Meet the 2021 Choctaw Nation Professional Learning Conference Keynote Speaker, Rick Wormeli:
“I teach to dispel the dark and remind the universe that we are not inconsequential. I teach because it’s infinitely compelling to watch dynamic souls punch through their not so elastic cocoons of childhood, daring the community to accept their forward motion. Brushing complacency’s dust from every day ideas and objects by viewing them through children’s eyes opens our own, and it connects us to that golden, 'What if…?' superhero in our earlier selves. I teach because setting a constructive example for my students generates a greater ethic in me than I can achieve without their example or provocation. I teach because I am deeply, unrepentantly grateful for life, and the most potent way I know to express that gratitude is to build a world worthy of the next generation, then give them the tools to make it their own.” - Rick Wormeli, 2012
One of the first Nationally Board Certified teachers in America, Rick brings innovation, energy, validity and high standards to both his presentations and his instructional practice, which include 41 years teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, and history, as well as coaching teachers and principals. Rick's work has been reported in numerous media, including ABC's Good Morning America, Hardball with Chris Matthews, National Geographic and Good Housekeeping magazines, What Matters Most: Teaching for the 21st Century, and the Washington Post. He is a columnist for AMLE Magazine and a frequent contributor to ASCD's Education Leadership magazine. He is the author of the award-winning book Meet Me in the Middle as well as the best-selling books Day One and Beyond, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom (Second Edition), Differentiation: From Planning to Practice and Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject, all five from Stenhouse Publishers, as well as Summarization in any Subject: 60 Innovative and Tech-Infused Strategies for Deeper Student Learning (releasing in fall 2018) published by ASCD. His book, The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching Along the Way, is collection of his published articles, guest blogs and more through 2013, with the new version with all new articles since 2013 arriving in bookstores in 2022. His classroom practice is a showcase for ASCD's best-selling series, At Work in the Differentiated Classroom.
With his substantive presentations, sense of humor and unconventional approaches, he has been asked to present to teachers and administrators in all 50 states, Canada, China, Europe, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, Australia, the Middle East, and at the White House. He is a seasoned veteran of many international webcasts and virtual trainings, and he is Disney's American Teacher Awards 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation. He won the 2008 James P. Garvin award from the New England League of Middle Schools for Teaching Excellence, Service and Leadership, and he has been a consultant for National Public Radio, USA Today, Court TV and the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Partners Program and their search for the giant squid. Rick lives in Herndon, Virginia, with his wife, Kelly, and both are proud of recently welcoming their first grandchild. With their kids' college years now behind them, Rick and Kelly are now eagerly spending their childrens' inheritance while Rick works on his first young adult fiction novel and a new book on changing the culture of a school for ethical grading practices.
Keynote: Rick Wormeli
Finding Oxygen: Rejuvenation our Teacher Selves
At first, many of us tried to jam what we did in our physical classrooms through the camera lens of our remote instruction during the pandemic, and we hoped it would deliver effective learning on the other end just as it did when we were together in the classroom. We discovered quickly, however, it doesn’t work that way. Those of us used to relying on mere personality and the accoutrements of the classroom space for our instruction realized that we had been too indifferent to cognitive science (how the mind learns) and cultivating our creative selves. We were, and maybe are, adrift as we try to teach remotely and/or migrate back to in-person teaching. Join us for a substantive session on how to rejuvenate our teacher selves in the year ahead, re-igniting professionalism, cultivating intellect, exploring those cognitive science ideas, and finding meaning and oxygen in our enterprise: Take a breath this summer, breathe fiercely this fall.
Administrative Workshop led by Keynote Speaker, Rick Wormeli:
Responding to Anxiety, Panic, and Depression
As we entered January of 2020, the statistics on the massive increase in students experiencing anxiety/panic attacks and some slipping into depression as a result were deeply troubling, and the rise of adolescent and young adolescent suicides in the last twenty years, even more so. Funding for mental health resources in schools was being cut just as teachers and administrators were calling for more assistance. Then, COVID-19 hit, schools shut down, families were hit by illness/death/job loss, normalcy shattered, and even the few mental health supports and monitoring systems in place faded away or became very difficult to provide. Join us for a candid and practical session on how to identify anxiety and panic attacks in students and adults, and the specific steps we as classroom practitioners, counselors, and administrators can take to respond thoughtfully when they occur. Let’s spend the time, energy, and courage right here, right now, becoming informed, removing stigma, and responding constructively to this profound challenge.
