources, tips and other ideas with staff.

Innovation Teams were started to be agents of change and lead change in classroom instruction. Innovation team members were invited or recruited, and not all of the technology-leaders were invited. Technology use was actually not a part of why innovative teachers were asked to be a part of the team.

Mandy's session focused on how her district set up innovation teams to lead change within their system, and the professional development of the team itself. Each Innovative Team member was assigned to a school to support staff members.

The work of the Innovative Teams focused on some of the following topics:

  • Growth mindsets, false-growth mindsets, fixed mindsets and how that impacts change in your school. 
  • Flexible learning spaces
    • GoFundMe.com was used as a funding source for flexible seating. Teachers also talked with businesses and neighbors in the community about the possible impacts of flexible learning furniture in their schools. 
  • Personalized learning (definition developed by a district-level team previous to the work of innovation teams. 
    • Personalized learning conversation started by looking at rubrics of existing projects to talk about how students are being taught and how that learning can be shown. 
  • Innovative instructional strategies 
  • True technology integration (Standard > Pedagogy > Technology Supports)  





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