Live Sessions

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

9:00 - 9:55 a.m. - A PD Model Using UDL Principles to Create a 21st Century Classroom
This session is designed to help get your staff up and running using UDL principles within all classrooms of your building. Participants will be presented with a plan that they can modify and adapt to meet the needs of their school to increase student achievement. They will learn how to implement Professional Development sessions effectively to increase teacher’s comfort level with technology.

10:00 - 10:55 a.m. - Tools for Successful Transition
This session will provide participants with an overview of why transition planning for youth moving from high school to post school settings is so important. Information about federal and state transition planning requirements, and how they work together, will be presented.

11:00 - 11:55 a.m. - Effective Collaboration within All Disciplines
Presenter will discuss how to collaborate effectively across all disciplines to improve retention and understanding of all students. The presenter will also demonstrate how they have worked together to connect science and history to relevant concepts. Participants will learn how to organize, select, and design instruction collaboratively that will maintain the focus of standards, core content, and develop student outcomes. The program will emphasize the prioritization of curriculum and planning that focuses on a culminating event.

1:00 - 1:55 p.m. - The Writing Process and English Language Learners
“The Writing Process is the same for everyone” is an accurate statement, but what needs to be considered when the students engaged in the writing process are English Language Learners. This presentation will highlight project materials from Mary Morgan, an Elementary ESL Instructional Coach in the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) in Louisville, Kentucky. The project influenced by the work of Juli Kendall and Outey Khuon in their book Writing Sense was designed to support English Language Learners’ writing development, including forms appropriate for the Kentucky Writing Portfolio Assessment. This presentation will review what we know about language acquisition and highlight support materials from the Kentucky Department of Education, JCPS, and the WIDA Consortium.

2:00 - 2:55 p.m. - Universal Design for Learning: Supporting Systemic Change
Presenters will illustrate a “best practices” scenario for fostering change throughout the school and district. Presenters will talk about what has worked for them and what they have struggled with. Participants will leave with ideas they can immediately implement to start a ground roots UDL movement in their schools/districts.

3:00 - 3:55 p.m. - Changing the Culture of Collaboration in Your School
Is everyone on board with the concept of “collaboration” in your school? Take a trip with these presenters, who have made the journey in changing the culture of collaboration within their school. Explore the “bumps in the road” as well as the “construction of the smooth places” that made collaboration something that people now embrace.

4:00 - 4:55 p.m. - Leadership and Sustainability: Building Initiative Vision, Values, and Longevity for Implementation
This session will provide a framework for guiding your staff and their decision-making about incorporating and embracing the concepts of Universal Design for Learning. These concepts also influence the instructional practice and student achievement.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

9:00 - 9:55 a.m. - Lessons Learned About Virtual Worlds for Learning
Many educators are excited about the potential for education of virtual worlds (Internet game-spaces such as Whyville, digital places like Second Life). Our work with the NSF-funded River City curriculum for middle school science has provided insights about which types of virtual worlds are powerful for learning, as well as the limits of these interactive media. This session will provide advice about how to design learning experiences that take advantage of the full educational power of virtual worlds to reach underperforming and non-traditional students.

10:00 - 10:55 a.m. - UDL & RTI: The Intersection
A look at UDL in some detail and ideas as to how, when and why UDL should play a role in RTI plans to improve educational outcomes for ALL students. We will also discuss how Universally Designing your General Education Curricula can help to eliminate or reduce the need for intervention.

11:00 - 11:55 a.m. - The Most Important Question is "Why?": Developing Individualized Positive Behavior Supports for Students with Severe Disabilities
We often struggle to respond appropriately when a child displays a challenging behavior, especially when this behavior involves aggression. This session will focus on assessment and prevention of challenging behaviors in children with severe disabilities. A model for teaching replacement communication skills will also be discussed.

1:00 - 1:55 p.m. - Differentiating Instruction: Universal Ways to Unlock Learning
The session will explore the key principles of Differentiated Instruction within the context of the literary work "Number the Stars by Lois Lowry". The principles will be illustrated through design, planning, and delivery of content in the general classroom setting.

2:00 - 2:55 p.m. - School 2.0: Using Collaborative Technology Tools to Enhance Teacher Practice and Increase Student Success
New web-based technologies are revolutionizing the manner in which communication and business is conducted around the world. Students are deeply engaged with Web 2.0 tools such (Facebook, MySpace, Webkins, blogs, etc.) to communicate, collaborate, share and gather information, and express their creativity. These are the very skills that educators champion as essential for student success. A growing number of teachers are using these same tools to enhance their own pedagogical practice and engage students in ways that are exciting, meaningful and relevant. This presentation will address some of the most useful tools available to educators and demonstrate how these tools can improve teacher collaboration and instructional practice.

3:00 - 3:55 p.m. - The Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle: Recommendations for Involving Families and Communities to Improve Student Achievement
Learn about a new innovative tool that schools, families, and community groups can use to work together to improve the academic outcomes of all their students. Participants will have the opportunity to practice using it in a hands-on activity. The Family and Community Involvement Guide to Student Achievement has been widely embraced by all groups who have seen it.

4:00 - 4:55 p.m. - Edusim: 3D Virtual World Lessons on the Classrooom Interactive Whiteboard
This session will explore the Edusim concept of lesson driven 3D virtual worlds on the classroom interactive whiteboard. Lesson examples, as well as current and future Edusim capabilities, will be demonstrated and discussed.

On Demand Sessions

Effective Integration of Math and Technology for Student Achievement
This session is for participants who want to transform their math instruction into an exciting, engaging and technology-rich environment. Participants will be introduced to effective strategies for teaching hands-on math while integrating technology and also intervention strategies using technology that can easily be embedded into math instruction. Technology will be used to demonstrate how to obtain instant feedback of student achievement. The presenters will demonstrate how to integrate web resources, school pads, document cameras, and student response systems in the classroom.

Building Stronger Student-Teacher Relationships Using a Tablet PC and Instant Messaging
The presence of tablet PCs in the classroom is providing new opportunities in technology-based instruction and in examining the role of technology in improving teaching and enhancing teacher relationships with students. This session will demonstrate the advantages of using a tablet PC in both instructor-centered and student-centered activities in the classroom, including creating and archiving lecture notes, homework sets, and KCCTS preparation. Additionally, examples from online office hours will be presented to show the advantage of instant messaging with students during times when, typically, there is not communication.