Talking about Racism/Other-isms with Faculty/Community
It is uncomfortable to talk about race among faculty colleagues. Many educators do not have constructive skills for such conversations. If we speak up for respectful conversation, racial equity, the rights of immigrants or others from a religion or culture different from our own, we may say something unintentionally offensive, incomplete or inexperienced, and we may lose friends and colleagues as a result. It is just easier to say nothing and get along. Racism is learned, however: No one is born racist, and one of our jobs as educators is to secure a non-racist future. Join us for a frank and insightful look at how to conduct conversations on racism and otherisms in schools. We’ll explore basic fundamentals, then spend the majority of our time identifying constructive responses to racist statements and policies, providing helpful tools to use in the moment. Our response to racism in our schools must be clear, compassionate and immediate. Settling for indifference exacerbates the problem—a matter of unintentional yet real racism.
Equity in Grading
Differentiation and equity measures are vital to student success, but what happens when it comes to grading? Being sensitive to student differences while holding them accountable for the same standards can be a challenge. What’s fair and leads to real student learning? Join us for an extended and candid look at what equity in grading – We’ll examine conflation, what grades really mean, late work, alternative assessments, grading special education students, allowing alternative timelines, fair isn’t always equal, re-learning/re-assessing, homework, group projects, formative vs summative assessments, and much more.
Teacher Workshop Presenters:
Dan St. Romain is a national independent educational consultant who provides staff development and
consultative services to educators and parents working with children at all developmental levels. Dan is
passionate about helping individuals shift their perspective on discipline, understanding the best ways to
provide support given the challenges posed in today’s society. After receiving his master’s degree in education, Dan worked in both private residential and public school settings, as well as at the Region 20 Education Service Center in San Antonio, Texas. His work as a self - contained behavior unit teacher, educational diagnostician, behavior consultant, and director of a learning
resource center has afforded him experience at all levels, in both general and special education settings. Dan is
now enjoying retirement after having worked in the school system for the past 30 years. Dan’s overwhelming strength is his skill as a presenter. Although his sessions are exceedingly interactive, his greatest asset lies in his ability to offer participants rich insight into the connectedness between educational practices and student behavior.
Check out his website at: https://danstromain.com/.
Sessions:
Accentuate the Positive: Assets Students Need for Success
When we look at the long-term goals we have for students in the school system, they go way beyond the
isolated short-term goal of passing a state mandated test. Research clearly indicates what youth need to be
successful in school, as well as beyond. This interactive session will feature this information, as well as ways to
encourage healthy development at all levels.
Don’t Go There: Avoiding Power Struggles
Even the most rational teachers and parents get into power struggles from time to time. In this active session,
participants will gain a better understanding of how power struggles occur, and learn the best strategies for
avoiding them. This information is applicable PK through adulthood on all levels (dealing with behaviors of
students, parents, co-workers, administrators, family members...)
Anxious Students, Anxious Teachers
Stressed out? Feeling anxious? More and more students are, too. In this session, Dan discusses why student
stress levels are rising, how anxiety is manifested, and what to do to best support your students dealing with it.
Leave knowing how to take the first step...breathe!
Kayla Dornfeld is the 2019 North Dakota Teacher of the Year, and a two-time Global Hundred honoree, recognizing her as 1 of the top 100 innovative educators in the world. The New York Times named her "one of the tech-savviest teachers in the United States". She has received the UND Sioux Award, the highest honor of achievement offered by her University and delivered hundreds of keynotes around the world, including her popular TEDx Talk. Kayla is a published author of two books, with a third launching this winter. To learn more about Kayla visit her website at http://www.topdogteaching.com/.
Sessions:
Self-Care for Educators
Teaching is hard work, there's no doubt about it. Each and every day, we pour our whole selves into the children in our classrooms, the staff we work alongside, the families we serve, and the schools we work in. Kayla presents multiple strategies to employ in order for educators to thrive and not simply survive. The most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves. We must take care of our own heart before we can care for so many others.
21st Century Parent Communication Tools
Description: Sending home only a weekly newsletter is no longer an option in our 21st century schools. During this session, you will learn how I utilize Remind 101 text messages daily, blogging, Twitter, Homeroom app, and emails to communicate classroom happenings with families.
