Following a nationwide application process, 15 finalists were selected to pitch for the ASU GSV 2020 Innovative Educator Award. Come hear directly from the educators who are implementing innovation right now in schools and districts across the country!
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10:45 - 10:52
Everyday AI: How a District-Built Chatbot is Helping Staff Collaborate More Efficiently
Greg Gazanian, Arcadia Unified School District
In Arcadia Unified, we recognize that in order to be a healthy and effective organization, we must work together, share information and make resources available that best inform the work of our teachers and staff. But what happens when retrieving data and finding resources takes too long, and how can we do so more efficiently? We are currently developing an AI-powered chatbot that will allow teachers and staff to have nearly instantaneous access to data through a natural language interface while still keeping that data secure.
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10:53 - 11:00
Changing School Design Through Sustainable Professional Development
Katie Speth and Heather Morrison, Disney II Magnet School
The key lever for sustained innovative school design is shifting instructional mindsets. Disney II has done this work by focusing on providing sustained, in-depth professional development that supports personalized and competency-based learning. As a school, we recognized that the journey to personalized learning had to be incumbent on developing and sustaining teacher practices.
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11:01 - 11:08
Self-Directed Field Studies: Building Autonomy and Competence to Prepare Children for a Future We Can Only Begin to Imagine
Sara Cotner, Montessori For All
At Montessori For All, we believe the purpose of education is to cultivate the three core psychological needs for optimal human functioning: autonomy, competence, belonging. Our Self-Directed Field Studies are one way we expand the purpose of education and prepare children for a future we can only begin to imagine.
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11:09 - 11:16
Personal Finance and Career Development for All Students
Christopher Collins, Cajon Valley Union School District
Our country is well on it's way towards having $1.7 trillion in outstanding student loan debt and over $14 trillion in consumer loan debt. Why is this? What are we doing to ourselves that is saddling us with so much debt? The Cajon Valley Union School District is trying to fix this as early as Kindergarten. We are, as a part of our World of Work initiative, creating a Personal Finance curriculum to help students learn their financial options and be prepared to make informed decisions when they graduate from high school.
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11:17 - 11:24
Aren't We All Learners? Building Teacher Capacity through Data and Personalization in Lindsay Unified's Learner-Centered Model
Amalia Lopez, Lindsay Unified School District
In learner-centered models, it is often overlooked that the adults in the system, the teachers and leaders, are learners, too. They, too, need personalized models and pathways for professional growth. In Lindsay Unified, we have spent a decade personalizing learning for the K-12 learners; we have now built a learning management system that allows this same model of personalization to happen for the adults.
