Learning Forward Michigan president, Fiona Hinds

Greetings Michigan educators,  

We hope that the school year is off to a great start for all learners in our educational community!

As the new Learning Forward Michigan President, I am very excited about the year ahead and the opportunities that we will have to engage with our new strategic plan initiatives and professional learning activities. As many of you are aware, last year the Board focused on clearly defining Learning Forward Michigan’s vision, mission, and goals, as well as establishing a 3-year plan that provides direction for our strategic priorities. Dr. Lauren Childs was instrumental in this process, and we are grateful for her leadership and time served as the past – President of the LFM Board.

You may review the Strategic Plan by clicking here. LFM strategic priorities include Standards and Impact, Advocacy and Policy, and Leadership and Practice. We are thrilled to begin a new year with clear objectives and action plans to implement initiatives related to these goals.

We are looking forward to creating online courses about the Professional Learning Standards in support of the Michigan professional learning policy, providing services to a variety of educational communities, and building state level partnerships to create influential professional learning opportunities for educators. LFM has an exciting year ahead including:  

• Working with a group of teacher leaders to plan this year’s Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET2). Detroit area teachers will gather to learn from one another and to celebrate the teaching profession. This year’s ECET2 is November 3-4 in Detroit and is being funded by the The New Venture Fund.
• Facilitating a strand of learning on meaningful professional learning concepts and strategies that impact continuous improvement with our parent organization, Learning Forward, at the AdvancED Fall Conference and Showcase October 20-21 in Novi.  Dr. Stephanie Hirsh, Executive Director of Learning Forward, will address teacher agency and voice in the Keynote address and facilitate the same topic areas in the Teacher Panel. You can register online here.
• The Journey to Cultural Proficiency continues for a third year Learning Forward Michigan continues working with Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools educators as they establish equitable learning environments for all their students.  
• Collaboration between LFM Board and members to design a sequence of one-hour EdUPaths online modules to build educators’ understanding of Michigan’s Standards for Professional Learning adopted by the MI State Board of Education in 2012.
• Learning Forward Michigan, in partnership with Michigan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development continues to convene, for a second year, a group of educators from multiple organizations to grow collaborative, inquiry-based learning across Michigan. Inquiry-based learning is a key professional learning process for increasing educator effectiveness and results for all students.  

Learning Forward Michigan believes that all classrooms should include excellent teaching and learning every day! Our mission is build the capacity of leaders to establish and sustain highly effective professional learning.

Please join us in our efforts to build a powerful network of professionals dedicated to providing the best education to Michigan’s students through effective professional learning. Learn more about membership here.

On behalf of the LFM Board I would like to wish you a great school year filled with outstanding teaching and learning opportunities every day!  

All the best,

Fiona Hinds, EdD
Learning Forward Michigan
President