Student-Led Learning: Genius Hour Passion Projects
Have you been hearing about Genius Hour, passion projects, or Google’s 20% time in classrooms? Are you unsure how to justify this type of student-led learning—or implement it with fidelity? Kayla presents the research behind allowing students one hour of their week to study what they are passionate about. From brainstorming topics to creating meaningful, student-driven presentations, learn how to create a classroom where student passions come alive.
Kim Adsit, a former Teacher of the Year, taught kindergarten for 30 years. She has been a national presenter for more than 20 years where she focuses on sharing curriculum and strategies that incorporate child-centered activities. Kim has been selected as an Expert Teacher, and she serves as a teacher mentor. She has a Specialist Degree in Early Childhood Education as well as an At-Risk Endorsement. Kim has authored many teacher resources that are available on the teacherspayteachers.com website and shares the KinderGals blog with her daughter.
Sessions:
Making the Most of Your Math Manipulatives
Do you have math manipulatives like pattern blocks, colored tiles, or unifix cubes in your classroom? Are you trying to think of more ways to use them to teach EVERY math strand? Kim will share ideas for counting, shapes, measurement, addition, subtraction, number combinations, and composing & decomposing numbers. You will be able to dig those manipulatives out of the closet and get busy TOMORROW!
Dollar Store Diva!
Kim is a self-proclaimed Dollar Store Diva. In this session, Kim will share ideas for using all those dollar store finds to create useful materials for your classroom…cheap! Learns ways to organize and manage your classroom; and find ways to teach math and language arts standards without breaking the bank. Come to this session and you will become a Dollar Store Diva yourself!
SUPER Readers Unite!
Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No, it’s a super reader! In this session Kim will share some fun ways kids can soar as they use their “super powers” to become readers! She will share how she uses the “Super Reader League” to introduce different reading strategies. You will leave with ideas for highly engaging activities and fun novelties that will have your kids reading like real super heroes!
Stephanie Stewart is a primary teacher with over 10 years of experience in the first and second grade classroom. She is passionate about creating high-interest learning experiences to engage students in academic content and is always looking for new ways to put a creative twist on the standards. Stephanie is the author of the popular teaching blog, "Falling into First".
Sessions:
Set the Stage for STEM
Get ready to dive into STEM! This session teaches how to use the Engineering Design
Process to engage students in fun and collaborative STEM challenges. Included are
step by step routines and ideas for low prep-challenges. Learn how to manage a STEM
block that quickly becomes your little engineers' favorite time of the day.
Emergent Writing Galore: Informational, Narrative, & Opinion
Take a deep dive into the three types of writing; Narrative, Informational, and Opinion. This session will walk you through each standard and share a variety of lesson ideas and best practices that will help your emergent authors master each genre of writing.
The Highly Engaged Reader
This session will show you how to cultivate a classroom that is enthusiastic about reading! Learn how to get every student, even your most reluctant readers, engaged in reading and comprehension through the use of these creative lesson ideas and
differentiation strategies--- all while meeting the standards.
Lori Ockzkus is a literacy coach, author, and popular speaker across the United States. Tens of thousands of teachers have attended her motivating, fast paced workshops and read her practical, research-based professional books. Lori has extensive experience as a bilingual elementary teacher, intervention specialist working with struggling readers, and staff developer and literacy coach. She works with students in classrooms and knows the challenges that teachers face in teaching students to read!
Lori's best selling books on comprehension and literacy have been featured in the Reading Teacher journal. The third edition of Reciprocal Teaching at Work: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension foreword by John Hattie (ASCD, 2018 book and video) features 40 new lessons and is endorsed by many noted reading experts including Donalyn Miller, Tim Rasinski, Doug Fisher, and Regie Routman. Lori has been inducted into the California Reading Hall of Fame for her many contributions to literacy in California and internationally. Lori resides in Reno, Nevada near Lake Tahoe with her husband, Mark. She enjoys spending time with her three grown children, traveling anywhere by any means, reading historical fiction, walking with friends, dancing, and snowshoeing!
Sessions:
Comprehension for Little Kids: Accelerate Reading with Fab Four Read Alouds and Guided Reading Lessons!
