One of the ways that Osseo Area Schools educational leaders engage with NUA is through the CLEAR/NUA Mediators trainings. These trainings offer an opportunity for educational leaders from across the district to enhance their instructional leadership skills by gathering 3-4 times a year to receive professional development from an NUA Mentor. Teachers, coaches, instructional leaders and administrators from each site across the district are invited to participate in the CLEAR/NUA
Mediator sessions that align High Intellectual Performances through the use of the NUA High Operational Practices and philosophies outlined in the “Pedagogy of Confidence” with CLEAR practices. These sessions are intentionally designed to build community in meaningful ways with staff from across the district, to weave together a number of NUA strategies with the CLEAR framework, while supporting staff to be able to return to their schools and continue to positively impact the use of culturally responsive pedagogy at their site.

During the 2020-21 school year, CLEAR/NUA Mediator Sessions were held on Saturday mornings creating a space to bring together educational leaders from across the district.  These sessions were designed to weave together a number of NUA Strategies while intentionally creating space to connect in meaningful ways with colleagues and process. Strategies such as  #StampTheChat, the use of Chat Monitors & Quote Illuminators and small group break-out discussion were used throughout the sessions to facilitate community building and dialogue. The following is an overview of the flow of the session and the NUA strategies that were utilized for priming, processing and retaining.

Session 1

• 

  Click on the image to download the PowerPoint presentation.

   

  Sign of the Times: Preserving Our Peace
  Focus on Relationship: Foundational of NUA, Cognitive & Neuroscience, Equity Consciousness

  • Community Builders- I Know for Sure, Who’s Coming With You, Significant Quote
  • NUA Strategies: Key Word Prediction
• Sign of the Times: Surrounding our Students
  Focus on Trauma Informed Practices, Pandemic Related Stress

   

  • NUA Strategies: Powerful Words, View and Capture
• Sign of the Times: Lifting All Voices
  Focusing on Processing World Events, Strategies for “Days After”

Download the PowerPoint from the first session in January 2021.

Check out what participants reported was meaningful about the first session and how they will use what they learned in their practice.

I enjoyed the variety of community building, learning, collaboration with others, flexibility and openness to discussion, ideas that I can bring back to staff.

Though today’s activities were all so meaningful and presented wonderfully, I particularly enjoyed the “Powerful Words” activity because it is something that I can use with my EL students. Words matter and they are powerful, so this activity can help engage students in meaningful conversation without me telling them what to think and why they should think that way. I also appreciated the chance for small group discussions because it’s so important for us all to unpack all the things we learned, otherwise it’s harder to internalize it and use it for action. 

All of them – significant quotes, who are bringing into 2021, predictive words from text, breakout rooms, choose the word and illustrate, video graphic organizer, blast the chat… It went fast and showed how to engage us as students which does not happen in all training/meetings…

I will use the activities for interacting with texts and videos right away. I will be processing and reflecting on how trauma is affecting students and work on building relationships even more

I am starting by sharing the activities with my 5th grade teachers because they will fit in perfectly with their lessons these next two weeks.

Session 2

• 

  Click on the image to download the PowerPoint presentation.

   

  Sign of the Times: Remembering Our Why
  Focus on Relationship: Foundational of NUA (toward a shared knowledge base), Cognitive & Neuroscience, Equity Consciousness

  • Community Builders: I Am Poem, 3 Stanzas/3 Groups, The Collective Why, The Fierce Urgency, Speaker Seeker
  • NUA Strategies: Quotable Quotes, Imitation Writing, Mash Up
• Sign of the Times: Lifting All Voices
  Focusing on Processing World Events, Strategies for “Days After”

   

  • Strategies: Group Process & Cooperative Group Roles 

Download the PowerPoint from the second session in March 2021.

Check out what participants reported was meaningful about the second session and how they will use what they learned in their practice.

I can’t identify a single one because I find it valuable to go through many strategies. I’m constantly thinking about how I can use each one, so just the live modeling of each is great. 

With all of the stress and events going on in the world today that we have been so focused on,  I enjoyed the poem and discussion on remembering why we all were driven to be in education as a career path. 

I think everyone has done a fabulous job. I have never left an NUA session without knowledge and an energy to continue our work.

I will use many of the ideas/strategies with the whole staff during staff meetings/ PD sessions.

I’m definitely going to use the quote prediction activity next time we read a book. Students will have to guess who said a specific quote in an upcoming chapter, and then they’ll defend their answers. 

Session 3

• 

  Click on the image to download the PowerPoint presentation.

   

  Sign of the Times: Affinity Circles

  • Focus on Healing and Hearing
    • Community Builder: Signs of My Times
    • NUA Strategies: Tree Map

• Sign of the Times: Issue Circle
  • Focus on Adult’s Fixation on “Learning Loss”
    • Strategies: W3, Affinity Circles

• Sign of the Times: Action Circles
  • Focus on What’s Possible (Crowd Sourcing)
    • NUA Strategies: Action Circles

Download the PowerPoint from the third session in April 2021.

Check out what participants reported was meaningful about the third session and how they will use what they learned in their practice.

Small group discussions were the most meaningful. It was empowering to hear other teacher’s voices who want the same things and discuss ways in which we can get to that shared goal.

Remember and continue to honor the importance of relationship building

I will use the W3 as a way to help my students think about what they read or heard and to help them listen to each other.

I would like to bring the activities we learned today to my classroom. In fact, on Monday, I plan on using “Sign of my Times” for my 9th grade groups daily journal entry. 

I have already seen results from things I’ve used already and appreciate having more tools. 

Be an advocate in my whole building for NUA to be used in our school.