Looking for ways to engage all scholars? Have you asked yourself lately how to motivate ALL learners? Well, this experiential learning session is for you! Student engagement sets the foundation for academic achievement, classroom management and a joyous culture. In this session, teachers will collaborate with other motivated educators to transform bland lesson plans into lessons your scholars will be jumping out of their seats for. From Fish Bowls to Hot Seat, we will explore the many ways to engage all scholars.
In this session we will discuss how to get rid of the element of surprise when scholars find out they are failing. We will identify how to effectively communicate: 1) What a grade is. We will define the word "grade" in the context of Democracy Prep. 2) What the grade means. We will figure out a way to explain what the number value of each grade means within Democracy Prep and the greater academic world. 3) How the value of the grade gets distributed at the trimester and annual level. We will figure out how to explain the meaning behind each trimester grade and how that factors into their overall yearly grade for every class. This is the time in which we will mathematically break-down each trimester clearly so that the weight of each trimester can be understood by scholars. Furthermore, this will be a time in which you will brainstorm with like-minded individuals to come up with a way to build this type of conversation and ways to measure scholar progress into the daily culture at Democracy Prep.
Come and discuss how the ‘Representation Gap’ may have negative effects on a scholar’s motivation to read. After discussing the motivation theories, you will have the chance to use rich, engaging multicultural children’s literature to develop culturally responsive read aloud lesson plans that will make our scholars of color fall in love with reading! This session is perfect for any educator interested in learning more about culturally responsive teaching, motivation for reading, or how to develop an engaging ELA lesson plan using multicultural literature!
During this session, participants will receive a brief overview of how human memory works. Afterwards, we will learn about various memory techniques, most notably the “Memory palace”, to demonstrate how this technique and visual learning can be an effective tool when delivering instruction to scholars.
In this session we will detail historical performance of English Language Learners across our schools and districts. Following that, we will identify best practices and resources for working with this subpopulation of scholars. You will leave this session with baseline knowledge of academic performance of ELL scholars, an understanding of some struggles that specifically impact them, and a list of resources you can use when working with them.
Individualized Education Plans are confusing- they seem to be in a different language, but they aren't! During this session attendees will complete activities to learn about each part of the IEP specific to their region. Participants will also be exposed to strategies for writing high quality IEPs, and develop useful tools for navigating the IEP creation process.
You are observing a colleague and want to provide feedback. Where do you begin? What areas do you ultimately decide to give feedback on? How do you write/type the feedback clearly so that a teammate can use it in their next interaction? In this session, we will practice writing out clear feedback. We will also identify what teaching techniques to prioritize when coaching newer teachers through a video analysis of a newer teacher.
Friday October 26, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
Meeting 212 A
Do you ever feel disconnected from the lessons you teach? Maybe even *gasp* ROBOTIC? There's a cure! Come learn how to spice up your lessons through individual modification! Every teacher has special talents and a unique voice. Find out how to bring out the fun in every lesson in a way only YOU can!
We all want our scholars to fully internalize our content and be able to apply it to a variety of contexts. But how do we do that? In this session, we’ll explore an actual project in which scholars assume the role of constitutional lawyers in an imagined Supreme Court case. Participants will get to analyze the lead up, actual work, and summative activity from the perspective of both scholar and observer. After, we’ll have space to analyze the activity and discuss how to apply this type of activity to their own class.
Aggressively monitoring scholar work is a key way that you can collect in-the-moment data from your scholars. In this session we will be discussing key strategies to help you efficiently and effectively collect and respond to the work that scholars are completing during independent practice. We will also action plan how to apply strategies discussed to your own unique classroom and scholars.
Struggling with how to juggle a classroom with 10+ ACT students, 3 ELL's and all other learners in your 25 student classroom? Come learn how to differentiate for ALL learners in this differentiation session. You will leave this session with at least 1 highly differentiated lesson plan, multiple ways to reach all learners throughout your instruction, and get a chance to look at some sample lesson plans yourself! We will also model some best practices of co-teaching through this "meta" session.
Teachers, have you ever wondered how your DREAM Coach has developed such good scholar relationships? DREAM coaches, have you ever wondered about how to best work with teachers to better support scholar outcomes? This session is designed to explore Teacher-DREAM Coach partnerships as a means to build a supportive culture for our scholars. First, we excavate why these partnerships are vital, and discuss potential areas of friction (i.e. teacher communication around send-outs, or norming DREAM Coach feedback for teachers). Last, we highlight how changing feedback norms and leveraging DeansList data can inform conversations and bolster these important partnerships.
“Purpose over power!” We hear it often, but what does this actually mean in the context of our classrooms and communities? It is through the understanding different forms of power, its dynamic, and its impact in diverse settings that we build awareness of how we are breaking down systemic barriers, navigating oppressive environments and building a culture that supports social justice. In this session we will grapple with questions around power and influence such as: • How does the idea of power affect us as individuals in our diverse classrooms or school settings? • How does power impact the influence we have on our scholars, families, and/or colleagues? • Who has power and where does said power come from? • What privilege is attached to said power and how does it present itself?
Close Reading is a strategy that takes an “inch-wide, mile-deep” approach to dissecting complex texts. In this session, you’ll learn why close reading is such a valuable skill for our scholars to practice and learn. Then you’ll learn and practice two types of Close Reading. Close Reading “bursts” allow scholars to take a deeper dive into a shorter amount of text. Longer close readings will promote reading stamina in your classroom. Using a bank of texts relevant to an upcoming Reading or Writing unit, you’ll take ownership of close reading in your classroom by creating and practicing your own close reads for an upcoming lesson!
