VanWeekly

• Flipgrid Fever
• XP Concerns
• How do I know what XP activities I've submitted?
• Got Questions?
• School Lead call
• Twitter Chat
• Webinar
• Vanguard Recognitions!
• New Member Corner
• Shining a Spotlight on Success
• Learning Opportunities

March 14 - Twitter Chat

March 14 - School Lead Call

March 26- Webinar- Flipgrid

Flipgrid is now a part of the Microsoft family and we would like to create some Fulton Flipgrid Fever! Mark your calendar for the next Vanguard webinar on March 26th from 7:30-8:30. Learn from several SLC Vanguard members about how to get started and their strategies for using Flipgrid for student reflection, discussion, demonstration, and collaboration.

The final stipend round has been released! Need ideas (or want to share ideas) of great resources? Check out this Padlet wall for inspiration or sharing! https://padlet.com/mditmore21/rnvmgzsjbjy

Have XP concerns? Complete this Google form: https://goo.gl/forms/S4NHtMnfkRCBoZjj1.

Want additional help? Use our new email addresses for improved communication with the XP team! You will have access to the XP committee leads and committee members assigned to you for easier access.

AZ - azvanguardxpconcerns@fultonschools.org

CLC - clcvanguardxpconcerns@fultonschools.org

NELC - nelcvanguardxpconcerns@fultonschools.org

NWLC - nwlcvanguardxpconcerns@fultonschools.org

SLC - slcvanguardxpconcerns@fultonschools.org

Can't remember if you logged the post-conference of your mentoring cycle, last month's webinar, or that PD couse you did last week? Did you know that you can see exactly what XP activities you have submitted broken down by category? It's true! The Vanguard XP Tracker 2.0 gives you the ability to monitor your Vanguard activity at any time. If you go to the tracker, you will notice that there are two tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet. The first tab is the main tracker page, where you typically go to view your Total XP. The second tab is the activity tracker. On this tab, you are able to select your name from the drop down list in the upper left corner. This will display all of your XP entries broken down by category.

Do you remember playing the game telephone when you were a kid? Everyone sat in a circle whispering a message from person to person, and by the time the message made it around to the original person it rarely resembled the actual message. In fact, sometimes the message was so distorted it wasn't even recognizable anymore. Occasionally, I have this same experience in Vanguard. We have an abundance of people in Vanguard who really want to help. But, just because someone gives you an answer to a question, doesn't mean the information is accurate. If you have a question or a concern about something related to Vanguard, please ask me. I am here to help, and you will ensure that you are getting accurate information by coming to the source!

Best,

Heather Van Looy

Looking forward to connecting with our School Leads on March 14th @ 7:00pm.

We are excited to spotlight and share a new tech tool at this week's School Lead call - Flipgrid!!!! Brent Johnson, from Campbell ES, will give us a sneak peek into Flipgrid and tell us a bit about this month's webinar. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Reach out to Megan Endicott if you have an idea to share for our next School Lead call! endicott@fultonschools.org

Don't forget! Our Twitter chat on March 14th at 7:30 pm following the School Lead call at 7:00 pm!

This week's Twitter chat host is Jen Lawson, STEM teacher at Hillside Elementary School, HOW DO YOU USE or SUPPORT STEAM in the classroom? . Take a peek at the questions for the chat and start brainstorming ways to share artifacts (pictures, links, videos, resources) to extend our PLC opportunities!

1. Introduce yourself and tell us something unique about yourself.
2. What ways do you use STE(A)M to support your students in the classroom?
3. If you are a general ed/spec ed teacher how would you like to see STE(A)M teachers support you in the classroom?
4. If you are a STE(A)M teacher- What are some ways you have used literacy to support your STE(A)M classroom?
5. What are benefits of having STE(A)M at your school? What are some cool things you have seen done in your building?
6. What are some awesome book ideas you have used when connecting literacy into the STE(A)M model? (Novel Engineering)
7. Parking Lot! Any other ideas you would like to share that? What is something that you learned or will take away from the chat?
8. THANK YOU FOR CHATTING TONIGHT! 😊

Vanguard Webinar Topic: Flipgrid

Hear from several fellow Vanguard members who will share how they use this awesome and FREE tool in their classrooms and beyond!

Look for the meeting invitation in the Vanguard Team-->Monthly Webinars channel.

We are looking for hosts for our coming Twitter chats! Please let us know if you are interested or know a colleague inside or outside of Fulton County who you believe would make a great host! Have ideas on the perfect topic? Reach out and let me know! Hosts, topics, and all things Twitter can be submitted here: https://goo.gl/forms/V4lclz5SxA0YrR693

Share your Tip, Tool and/or Trick!

If you have a technology, instructional strategy/best practice, or coaching tip, etc. please share!

