Taylor Connard

Education 650

Solution Tree Online Professional Development

Solution Tree offered a three session online professional development called Mind the

Gaps. Mind the Gaps was created to address the issues of learning that some students face due to

gaps in their education caused by Covid-19. Session one featured Mike Mattos and discussed

creating a master schedule that targets learning gaps. Session two featured Heather Friziellie,

Julie Schmidt, and Jeanne Spiller. Their training was a proactive approach to minding learning

gaps. The final session, featuring Nicole Dimich, was all about transforming assessment to

ensure student success.

In the first session, Mattos discuses that kids are not benefiting from virtual learning.

Many students do not have internet or access to computers and that is creating major gaps in

learning. He explains that the first step is to identify what works and focusing all of our attention

on only that. He also discusses that goals of the master schedule are that all students must have

access to grade level curriculum, there has to be time to reteach curriculum, and that some

students will require remediation in certain skills.

The second session goes beyond the master schedule and looks at curriculum. Friziellie

explains that before teaching, you have to focus on what prerequisite skills are needed for the

students to appropriately learn the content that you need them to. Schmidt focused on analyzing

the content standards that are needed and what can be combined into others to fit them into your

teaching. Finally, Spiller looks at identifying signs that a student needs intensive support and

how you can step in and provide that support and maintain your schedule.
 Session three, provided by Nicole Dimich, looks at assessment in the classroom. Dimich

first explains that diagnostic assessment is important to gauge where students are at and what

they need to be successful in the classroom. She also explains that it is important to utilize self-

assessment for students so that you are giving them control of their learning. Beyond assessment,

Dimich highlights the importance of relationship building so that students are confident in their

learning. She ended the session stressing the importance of collaboration amongst teachers to

ensure that students are getting the most out of their education.