Little kids enjoy talking so it’s a natural they love participating in the Fab Four, or reciprocal teaching strategies to strengthen daily literacy best practices across platforms live, hybrid, and virtual. Engage all students while improving comprehension and thinking deeply with interactive distance learning read alouds. New and inviting guided reading lessons include charts, props/characters for online or live lessons, and collaborative discussion prompts for fiction and informational texts. Easy and fun to implement examples from classrooms live, blended, and remote will be shared!
Powerful Partners for Empowering Readers: Close Reading Workouts with Comprehension, Fluency, and Paired Texts
What do you get when you incorporate the very best in proven comprehension and fluency instruction into your close reading instructional routine? Students' reading improves as they actively read and reread fiction (including poetry) and informational texts for meaningful purposes. Come learn dozens of surefire practical strategies for close reading that include: specific ideas for targeting informational text features and structures, creative ways to closely read nonfiction, fiction and poetry texts, methods for comparing and contrasting texts, and proven ways to incorporate authentic fluency practice and performance. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about this engaging close reading model that you and your students can use all year long! Proven ideas to share with parents will be included.
Just the Facts: Best Strategies for Comprehension of Informational Text
Today our students need strategies to read informational text closely and with strong comprehension. Author, Lori Oczkus, will share her classroom proven ideas for the including close reading and interactive ways to improve comprehension when reading informational text. Engage in strategies for sharing mentor texts that will motivate your students to enjoy and understand informational text. Come learn exciting ways to teach informational text structures and features to students that really work! Walk away with the “best ever” small group reading plan to use with informational texts. Learn ways to teach students to synthesize across texts for a variety of purposes. You’ll use these engaging comprehension lessons over and over to teach informational text all day long in science, social studies, whole class lessons, and in small group reading.
Whitney La Rocca is an elementary literacy coach and has spent over 20 years working with young readers and writers. She enjoys delivering professional development and coaching teachers in best practices to empower children to create their identities in the world of literacy.
Sessions:
Patterns of Wonder: Inviting Emergent Writers into the Conventions of Language (Gr. PK - 1)
Meaning is made when reading and writing crash together in the conventions of language. Explore ways to support composition and comprehension with your youngest writers by harnessing these language conventions. Enjoy the curiosity and wonder young children have around what writers do while supporting meaning and effect, in both oral and written language. Engage in brain-based, practical ways to use the reading-writing connection to teach grammar and editing in a way that grows even our youngest writers and readers.
Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language (Gr. 1-5)
Meaning is made when reading and writing crash together in the conventions of language. Where do concept formation and mentor texts fit in? Join Whitney to discover brain-based, practical ideas for using the reading and writing connection to teach grammar and editing in a way that enhances composition and comprehension.
Exploring Grammar & Conventions through Author's Purpose & Craft (Gr 1-5)
Empower your students to make meaning for their readers with the choices they make as writers. Whitney demonstrates how to build a culture of curiosity in which you turn your grammar instruction into an inquiry-based adventure. Find out how to create a place for your writers to play with language, try out different craft moves, and compose written pieces that leave their readers wanting more.
Momentous Institute
Kelly Richmond is a Teacher Trainer at Momentous Institute. Kelly has eleven years of experience in education and graduated from Texas State University with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on early childhood. She believes understanding and attending to social emotional health is essential to great teaching. Kelly focuses on bringing Social Emotional Health strategies into classrooms and schools through instructional coaching, professional development and professional learning.
Vickie Echols is a teacher trainer and coach for Momentous. She has served as an elementary and middle school teacher, campus administrator and director of communication. In addition to a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, she earned a master’s degree from James Cook University in Australia supported by the Rotary International Fellowship program. Most of her early life played out in the Piney Woods of East Texas, where she and husband Brad raised two sons. They now live in Dallas enjoying their three grandchildren.
Session:
Social Emotional Health: A Classroom Gamechanger
A solid understanding of social emotional learning is the one thing no educator can afford to ignore. We know that trauma and stress show up in the classroom – often as challenging behavior. Many teachers are left frustrated and overwhelmed by this aspect of teaching. This workshop will provide research-based evidence of why students’ social emotional health must be the first goal of every classroom teacher. We will share the latest research on trauma and stress to help you understand what is happening in students’ brains and how stress and trauma impact behavior and learning. You will walk away with simple, tangible strategies that you can immediately use in the classroom.
