Revolutionary Classroom Changes
In
the Age of Standards, learning is directly related to the instructional needs of students and to the learning skills and concepts
found in the standards. This workshop focuses on 10 changes that need to take place in the classroom in
order for teachers to create effective differentiated lessons that challenge all learners. How can teachers
create meaningful, challenging and creative lessons from the standards? Highlights from the book, “Generating
Standards-Based Lessons” (Lester, 2007) are shared along with essential changes that need to take place in order to
create effective lessons and assessments that lead to greater student achievement. This topic can be used
for a keynote or half day workshop. Can be combined with other topics to create a day or multiple day workshops.
Doing Differentiation!
Differentiation is a sweeping movement in classrooms throughout the nation. In order to
truly understand “differentiation” teachers must actually “get their arms” around the term and understand
how it affects the concept of teaching and learning in the classroom. This workshop focuses on "Best
Practices" and NEW strategies to use in order to implement differentiation into the classroom. This
session does not include differentiation games or activities but focuses on actual "teaching and learning strategies"
to use with standards-based lessons. Teachers are exposed to 15 differentiation strategies to easily implement in the
classroom to make differentiation happen and to develop greater student achievement for all students. This
workshop helps teachers to actually “do differentiation” and to relate strategies to the subjects being taught
in grades K-12. Participants receive differentiation materials and activities.
Training Teacher Leaders
Teacher
leadership is paramount to the success of a school building and a school district. Many teachers possess
the leadership ability needed to move a district forward as an outstanding district where students achieve at the highest
levels. Teachers are now recognized as the “driving force” in outstanding schools across
the nation. Many teachers want to play leadership roles but do not want to become school administrators.
This workshop focuses on “teacher leadership”. Participants are exposed to and learn
to identify numerous ways teachers can play key roles in school buildings and districts, especially as professional development
leaders. The concept of leadership is explored, as well as, methods to create, conduct and implement professional
development mini-workshops, sessions or trainings for peer teachers. Ideas to motivate other teachers,
to mentor peer teachers, and areas of leadership development are explored. Participants receive training
materials and leadership activities.
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Align, Adjust, and Accelerate
Lessons
The Taxonomy has served as a vital instructional tool for educators
for over fifty years. Now in the Age of Standards, the Taxonomy takes on a new mission as a tool to align,
adjust, and accelerate standards-based lessons. The key verbs in the Taxonomy are directly related to the
key verbs in the standards and can be used to create lessons for students based on “instructional need” in the
classroom. Lessons using the Taxonomy in reading, writing, research, math, science, and social studies
are viewed as examples for teachers to better understand lesson development, implementation, and assessment.
Using Authentic and Rubric Assessments in the
Age of Standards
Assessment
is the driving force in lesson development in the Age of Standards. Lessons are developed with the assessment
as the fundamental driving force in order to move student achievement to greater heights. Participants
in this workshop learn to diagnose (pre-assess) student need, use authentic assessment instruments, and to use rubrics as
objective assessment instruments. Participants also learn to use numerous types of rubrics and to assess
teacher generated lessons for efficacy.
Leadership Development: Lessons,
Activities, and Simulations to Develop Leadership
The lack of leadership in America is alarming. In today’s schools the area of leadership is often neglected.
In the Federal definition for “gifted and talented” children, leadership is one of the designated areas. However,
most schools do not include leadership education in gifted programs or in most academic content-based classes. Leadership
can become an integral part of the classroom and other academic programs. This workshop explores methods and means of including
“true leadership development” in schools and in classrooms. Leadership lessons, activities and programs are highlighted,
as well as exploring leadership education in the standards-based classroom.
Introducing, Implementing, and Assessing Layered Lessons
The Age of Standards calls for teachers to use new instructional strategies
to reach all students in the classroom. Layered Lessons are designed using the same concepts and or skills in the standards
and the same assessments to reach diverse groups of students. Lessons are designed to reach students below grade level,
students at grade level, and students working above grade level. Layers are designed based on the "instructional
needs" of students. Layered Lessons represent a new differentiation technique based on standards based learning.