Share your Tip, Tool and/or Trick here

Vanguard's mission is to build the capacity of instructional leaders to transform learning and teaching. The Fulton County Board of Education believes in that mission and they support us by making a considerable financial investment in our team each year. As a result, we need to be fiscally responsible and make sure that we are providing a return on their investment. The purpose of the Vanguard points system is to document the work that we do so that we can share and celebrate how awesome our team is!

Vanguard Requirements:

• Teachers and METIs (Instructional Staff) will earn a total of 100 XP; 50 Mentoring XP and 50 from any category
  
• Non-Instructional Staff will earn a total of 50 XP from any category. This includes school and district admin, CSTs, Administrative Assistants, Instructional Coaches, Data Support Specialists, etc.
  
  

Earning Badges:

As you know, this year we have introduced badges as a way to recognize people as they make progress toward meeting their Vanguard requirements and forwarding our mission and vision. In order to meet your requirements, you must earn the following badges:

• Instructional members must earn the Vanguard 100 (100 Total XP) AND the Mentoring Master Gold (50 Mentoring XP)
• Non-instructional members must earn the Vanguard Fab 50 (50 Total XP).

In Vanguard, our mission is to build the capacity of instructional leaders to transform learning and teaching. Mentoring is at the very heart of why we exist. It allows us to impact student achievement by building collaborative relationships that support student-focused learning. Congratulations to the following members who have earned Mentoring Master badges. Silver badges represent members who have completed at least one full mentoring cycle (25XP) and Gold badges are awarded to members who have completed two coaching cycles (50XP). As a reminder, all Vanguard members in instructional positions are expected to complete one mentoring cycle each semester. If you are a teacher or METI and you have not yet earned your silver badge, please schedule some time with your mentee and continue your mentoring work. If you have any questions or need support, feel free to contact Megan Endicott, Justin Evans, or Heather Van Looy.

We have 43 members who have earned 100XP! Congratulations to these members who have shown their dedication to the work of Vanguard by being actively involved!

Congratulations to the following non-instructional members who have earned their Vanguard Fab 50 badge for meeting their Vanguard XP requirement!

WOW!! We have 4 Vanguard members who have earned 100 or more Total XP AND 50 or more Mentoring XP! Let's celebrate these Vanguard Super Stars!

The deadline for our final stipend disbursement was extended to February 18th. At this time, stipend winners have been notified, and the funds transfer process has been initiated. School bookkeepers have been sent a list of recipients, and they will be notified as soon as funds are available for purchases. If you did not earn your stipend this year, and you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to Megan Endicott, Justin Evans, or Heather Van Looy.

Vanguard New Members remember the game Trivial Pursuit? Well, we're introducing "New Member Pursuits;" a series of badges that you will earn as you complete the modules in your new member course. As of today, all new members should have earned the first three pieces of the pie, since module 3 was due on February 22nd.

The first three badges have been awarded via Badgr. You should have received notification emails, but sometimes they go to clutter. You can also view your badges by logging into badgr.com using your Office 365 credentials. If you didn't get all three badges, it just means you need to catch up a bit. Don't worry there's still time! Just complete the modules you are missing to earn your badges! I'll be updating and awarding new badges following the due date of the current module.

Remember, completing all of the new member modules is a requirement for Vanguard membership, and we'll be rewarding new members who complete the course with your very own Vanguard iPad! (Note: iPads will be distributed in the fall to everyone who completes the course.)

New Members we have a total of 6 Modules this semester, we are now on Module 4. To better support you we have created new codes with an extended expiration date! Please pay close attention to the chart below the Modules, the Code ( new code highlighted in red), the direct link and the code expiration date.

S2 Module 1

FTZJR

https://share.nearpod.com/vsph/cPawmtfcMu

S2 Module 2

DRKIO

https://share.nearpod.com/vsph/7YKr3t62Lu

S2 Module 3

PTHZR

https://share.nearpod.com/vsph/E98Ydy0TMu

S2 Module 4

HYVFB

https://share.nearpod.com/vsph/sYelgM3lMu

SHOUT OUT to NaTasha Pennywell who runs the Advanced Strategies Lab at Shakerag Elementary. Their students visit NaTasha once a week. Natasha also organized Shakerag's First Lego League and Science Olympiad. We are honored to have NaTasha as a Fulton teacher and fellow Vanguard member!

Check out her work!

Vanleads, do you see any vanguard members at your school doing something awesome? Were they struggling with a tool before and are now using it? BRAG on our Vanguard members. If you see something awesome, please submit about your team member.

Please share your success stories with us! You may see your "Spotlight" in an upcoming Vanweekly!

Share Your Success!

If so, Mindy Ramon has some t-shirts to give away. If you would like a shirt, please fill out this form. Sizes available are XL, XXL, and XXXL. Please make sure you have the certified MIE badge in your profile on the Microsoft Educator community.

Mission: Building the capacity of instructional leaders to transform learning and teaching.

Vision: Through building colaborative relationships and supporting student focused learning, the Vanguard Team will positively impact student achievement.

Pillars: Transform, Innovate, Mentor, & Support (TIMS)

@FCSvanguard