1. List three types of stress.
2. Describe the connection between stress and learning.
3. List at least 2 strategies to help children self-regulate in the classroom.
4. Define trauma5. List three events that might cause trauma.
5. List three events that might cause trauma
“I teach to dispel the dark and remind the universe that we are not inconsequential. I teach because it’s infinitely compelling to watch dynamic souls punch through their not so elastic cocoons of childhood, daring the community to accept their forward motion. Brushing complacency’s dust from every day ideas and objects by viewing them through children’s eyes opens our own, and it connects us to that golden, 'What if…?' superhero in our earlier selves. I teach because setting a constructive example for my students generates a greater ethic in me than I can achieve without their example or provocation. I teach because I am deeply, unrepentantly grateful for life, and the most potent way I know to express that gratitude is to build a world worthy of the next generation, then give them the tools to make it their own.” - Rick Wormeli, 2012
One of the first Nationally Board Certified teachers in America, Rick brings innovation, energy, validity and high standards to both his presentations and his instructional practice, which include 41 years teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, and history, as well as coaching teachers and principals. Rick's work has been reported in numerous media, including ABC's Good Morning America, Hardball with Chris Matthews, National Geographic and Good Housekeeping magazines, What Matters Most: Teaching for the 21st Century, and the Washington Post. He is a columnist for AMLE Magazine and a frequent contributor to ASCD's Education Leadership magazine. He is the author of the award-winning book Meet Me in the Middle as well as the best-selling books Day One and Beyond, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom (Second Edition), Differentiation: From Planning to Practice and Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject, all five from Stenhouse Publishers, as well as Summarization in any Subject: 60 Innovative and Tech-Infused Strategies for Deeper Student Learning (releasing in fall 2018) published by ASCD. His book, The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching Along the Way, is collection of his published articles, guest blogs and more through 2013, with the new version with all new articles since 2013 arriving in bookstores in 2022. His classroom practice is a showcase for ASCD's best-selling series, At Work in the Differentiated Classroom.
With his substantive presentations, sense of humor and unconventional approaches, he has been asked to present to teachers and administrators in all 50 states, Canada, China, Europe, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, Australia, the Middle East, and at the White House. He is a seasoned veteran of many international webcasts and virtual trainings, and he is Disney's American Teacher Awards 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation. He won the 2008 James P. Garvin award from the New England League of Middle Schools for Teaching Excellence, Service and Leadership, and he has been a consultant for National Public Radio, USA Today, Court TV and the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Partners Program and their search for the giant squid. Rick lives in Herndon, Virginia, with his wife, Kelly, and both are proud of recently welcoming their first grandchild. With their kids' college years now behind them, Rick and Kelly are now eagerly spending their childrens' inheritance while Rick works on his first young adult fiction novel and a new book on changing the culture of a school for ethical grading practices.
Keynote: Rick Wormeli
Finding Oxygen: Rejuvenation our Teacher Selves
At first, many of us tried to jam what we did in our physical classrooms through the camera lens of our remote instruction during the pandemic, and we hoped it would deliver effective learning on the other end just as it did when we were together in the classroom. We discovered quickly, however, it doesn’t work that way. Those of us used to relying on mere personality and the accoutrements of the classroom space for our instruction realized that we had been too indifferent to cognitive science (how the mind learns) and cultivating our creative selves. We were, and maybe are, adrift as we try to teach remotely and/or migrate back to in-person teaching. Join us for a substantive session on how to rejuvenate our teacher selves in the year ahead, re-igniting professionalism, cultivating intellect, exploring those cognitive science ideas, and finding meaning and oxygen in our enterprise: Take a breath this summer, breathe fiercely this fall.
Administrative Workshop led by Keynote Speaker, Rick Wormeli:
Responding to Anxiety, Panic, and Depression
As we entered January of 2020, the statistics on the massive increase in students experiencing anxiety/panic attacks and some slipping into depression as a result were deeply troubling, and the rise of adolescent and young adolescent suicides in the last twenty years, even more so. Funding for mental health resources in schools was being cut just as teachers and administrators were calling for more assistance. Then, COVID-19 hit, schools shut down, families were hit by illness/death/job loss, normalcy shattered, and even the few mental health supports and monitoring systems in place faded away or became very difficult to provide. Join us for a candid and practical session on how to identify anxiety and panic attacks in students and adults, and the specific steps we as classroom practitioners, counselors, and administrators can take to respond thoughtfully when they occur. Let’s spend the time, energy, and courage right here, right now, becoming informed, removing stigma, and responding constructively to this profound challenge.
