The revised English Language Arts NCSCoS for juniors and seniors focuses on fine-tuning students’ recognition and use of language’s persuasive and aesthetic powers. In this program, we will examine several highly complex texts—dramatic, oratorical, fiction and non-fiction. We will consider not only how to teach these texts but also what the texts teach us about how words can be used to persuade, entertain, soothe, and otherwise manipulate. Teachers also will receive dedicated time and assistance to create or revise units and lesson plans for their texts and students.

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Designed for teachers of grades K–8.

MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) is the umbrella under which all educational practices fall. It has two main pillars: RtI (Responsiveness to Instruction/Intervention) and PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports). These two areas incorporate all academic and behavioral learning. What have we learned from the experts over the past decades? What does the research tell us about optimal teaching behaviors that equate to maximum learning outcomes? How can we change our behavior to ensure positive and thriving student behaviors? This program is intended to offer the big picture—the major areas that will yield the biggest impact, some of the latest research, as well as practical implementation suggestions and resources. Plan to leave with ideas, resources, and a game plan for your classroom and possibly your school!

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Today’s diverse students enter school eager to become successful in classrooms originally designed for culturally homogeneous populations. Students are expected to learn from teachers who are often not from the same cultural, ethnic/race or social-class. Unsurprisingly, student performance in reading and other subjects is often low while student dropout and teacher burnout rates are high. This program guides participants to explore and document their experiences in motivating at-risk students to become effective readers. In addition to sharing successful strategies for improving reading skills, participants will examine barriers children encounter along the pathway and how these barriers affect them. Additionally, participants will learn strategies for supporting higher order thinking skills while encouraging self-motivation, personal responsibility, and perseverance.

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Writing well allows students to process and organize their thoughts and feelings and to communicate effectively with a range of audiences. Writing well is also one of the most difficult skills to teach, and many find the task overwhelming. The grading alone taxes the commitment of even the best of our profession. In this program, we will examine ways to write and how best to introduce various writing techniques to your students while providing useful, timely feedback. Participants will have the opportunity to practice writing, receive and give feedback, and collaborate on best practices for supporting adolescent writers.

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It’s time to start thinking outside the box! Teachers often think projects take too much time to plan or don’t know how to align them with curriculum. Project Based Learning Units (PBLs) are an effective and enjoyable way to learn that allow students to work as a team, reflect, ask questions, build confidence, work with a purpose, problem solve, and learn time management. Investigate essential questions, unit questions, and content questions that will enable you to develop your own PBL unit. Return to your classroom with a PBL unit you create that will excite and engage your students as they claim ownership of their learning.

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In order to support children’s success in early elementary grades, we need to understand best practices for developing young minds. Utilizing multiple means of instructional delivery, we will explore aspects of daily schedule, classroom community, executive functioning, developmentally appropriate best practices, growth mindset, and authentic assessment. We will develop schedules and procedures for growing a community of growth oriented young learners. We will practice and view models of authentic assessment designed to support personalized learning for all readiness levels. Participants will utilize new knowledge of executive functioning and developmentally appropriate practice to develop lessons that support choice and growth.

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Students are engaged when they are involved in their work, persist despite challenges and obstacles, and take visible delight in their accomplishments. Solving student engagement issues is complex. What works in one class may be a failure in the next, with every year presenting new challenges for engaging students in various lessons. This program will use a collaborative classroom process to address questions with how to create a classroom culture and how to create classroom instruction that facilitates self-motivation, personal responsibility, and perseverance. Participants also will review and evaluate motivational strategies for engaging students.

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Instructional coaches have a direct impact on instruction and student achievement in today’s schools. Coaches use their role in the schools to enhance others’ abilities through motivation and support. This role can be an overwhelming and daunting task. This program will offer inspiration, guidance, training, strategies, and evidence based practices for the 21st century instructional coach.

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Explore disciplinary literacy and what it means to read, write, speak, listen and think critically within any content area. Through the use of online tools, such as online sticky notes, journal writing and mind maps, investigate literacy within the disciplines. These tools will assist your students in becoming more resourceful. Create new lessons or update current ones with digital tools that will make your lessons come to life and deepen your students’ knowledge of disciplinary literacy.

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The fundamental difference between the ELA Standards for Grades 9–10 and Grade 8 is not one of substance but of scope. Whereas eighth graders are asked to evaluate the effect of individual elements in a text, freshmen and sophomores must understand how a series of such elements impact a text in its totality. Words like “thorough” and “cumulative” begin to appear in the 9-10 ELA Standards. In this program, participants will engage in a series of activities that scaffold this skill development. We will demystify the concept of author’s purpose and examine how we can sensitize students to understand how the language and organizational choices communicate purpose.

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