The DC Special Education Co-operative
Helping DC Charter Schools Develop High-Quality Special Education Programs
2010 Jumpstart Conference Session Descriptions
KEYNOTE
Explicit Instruction: Making a Difference Every Day with Every Child
Dr. Anita Archer
Systematic, relentless, and engaging instruction is critical to reaching students, especially those most at risk. With a focus on the identified critical content within a lesson, complex ideas and skills can be chunked into smaller, easier-to-digest units that can be taught and learned before moving on to the next component. For students needing more exposure or practice, brisk lesson delivery with additional opportunities for practice are essential for mastery. Options for student participation include verbal, written, and action responses. Explicit instruction is an essential key for raising student achievement.
STRAND – ASSITIVE TECHNOLGY
Blackboards to Blackberries – Should We Toss The Chalk???
Angie Kiger M.Ed., CTRS, ATP and Becky Pala MA, CCC-SLP, ATP from Conaboy & Associates, Inc.
In this session, attendees will learn about the resources that assistive technology supports can offer and how they relate to not only building a bridge to learning, but serving as a foundation to assist whole classroom instruction, differentiated instruction, curriculum and academic access, and classroom adaptations and accommodations. We will break down the fear factor of learning new teaching and technology tools by sharing information and demonstrating ideas including low, easy, and free technology resources as well as higher level devices, hardware, software, and access methods. Presenters will reinforce learned concepts by reviewing basic case studies and facilitating dialogue and questions. This workshop will be beneficial for those working with middle school to high school students with and without identified special needs.
Generation Gap – Pre-school to Elementary Technology Tools Unwrapped
Angie Kiger M.Ed., CTRS, ATP and Becky Pala MA, CCC-SLP, ATP from Conaboy & Associates, Inc.
In this session, attendees will learn about the resources that assistive technology supports can offer and how they relate to not only building a bridge to learning, but serving as a foundation to assist whole classroom instruction, differentiated instruction, curriculum access, and classroom adaptations and accommodations. We will break down the fear factor of learning new teaching and technology tools by sharing information and demonstrating ideas including low, easy, and free technology resources as well as higher level devices, hardware, software, and access methods. Presenters will reinforce learned concepts by reviewing basic case studies and facilitating dialogue and questions. This workshop will be beneficial for those working with pre-school to elementary students with and without identified special needs.
STRAND – INSTRUCTION
Accommodations in the General Ed Classroom
Monica Lesperance, DC Special Education Co-operative
We often talk about “accommodating” students with disabilities, but what does it really mean? In this session participants will learn what accommodations are, why they are necessary, and how to implement them in the general education classroom.
Data Driven Literacy Classrooms: Using Data to Respond to the Individual Learning Needs of Students
Ms. Reem Labib, Mrs. Gargi Thakurta, Mrs. Caroline Mwendwa-Baker
This literacy workshop will provide step-by-step guidance for teachers from the analysis of literacy assessments to creating lessons and tailoring instruction according to assessment data. The workshop will help teachers to understand the process and purpose of progress monitoring. Teachers will have the opportunity to participate in differentiated literacy centers based on actual data. Additionally, the workshop will provide guidance to school leaders in supporting and monitoring a data driven school.
Getting Them all Engaged: Inclusive in Active Participation in Elementary Classrooms
Dr. Anita Archer
Requiring more student participation through choral and partner responses raises student on-task performance, increases learning, and decreases behavioral challenges. Student responses, whether given verbally, in writing, or by exhibiting an action, encourage thinking and sharing. By tracking student responses in “real time”, teachers can immediately modify instruction by providing clarification or correction before moving on to other or more difficult concepts. Elementary teachers will learn to investigate areas of their own instruction in which active participation strategies may be woven into lesson delivery.
Getting Them all Engaged: Inclusive in Active Participation in Secondary Classes
Dr. Anita Archer
Because of the complexity of content covered in secondary classrooms, instructional delivery is often “sit and get.” However, secondary students benefit greatly by actively responding to information being delivered or text being read. In this session, active student participation strategies geared for secondary classrooms are explored. One example is the strategy of “Study, Tell, Help, Check” which helps secondary students work in pairs to read, re-tell, question, and double check their understanding of complex content reading passages to ensure comprehension and to identify areas needing clarification. Secondary teachers will exit with an array of options to incorporate into their instruction to raise student participation, increase student comprehension, and limit student misbehaviors.
