This Spring meeting allows for the members to collaborate in their Task Groups and Focus Areas to continue to support all Teacher Centers across the state by generating professional learning opportunities to be used by educators and directors throughout the New York State Teacher Center Network.

During this meeting, the members will plan and develop the NYSTC continuation grant application, approve remaining 2024-2025 expenditures, and approve the incoming Tri-Chairperson.

NYSTC Director Professional Learning task group is hosting this meeting for 1st and 2nd year TC Directors.

The course starts with practical examples of how our minds fool us into positions of powerlessness and techniques that tap into our natural resourcefulness. The course progresses through a framework for understanding how our minds can rapidly make decisions, but also how those quick reactions often lead us into flight, fight, or freeze mindsets, whereas ideally we would think critically, innovate, and collaborate. We then learn techniques to reset our minds to consciously tap into executive function, critical thinking, and perseverance, for ourselves and to develop those habits of mind for others, such as students, peers, coworkers, and family.

These are the habits of mind that the course develops:
Motivation
Grit and perseverance
Creative and critical thinking
Executive function and self-regulation
Social emotional intelligence
Constructive vs destructive states of mind

These are the concepts and techniques: What are the limbic and higher order parts of the brain Purpose of the limbic brain Flight, fight, freeze reactions Habits and Fluencies as ways to simplify problem solving and reduce cognitive load Mirror Neurons and the positive and negative effects of copying others Prefrontal cortex and higher order thinking Fear hormones and cognitive biases: How the limbic brain controls the prefrontal cortex Harnessing the five powers of the resourceful brain How to intercept limbic mindsets How to activate resourceful mindsets Persistence, critical thinking, creativity and the resourceful brain Lesson plans from educators who are teaching Mindshifting so their students can be more resourceful

The course consists of 6 two-hour live sessions (12 hours of seat time), plus there are practice and reflection exercises after each session (5 hours of practice over the course of three weeks), and each person will create a lesson or lesson plan (3 hours to create the lesson) for a total of 20 hours.