Talking about Racism/Other-isms with Faculty/Community
It is uncomfortable to talk about race among faculty colleagues. Many educators do not have constructive skills for such conversations. If we speak up for respectful conversation, racial equity, the rights of immigrants or others from a religion or culture different from our own, we may say something unintentionally offensive, incomplete or inexperienced, and we may lose friends and colleagues as a result. It is just easier to say nothing and get along. Racism is learned, however: No one is born racist, and one of our jobs as educators is to secure a non-racist future. Join us for a frank and insightful look at how to conduct conversations on racism and otherisms in schools. We’ll explore basic fundamentals, then spend the majority of our time identifying constructive responses to racist statements and policies, providing helpful tools to use in the moment. Our response to racism in our schools must be clear, compassionate and immediate. Settling for indifference exacerbates the problem—a matter of unintentional yet real racism.
Equity in Grading
Differentiation and equity measures are vital to student success, but what happens when it comes to grading? Being sensitive to student differences while holding them accountable for the same standards can be a challenge. What’s fair and leads to real student learning? Join us for an extended and candid look at what equity in grading – We’ll examine conflation, what grades really mean, late work, alternative assessments, grading special education students, allowing alternative timelines, fair isn’t always equal, re-learning/re-assessing, homework, group projects, formative vs summative assessments, and much more.
Teacher Workshop Presenters:
Dan St. Romain is a national independent educational consultant who provides staff development and
consultative services to educators and parents working with children at all developmental levels. Dan is
passionate about helping individuals shift their perspective on discipline, understanding the best ways to
provide support given the challenges posed in today’s society. After receiving his master’s degree in education, Dan worked in both private residential and public school settings, as well as at the Region 20 Education Service Center in San Antonio, Texas. His work as a self - contained behavior unit teacher, educational diagnostician, behavior consultant, and director of a learning
resource center has afforded him experience at all levels, in both general and special education settings. Dan is
now enjoying retirement after having worked in the school system for the past 30 years. Dan’s overwhelming strength is his skill as a presenter. Although his sessions are exceedingly interactive, his greatest asset lies in his ability to offer participants rich insight into the connectedness between educational practices and student behavior.
Check out his website at: https://danstromain.com/.
Sessions:
Accentuate the Positive: Assets Students Need for Success
When we look at the long-term goals we have for students in the school system, they go way beyond the
isolated short-term goal of passing a state mandated test. Research clearly indicates what youth need to be
successful in school, as well as beyond. This interactive session will feature this information, as well as ways to
encourage healthy development at all levels.
Don’t Go There: Avoiding Power Struggles
Even the most rational teachers and parents get into power struggles from time to time. In this active session,
participants will gain a better understanding of how power struggles occur, and learn the best strategies for
avoiding them. This information is applicable PK through adulthood on all levels (dealing with behaviors of
students, parents, co-workers, administrators, family members...)
Anxious Students, Anxious Teachers
Stressed out? Feeling anxious? More and more students are, too. In this session, Dan discusses why student
stress levels are rising, how anxiety is manifested, and what to do to best support your students dealing with it.
Leave knowing how to take the first step...breathe!
Kayla Dornfeld is the 2019 North Dakota Teacher of the Year, and a two-time Global Hundred honoree, recognizing her as 1 of the top 100 innovative educators in the world. The New York Times named her "one of the tech-savviest teachers in the United States". She has received the UND Sioux Award, the highest honor of achievement offered by her University and delivered hundreds of keynotes around the world, including her popular TEDx Talk. Kayla is a published author of two books, with a third launching this winter. To learn more about Kayla visit her website at http://www.topdogteaching.com/.
Sessions:
Self-Care for Educators
Teaching is hard work, there's no doubt about it. Each and every day, we pour our whole selves into the children in our classrooms, the staff we work alongside, the families we serve, and the schools we work in. Kayla presents multiple strategies to employ in order for educators to thrive and not simply survive. The most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves. We must take care of our own heart before we can care for so many others.
21st Century Parent Communication Tools
Description: Sending home only a weekly newsletter is no longer an option in our 21st century schools. During this session, you will learn how I utilize Remind 101 text messages daily, blogging, Twitter, Homeroom app, and emails to communicate classroom happenings with families.