Math Manipulatives
Rebecca Schultz, Early Childhood Academy PCS & Tikita Williams, Foundation School
Math manipulatives are the ideal tool to use in an elementary classroom when teaching a new skill. However, without proper strategies, these math manipulatives end up in plastic bins in the storage room collecting dust. The use of manipulitives is conducive to the concrete kinds of learning that lay the foundation of mathematic understanding. This will be an interactive session where participants will gain skills to incorporate strategies to use in their classrooms to maximize the use of math manipulative for all students with varying abilities.
SAY WHAT!? Using Teacher Language as a Tool to Support Social, Emotional and Cognitive Growth
Reem Labib & Caroline Mwendwa-Baker
When teachers become true facilitators of learning, classrooms become places where students feel safe, respected and important members of their school community while learning at high levels. This workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to learn about and understand the power of teacher language. Participants will analyze teacher language, its implications, and effects. Through active discussion and analysis of concrete examples, teachers will reflect on their current practices and outlines areas for desired change.
Supporting Teachers in the Delivery of Excellent Instruction: A Session for Administrators
Dr. Anita Archer
The quality of teacher instruction and the level of active participation are highly related to the student outcomes in every class. In this session, Dr. Archer will discuss a number of practices that can be initiated during the school year to promote quality instruction including various observation/feedback procedures. These procedures will be explained and participants will practice the observation procedures while viewing videos.
STRAND – BEHAVIOR
Behavior: Why our students do what they do and how you can help them
Katie Holloran, Co-Founder of A Piece of Mind, Inc & Molly Keegan, Co- Founder of A Piece of Mind, Inc
Behavior: What is it? Why do my students behave the way they do? How can I analyze it and know what to do about it? Molly Keegan, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Katie Holloran, a soon to be Board Certified Behavior Analyst, will address behavior on a level that makes sense for teachers. We will guide teachers through a process that will lead to a new outlook on behavior, giving participants the ability to locate functions, analyze data, and implement strategies for students that work!
Preventing and Resolving Special Education Conflicts
Leila Peterson, Executive Director, SchoolTalk & Adjunct Professor, George Mason University, Conflict Analysis and Resolution Department
This workshop is designed to assist participants in understanding and addressing common issues in special education conflicts. Participants will gain a better understanding of their own personal style and orientation to conflict, what makes conflict escalate and tips for de-escalation, techniques for building trust, and how to separate positions and interests in order to create agreements that are mutually acceptable. Participants will receive materials on special education dispute resolution resources. The workshop will be highly interactive and participants will have the opportunity to practice the skills with excercises and role-plays.
School Success for Children with Mental Health Care Needs
Lewis Bossing, Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
The Bazelon Center has studied effective approaches to serving students with significant mental health needs in integrated settings, including school-wide PBS and partnerships with mental health providers. We work to support schools in implementing these approaches, through legislative and policy advocacy; litigation; and sharing information with advocates for individual families. We will present our findings in this area, and lead a discussion about the challenges DC charter schools face in serving students with significant needs in integrated settings.
The Multifaceted Nature of Attention and Dealing with Attention Issues in the Classroom
Joe Gorin, Psy.D. (Joseph Gorin, Psy.D. and Associates)
We tend to think of attention as a single process, but research indicates that it is actually several related processes. We will identify and discuss the various processes that constitute attention and what strengths and weaknesses in each of these aspects might look like in the classroom. We will also discuss strategies for the management of attention problems in the classroom.
Positive Behavior Supports in the Classroom
Carmen Daugherty, Esq., Deputy Director of Programs & Michelle Harris, Esq., Project Director of the Parent Training Information Center, Adovcates for Justice in Education
In this session, we will examine the causes of problem behavior in the classroom, functional behavior assessments, developing behavior intervention strategies, and putting this information into practice. Participants will learn to recognize problem behavior and respond appropriately.