Cindy Patterson, CETPA CTO Mentor Candidate

 

The program kick-off meeting, held February 6th in Sacramento and comprised 8 sessions of individual topics in addition to breaks and networking opportunities.  The day began with welcoming remarks from Andrea Bennett - CETPA Executive Director, Peter Skibitzki - CETPA President, Nancy Sullivan – CSIS Chief Operation Officer, and Dane Lancaster – CCSESA/TTSC.  This was followed by a keynote by Barrett Snider from Capital Advisors Group highlighting current topics at the state level such as the Governor’s budget and impacts on technology in K12.  During the following session break candidates were able to meet with their mentors and other participants.  Andrea Bennett led the next session that covered program expectations, requirements and a review of the extensive resources available to candidates.  The last session prior to lunch was focused on Canvas training.  Canvas is the Learning Management System (LMS) that the candidates will be using this year.

 

Bob Blackney from Azusa Unified provided a session on Leadership, Vision and Purpose following lunch.  The final session for candidates was provided by Nancy Sullivan and Robin Canale on Building Our Professional Learning Community.  The pre-work had introduced the concept of PLCs and the content of this session was focused on creating a structure for the PLC we would form in class.  The session included setting norms, reflective writing, the class rubric, and several ice breaker exercises which included naming our cohort; the Uncommon Cohort.

The information provided during the Program Kick-off is very useful to the K-12 Technologist; providing a better understanding of the state level programs, agencies and their purpose in addition to the development and learning activities focused on PLCs.  PLCs can be used in K-12 organizations to promote open dialogue and sharing of ideas to improve any focus area.  The skills learned during this session, reflective writing, creating norms, collaboration and de-privatizing can be used by the candidates as they return to work in their respective agencies.