6pm-10pm

8am-9:30am

9:30am-9:40am

9:40am-10:40am

• Grand Ball Room A: "A Data Specific Approach to Accountability, Assessment and Achievement"
  Madison County Schools Department of Research and Development and East Flora Elementary

  This session will focus on educator development to facilitate student learning using a systemic, data specific approach to testing and instructional support in an ever-evolving educational landscape. Participants will discover how collaboratively utilizing benchmark and formative assessment data in conjunction with academic best practices/interventions have impacted accountability over a multiple-year period.

• Grand Ball Room C:“Improving Student Achievement with Supportive Counselor Programs “
  Julia Muse Cole, Ed. S., NISL; Dr. Susan Rucker, NISL

  Improving the school counseling program’s quality ultimately supports increased student achievement. As Mississippi has increased rigor and aligned counselor standards with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Standards, a better understanding of what counselors should be able to do within their schools if they are providing support to increase student achievement is created. Targeted conversations will allow the principal and counselor the opportunity to build a better foundation for 1) counseling program goals aligned with school improvement goals; 2) setting priorities for the counseling program that affect the school improvement goals and student achievement; 3) creating and measuring program goals with analyzed data of student needs; 4) closing the gap analysis to address important issues of equity and student achievement which helps counselors report the impact and effectiveness of program activities.

• Horn Island Room: “Transitioning to the new MCCR Standards for Science”
  Kelly Earls - Head Coach Data Specialist for Bailey Education

  Transitioning to the new MCCR Standards for Science is a challenge for many instructional leaders. Teachers are driven to ensure students are proficient or advanced and often grapple with balancing the demands planning and preparing for standards-based science instruction. What is the proper “pace” of the standards? What resources should teacher utilize to ensure students demonstrate mastery of the standards? Throughout this interactive session, participants will receive practical guidance on best practices for transitioning from the MS Frameworks for Biology to the MS College & Career Readiness Biology Standards. Participants will learn how the instructional teams and teachers across the state have embraced the standards with a proactive, practical approach and leave with a toolkit for success for the 2018-2019 school year.

• Deer Island Room: “Social Media, Students and Employees”
  Jim Keith, John Hooks – Adams and Reese LLC
• Cat Island Room: “Come and get the Scoop! Best Practices for HR Professionals”
  Kelly Coash-Johnson MSASPA Leaders

10:40am-10:55am

11:00am-12:00am

• Grand Ball Room A: “The POWER OF PLC’s”
  Dr. Diana Ezell, Dr. Cindy Morgan, Dr. Leigh B. Mobley - The Excellence Group, LLC

  Does your school effectively use Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s)? Dr. Diana Ezell, Dr. Cindy Morgan, and Dr. Leigh Mobley will present information on how to complete the necessary foundational work to build the structure of PLC’s and begin a successful implementation in your district. Four questions emerge when setting goals for PLC’s:

  • What is it that we expect students to learn?
  • How will we know when they have learned it?
  • How will we respond when they don’t learn it?
  • How will we respond when they already know it?

• Grand Ball Room C: “The Measure of Student Engagement Goes Beyond Classroom Test Scores”
  Julia Muse Cole, NISL

  Even though school completion rates have continually grown, dropping out of school persists as a problem. Examination of data regarding reasons students drop out of high school indicates the majority becomes disengaged as early as 5th grade ultimately leading to a student dropping out. Engagement is the involvement in and enthusiasm for school. Engaged students are excited about what’s happening at their school and what they’re learning. How do we gather, measure, aggregate, and analyze qualitative data reflecting student engagement as a dimension of student success? In this session, participants will examine sources of data that will help build classroom engagement thru parents, families, and other students focusing on engagement as a safety net for highly at-risk students. Strategies will be identified and a process to create supportive safety nets will be discussed. Julia Muse Cole, NISL

• Horn Island Room: “Experience STEM in the Promethean Escape Room”
  Sonya Gates, Educational Consultant - Venture Promethean

  This 3D puzzle adventure is for anyone who is interested in creating a truly immersive classroom experience with Promethean. Our escape room is unique in that it utilizes the following elements:

  • ActivPanel V6
  • ClassFlow
  • Robotics
  • Virtual Reality
  Together this will both challenge and inspire you to use Promethean technology to its fullest potential to get your students excited about learning.