Student-Led Learning: Genius Hour Passion Projects
Have you been hearing about Genius Hour, passion projects, or Google’s 20% time in classrooms? Are you unsure how to justify this type of student-led learning—or implement it with fidelity? Kayla presents the research behind allowing students one hour of their week to study what they are passionate about. From brainstorming topics to creating meaningful, student-driven presentations, learn how to create a classroom where student passions come alive.
Kim Adsit, a former Teacher of the Year, taught kindergarten for 30 years. She has been a national presenter for more than 20 years where she focuses on sharing curriculum and strategies that incorporate child-centered activities. Kim has been selected as an Expert Teacher, and she serves as a teacher mentor. She has a Specialist Degree in Early Childhood Education as well as an At-Risk Endorsement. Kim has authored many teacher resources that are available on the teacherspayteachers.com website and shares the KinderGals blog with her daughter.
Sessions:
Making the Most of Your Math Manipulatives
Do you have math manipulatives like pattern blocks, colored tiles, or unifix cubes in your classroom? Are you trying to think of more ways to use them to teach EVERY math strand? Kim will share ideas for counting, shapes, measurement, addition, subtraction, number combinations, and composing & decomposing numbers. You will be able to dig those manipulatives out of the closet and get busy TOMORROW!
Dollar Store Diva!
Kim is a self-proclaimed Dollar Store Diva. In this session, Kim will share ideas for using all those dollar store finds to create useful materials for your classroom…cheap! Learns ways to organize and manage your classroom; and find ways to teach math and language arts standards without breaking the bank. Come to this session and you will become a Dollar Store Diva yourself!
SUPER Readers Unite!
Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No, it’s a super reader! In this session Kim will share some fun ways kids can soar as they use their “super powers” to become readers! She will share how she uses the “Super Reader League” to introduce different reading strategies. You will leave with ideas for highly engaging activities and fun novelties that will have your kids reading like real super heroes!
Stephanie Stewart is a primary teacher with over 10 years of experience in the first and second grade classroom. She is passionate about creating high-interest learning experiences to engage students in academic content and is always looking for new ways to put a creative twist on the standards. Stephanie is the author of the popular teaching blog, "Falling into First".
Sessions:
Set the Stage for STEM
Get ready to dive into STEM! This session teaches how to use the Engineering Design
Process to engage students in fun and collaborative STEM challenges. Included are
step by step routines and ideas for low prep-challenges. Learn how to manage a STEM
block that quickly becomes your little engineers' favorite time of the day.
Emergent Writing Galore: Informational, Narrative, & Opinion
Take a deep dive into the three types of writing; Narrative, Informational, and Opinion. This session will walk you through each standard and share a variety of lesson ideas and best practices that will help your emergent authors master each genre of writing.
The Highly Engaged Reader
This session will show you how to cultivate a classroom that is enthusiastic about reading! Learn how to get every student, even your most reluctant readers, engaged in reading and comprehension through the use of these creative lesson ideas and
differentiation strategies--- all while meeting the standards.
Lori Ockzkus is a literacy coach, author, and popular speaker across the United States. Tens of thousands of teachers have attended her motivating, fast paced workshops and read her practical, research-based professional books. Lori has extensive experience as a bilingual elementary teacher, intervention specialist working with struggling readers, and staff developer and literacy coach. She works with students in classrooms and knows the challenges that teachers face in teaching students to read!
Lori's best selling books on comprehension and literacy have been featured in the Reading Teacher journal. The third edition of Reciprocal Teaching at Work: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension foreword by John Hattie (ASCD, 2018 book and video) features 40 new lessons and is endorsed by many noted reading experts including Donalyn Miller, Tim Rasinski, Doug Fisher, and Regie Routman. Lori has been inducted into the California Reading Hall of Fame for her many contributions to literacy in California and internationally. Lori resides in Reno, Nevada near Lake Tahoe with her husband, Mark. She enjoys spending time with her three grown children, traveling anywhere by any means, reading historical fiction, walking with friends, dancing, and snowshoeing!
Sessions:
Comprehension for Little Kids: Accelerate Reading with Fab Four Read Alouds and Guided Reading Lessons!
Little kids enjoy talking so it’s a natural they love participating in the Fab Four, or reciprocal teaching strategies to strengthen daily literacy best practices across platforms live, hybrid, and virtual. Engage all students while improving comprehension and thinking deeply with interactive distance learning read alouds. New and inviting guided reading lessons include charts, props/characters for online or live lessons, and collaborative discussion prompts for fiction and informational texts. Easy and fun to implement examples from classrooms live, blended, and remote will be shared!