Have you ever sat down to grade your papers or exams, and realized that your scholars think that a two-word answer is sufficient for an open response? We have all felt the gap between explaining what high quality work looks like and actually equipping scholars to do high quality work. Come and learn how shared rubrics can help push scholars to write to their full potential in your classroom, and how you can leverage these rubrics to ensure horizontal alignment in your grade level or vertical alignment within your department.
What do you do with your teach doesn't yield student mastery? RETEACH! Want to maximize instructional time? It's time to get strategic with reteach. Learn the decision points for selecting reteach strategies. Get some practice in drafting reteach plans and leave with some clear feedback.
The Socratic Seminar is a unique tool allows scholars to practice multiple skills. This workshop will provide an example of how to conduct/grade a Socratic Seminar, provide examples of increasing rigor in HS classroom through discussion, how to create college ready scholars through mastery of appropriate communication techniques, delivery/analysis and how to assess skills learned/practiced in Socratic Seminars in both verbal/written assessments. This session will focus on the teacher tactics of Socratic Seminar that challenge scholars to mature in their communication skills ( academically) and prepare them for a civics-oriented mindset in the college of their choice.
During this session, participants will receive a brief overview of how human memory works. Afterwards, we will learn about various memory techniques, most notably the “Memory palace”, to demonstrate how this technique and visual learning can be an effective tool when delivering instruction to scholars.
Are you a new teacher in one of our New York schools, bewildered by the process of getting certified? Are you a returning New York teacher whose certification needs have changed, or who needs a refresher on your certification steps? Come with us and explore the different pathways to teacher certification in New York! You will leave this session with an understanding of the road ahead of you, and how we are going to help you meet your certification deadlines. We explain the intricacies of New York's certification process and how to navigate what can otherwise be an overwhelmingly complex system. PLEASE NOTE: this session is for certification in New York ONLY.
Our homerooms and advisories are made so much stronger by authentic joy and relationships with our scholars; the best classroom culture is built on adults that are invested in what they are saying and doing. This session will focus on how to bring your personality, interests and joy into your advisory in order to help build a classroom culture that adults and scholars will want to be part of. We’ll discuss activities that allow you to bring out your personality and create scholar buy-in, and how to implement them! You’ll leave better equipped to facilitate that positive bond to create the ultimate advisory pride.
When habits of discussion are properly implemented in a classroom the level of thinking during discussion is enhanced. When we deepen student thinking we have more opportunities to check for understanding in authentic ways.
Have you ever sat down to grade your papers or exams, and realized that your scholars think that a two-word answer is sufficient for an open response? We have all felt the gap between explaining what high quality work looks like and actually equipping scholars to do high quality work. Come and learn how shared rubrics can help push scholars to write to their full potential in your classroom, and how you can leverage these rubrics to ensure horizontal alignment in your grade level or vertical alignment within your department.
Imagine a classroom where scholars know exactly what's expected of them academically, 100% of the time. Imagine that there was a way for you to know, before the exit ticket, whether or not scholars would master the aim. Your dreams could become reality on October 27. Come learn how "Criteria For Success" and “Intentional IP” keep expectations high while setting all of your scholars up for success. You'll have the opportunity to implement these new strategies into an upcoming lesson plan so that you can execute CFS in class on Monday.
Korean teachers in Democracy Prep are in a unique situation where students in our classrooms are 100% "non-heritage" learners. Since curricula and teaching methods used by Korean teachers in the United States have traditionally targeted teaching students of Korean American heritage, we need to develop curriculum that meet the needs of our unique student body. My goal for this session is to provide Korean teachers useful insights on how to effectively respond to a few issues that non-heritage learners struggle understanding: verb/adjectives conjugation, use of particles and S-O-V sentence structure. Some frequent mistakes our students make will be presented and teachers will discuss ways to teach the needed skills to prevent them. I would also like to share with the team how I have dealt with those topics and ask teachers to share their own experiences.
We take MAP testing two to three times a year. This is the equivalent of spending three full school days on MAP testing. If we commit this much time to it, we need to make it meaningful for our scholars. During our session you will learn key entry points to understanding MAP data. You will leave with the MAP reflection tools and templates necessary to transfer ownership of data to scholars. This leads to all teachers ultamate goal of our scholars being invested in their own learning and growth.
Here are two main reasons why you should LOVE MAP testing: 1. Being able to track scholar data over multiple years embodies what it means to be a "Growth Matters Most" network 2. The data is available instantly. Mean you can create purposeful groupings, targeted inventions, and personalized goals for scholars right away.
Individualized Education Plans are confusing- they seem to be in a different language, but they aren't! During this session attendees will complete activities to learn about each part of the IEP specific to their region. Participants will also be exposed to strategies for writing high quality IEPs, and develop useful tools for navigating the IEP creation process.
You are observing a colleague and want to provide feedback. Where do you begin? What areas do you ultimately decide to give feedback on? How do you write/type the feedback clearly so that a teammate can use it in their next interaction? In this session, we will practice writing out clear feedback. We will also identify what teaching techniques to prioritize when coaching newer teachers through a video analysis of a newer teacher.
Saturday October 27, 2018 10:30am - 11:45am CDT
Meeting 225 B
Do you ever give tests and wonder what the results tell you about your students? Perhaps you've seen results that contradict your perception of how your class has grasped the material. This session will provide a framework for speaking about test validity, and draw boundaries around what tests can and can't tell us about student performance. We will also articulate what makes a test question a good one, and explore ways we can objectively talk about test quality.