• Deer Island Room: “Social Media”
  Jim Keith, John Hooks- Adams and Reese LLC
• Cat Island Room: “Building the Capacity of Human Capital Leaders in Education”
  Kelly Coash Johnson, AASPA

  As many school districts struggle to recruit and retain top talent and ensure equitable access to excellent educators, schools need knowledgeable and skilled human capital professionals now more than ever. In this session, you will learn more about the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) and how school districts across the country are working to build the capacity of their human capital leaders with new professional standards and a certification program. Participants will receive a copy of the Human Capital Leaders in Education (HCLE) Standards.
  
  National Update on the Teacher Shortage and Vison Planning for the Future:
  Join Kelly Coash-Johnson as she shares what AASPA has been tracking with regards to the national teacher shortage. Learn what is going on in some key states good and bad. Kelly will share some key strategies districts and K12 HR teams can use to improve their recruitment and retention. Learn how to develop your own HR vision statement and utilize it best to reach a more diverse audience. AASPA (Kelly Coash-Johnson)

12pm-1:45pm

1:45pm-2:00pm

2:00pm-3:00pm

• Grand Ball Room A: “In Other News… Media Training to Maximize Your Message and Avoid Interview Pitfalls”
  Gene Wright, MCS Communications, Courtney Ann Jackson, WLBT News
• Grand Ball Room C: “Keeping Your Cool in a Hot Situation”
  Jeffery Artis, Law Enforcement

  This session will focus on how to recognize a potential threatening situation and strategies to use to diffuse it.

• Horn Island Room: A Data Specific Approach to Accountability, Assessment and Achievement
  Madison County Schools Research and Development Department and East Flora Elementary

  With a focus on educator development to facilitate student learning, leaders from the Madison County School District's Department of Research and Development in partnership with East Flora Elementary will share their systemic, data specific approach to testing and instructional support in an ever-evolving educational landscape. Participants in this session will discover how collaboratively utilizing benchmark and formative assessment data in conjunction with academic best practices/interventions has impacted accountability over a multiple-year period.

• Deer Island Room: MHSAA Updates 2018
• Cat Island Room: “Investigations, MS Code of Ethics, and Plans of Improvement/Non-renewals"
  John Hooks, Adams and Reese LLC

  This session will provide timely up-to-date information on conducting investigations, the MS Code of Ethics, and implementing plans of improvement and non-renewals.

3:00pm-3:15pm

3:15pm-4:15pm

• Grand Ball Room A: ”Transitioning to the new MCCR Standards for Science”
  Kelly Earls Head Coach Data Specialist for Bailey Education

  Transitioning to the new MCCR Standards for Science is a challenge for many instructional leaders. Teachers are driven to ensure students are proficient or advanced and often grapple with balancing the demands planning and preparing for standards-based science instruction. What is the proper “pace” of the standards? What resources should teacher utilize to ensure students demonstrate mastery of the standards? Throughout this interactive session, participants will receive practical guidance on best practices for transitioning from the MS Frameworks for Biology to the MS College & Career Readiness Biology Standards. Participants will learn how the instructional teams and teachers across the state have embraced the standards with a proactive, practical approach and leave with a toolkit for success for the 2018-2019 school year.

• Grand Ball Room C: “Number Sense, Math Fluency – Reasoning and Results”
  Windell Greene, President of Greene Education Services, LLC

  Do your students struggle with basic math facts and word problems? Do you have advanced learners who need to be challenged? Would you like a deeper, more connected understanding of the math concepts, instructional methods, and to de-clutter the math standards? Join us as we share techniques to build a solid foundation in number sense and its application to problem solving, and let us help you take your students, instruction, and test scores to the next level.

• Horn Island Room: “Scheduling Low Performing 9th Graders to Improve Achievement”
  Dr. Nason Lollar, AP – Germantown HS, Madison County Schools

  This presentation will outline results from a study that analyzed the scheduling of low-performing Algebra I students into a daily 94-minute block of instruction. Results lead into a discussion on the leadership aspects related to teacher selection and preparing these students for future high school mathematics courses.