Powerful Partners for Empowering Readers: Close Reading Workouts with Comprehension, Fluency, and Paired Texts
What do you get when you incorporate the very best in proven comprehension and fluency instruction into your close reading instructional routine? Students' reading improves as they actively read and reread fiction (including poetry) and informational texts for meaningful purposes. Come learn dozens of surefire practical strategies for close reading that include: specific ideas for targeting informational text features and structures, creative ways to closely read nonfiction, fiction and poetry texts, methods for comparing and contrasting texts, and proven ways to incorporate authentic fluency practice and performance. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about this engaging close reading model that you and your students can use all year long! Proven ideas to share with parents will be included.
Just the Facts: Best Strategies for Comprehension of Informational Text
Today our students need strategies to read informational text closely and with strong comprehension. Author, Lori Oczkus, will share her classroom proven ideas for the including close reading and interactive ways to improve comprehension when reading informational text. Engage in strategies for sharing mentor texts that will motivate your students to enjoy and understand informational text. Come learn exciting ways to teach informational text structures and features to students that really work! Walk away with the “best ever” small group reading plan to use with informational texts. Learn ways to teach students to synthesize across texts for a variety of purposes. You’ll use these engaging comprehension lessons over and over to teach informational text all day long in science, social studies, whole class lessons, and in small group reading.
Whitney La Rocca is an elementary literacy coach and has spent over 20 years working with young readers and writers. She enjoys delivering professional development and coaching teachers in best practices to empower children to create their identities in the world of literacy.
Sessions:
Patterns of Wonder: Inviting Emergent Writers into the Conventions of Language (Gr. PK - 1)
Meaning is made when reading and writing crash together in the conventions of language. Explore ways to support composition and comprehension with your youngest writers by harnessing these language conventions. Enjoy the curiosity and wonder young children have around what writers do while supporting meaning and effect, in both oral and written language. Engage in brain-based, practical ways to use the reading-writing connection to teach grammar and editing in a way that grows even our youngest writers and readers.
Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language (Gr. 1-5)
Meaning is made when reading and writing crash together in the conventions of language. Where do concept formation and mentor texts fit in? Join Whitney to discover brain-based, practical ideas for using the reading and writing connection to teach grammar and editing in a way that enhances composition and comprehension.
Exploring Grammar & Conventions through Author's Purpose & Craft (Gr 1-5)
Empower your students to make meaning for their readers with the choices they make as writers. Whitney demonstrates how to build a culture of curiosity in which you turn your grammar instruction into an inquiry-based adventure. Find out how to create a place for your writers to play with language, try out different craft moves, and compose written pieces that leave their readers wanting more.
Momentous Institute
Kelly Richmond is a Teacher Trainer at Momentous Institute. Kelly has eleven years of experience in education and graduated from Texas State University with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on early childhood. She believes understanding and attending to social emotional health is essential to great teaching. Kelly focuses on bringing Social Emotional Health strategies into classrooms and schools through instructional coaching, professional development and professional learning.
Vickie Echols is a teacher trainer and coach for Momentous. She has served as an elementary and middle school teacher, campus administrator and director of communication. In addition to a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, she earned a master’s degree from James Cook University in Australia supported by the Rotary International Fellowship program. Most of her early life played out in the Piney Woods of East Texas, where she and husband Brad raised two sons. They now live in Dallas enjoying their three grandchildren.
Session:
Social Emotional Health: A Classroom Gamechanger
A solid understanding of social emotional learning is the one thing no educator can afford to ignore. We know that trauma and stress show up in the classroom – often as challenging behavior. Many teachers are left frustrated and overwhelmed by this aspect of teaching. This workshop will provide research-based evidence of why students’ social emotional health must be the first goal of every classroom teacher. We will share the latest research on trauma and stress to help you understand what is happening in students’ brains and how stress and trauma impact behavior and learning. You will walk away with simple, tangible strategies that you can immediately use in the classroom.
1. List three types of stress.
2. Describe the connection between stress and learning.
3. List at least 2 strategies to help children self-regulate in the classroom.
4. Define trauma5. List three events that might cause trauma.
5. List three events that might cause trauma