• Deer Island Room: MHSAA Updates
• Cat Island Room: “Sexual Harassment “
  John Hooks, Adams and Reese LLP

4:20pm-5:20pm

• Grand Ballroom A: Middle
• Grand Ballroom C: Elementary
• Horn Island: High
• Deer Island: Assistants
• Cat Island: Shay Williamson, HR Director - Madison County Schools

6pm

8am-9:00am

9:00am-9:15am

9:15am-10:15am

• Grand Ball Room A: “ACT STEM Data Report, Principal Q&A Discussion”
  Wes Gentry, ACT State Lead (MS & FL)

  The first half of this session will review the 2017 MS Graduating Class’ interest in STEM majors and their performance relative to the ACT STEM benchmark. The second half of the session will feature a panel of several principals in a Q&A discussion of ACT-related questions with the goal of encouraging discussion and exploring potential best practices. Q&A topics for discussion will include achievement gaps, student motivation, ACT preparation activities, communication with parents, teacher involvement and various other items.

• Grand Ball Room C: “Compassion Fatigue and Mindfulness – How it Affects School Environment”
  Jill Wynn, Madison County Schools
• Horn Island Room: “What I Wish I Had Known – My First Year as Superintendent”
  Jason Harris – Superintendent, Columbia Schools
  Lance Evans – Superintendent, New Albany Schools
• Deer Island Room: “School Safety - Preparing for the Worst by being your Most Proactive BEST”
  Jeffery Artis, Law Enforcement
• Cat Island Room: “Workers’ Compensation and Safety Awards”
  Brian Johnson, Fisher Brown Bottrell

  This session will focus on workers’ compensation topics to include red flags and safety incentives with employees.

10:15am-10:30am

10:30am-11:30am

• Grand Ball Room A: “Good to Great Process”
  Scott Cantrell, Monroe County
• Grand Ball Room C: “Improving ACT Scores: Last Minute Tips and Strategies”
  Chantel Vaultz, Mastery Prep

  Gain insights on how to guide students to better test scores and how to develop a culture of college readiness among students, teachers, and parents.

• Horn Island Room: "School of Innovation - Year 2 and Moving Forward"
  Brian Kippers, Corinth School District

  This presentation is targeted to principals at all grade levels interested in how to implement innovative programs in their school. Having completed two years as the principal in a MDE designated district/school of innovation, Brian Knippers will share the positive impact on students and also the pitfalls of the journey. The focus of this session will be to help schools have an easy path to implementing the programs they feel will improve their schools. Everything from staffing, to assessment, to community involvement and student motivation will be presented. Join this session. We are interested in you sharing your innovations as well.

• Deer Island Room: “Decisions, Decisions, Decisions”
  Ronnie McGehee Ph.D.
• Cat Island Room: "Compassion Fatigue and Mindfulness – How it Affects School Environment"
  Jill Wynn, Madison County Schools

  According to research, nearly half of the children in our classrooms have experienced, or are experiencing, some type of adverse childhood event, trauma, or chronic trauma. Educators frequently feel overwhelmed by these situations and at a loss with how to help and become disheartened, lose hope or burn out. Research shows 40% of educators are characterized as “disheartened.” Learn to recognize the symptoms and discover steps to re-energize your staff, so they can give students the energy and focus they need.

11:30am-11:45am

11:45am-12:45pm

• Grand Ballroom A: Middle
• Grand Ballroom C: Elementary
• Horn Island: High
• Deer Island: Assistants
• Cat Island: Shay Williamson, HR Director - Madison County Schools

12:45pm-6pm

6pm

8:15am-9:30am

9:30am-10:45am

• Grand Ball Room A: “Be Aware of Retirement Options and Information”
  PERS/MS Deferred Compensation
• Grand Ball Room C: "Sandy Hook Promise"

10:45am-11:45am

• "Like" Groups Debrief
• Q&A/Conference 2019 Discussions
• Drawing for Door Prizes

12pm