Best Practices Conference VI:
Honoring Teachers, Classrooms and Schools That Get Results (Grades K-12)
NEW DATE - February 11, 2013
LOCATION: St. Charles Convention Center, One Convention Center Plaza, St. Charles, MO 63303
TIME: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
COSTS: $75CSD members;$100 Non-members
REFERENCE#: 34031-BP Graduate credit is available for an additional fee.
ONLINE REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 1, 2013
Go online to REGISTER (www.csd.org/pd.html)
We invite you to participate in the sixth Best Practices Conference: Honoring Teachers, Classrooms and Schools That Get Results (Grades K-12). Through this conference you will have the opportunity to hear and learn from practitioners from our local area schools whose practices are making a difference for students and teachers as well as CSD professional developers.
The conference offers 26 breakout sessions from local presenters. Participants have the opportunity to choose four to attend and hear the keynote speaker, Dr. Monty Selby. Dr. Selby is an educator, author, and speaker whose practical and inspiring presentation leaves audiences applauding across North America and Europe. Known as “education's songwriter,” he has written hundreds of songs with students, educators, and Grammy-winning musicians. Monte’s comical and insightful music—featured on network television, radio, podcasts, and websites, and in books, stage productions, and videos—is cultivated from an award-winning career as a teacher, principal, and professor. Music Row Magazine describes his music as “a delightful variety” - “funky” - “astonishing” - “Wow”!
The conference is Monday, February 11, 2013 at the St. Charles Convention Center. Registration is limited so register early!
The schedule for the day is as follows:
7:30- 8:30A.M. Check in and continental breakfast
8:30 -9:30A.M. Welcome and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Monte Selby
9:30 - 10:00A.M. Networking and Passing Time
10:00 -11:05A.M. Session I Breakouts
11:15 - 12:20 P.M. Session II Breakouts
12:20 - 1:20 P.M. Lunch (will be provided)
1:25 -2:30P.M. Session III Breakouts
2:35 - 3:40 P.M. Session IV Breakouts
3:40 - 4:00 P.M. Conclusion, Evaluations and Certificates of Attendance
For additional information regarding the conference content contact: Stephanie Madlinger at or 314-692-1212. For special needs (including dietary) or other information contact: Karen Vaughan, kvaughan@csd.org or 314-692-1250.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
We Got the Beat! (PreK – 2nd)
Presenter: Monte Selby
Monte Selby’s critically acclaimed music is loaded with science concepts straight from the standards. And then there are songs for language development. And music for transitions, or starting a “great” day, or creating heroes in the hallway. Whether you do blues, folk, rock, hip hop, or stomp, this session is those who want to get their groove on at school.
Welcome to an Unforgettable Classroom (3rd - 12th)
Presenter: Monte Selby
Teachers love practical, ready-to-use, high-engagement strategies to impact learning, behavior, and character. Come explore powerful academic, social, and leadership activities that require deep thinking, movement, research, respect, interaction, music and laughter! Researchers declare that many students claim "boring" as their favorite adjective for describing school. More researchers shed light on why many capable students drop out of school. Educators of all subject areas and grade levels will leave this session with practical ideas to create healthy, welcoming, non-boring and "unforgettable" classrooms.
Emotions. This crazy kid is making me crazy! (PreK-12)
Presenter: Monte Selby
Mad. Sad. Happy. Some students have a limited emotional vocabulary - a limited understanding of expressions and a limited range of responses. They overreact (act out), thinking someone who is frustrated or serious seems mad (because they’re not smiling). This causes problems for the student, classmates, and adults. Practical strategies (from very current research) can help all students increase emotional perceptiveness, options for expressions, and healthy, successful behaviors for responding to a wide range of emotion.
Motivated Meetings: The End of Boring! (Administrators and those who lead meetings)
Presenter: Monte Selby
Principals and teacher leaders! Wake up! Yes, we've all been to meetings and asked, "Why did we have this meeting?" Frustration levels rise quickly when meetings become whining sessions, little is accomplished, or the same person makes the same long speech on the same topic! On the contrary, it IS possible to have meetings that target current educational issues with innovative, collaborative, engaging activities and resources. Yes, a staff meeting CAN energize educators, and model best practices. Join Monte Selby for a musical, fun, involved session and leave with ideas, skills, and a few good laughs.
Lindbergh High School Professional Development – The Engine that Could!
Presenters: Stella Viehland, John Fortney and Jennifer Witzig, Lindbergh School District
Over the last ten years Lindbergh High School has stayed the course of a specific vision. Through dynamic professional development planning, a fierce commitment to student learning has become the culture in this large high school. Instructors have come to enjoy professional development time and continue to raise the bar for achievement expectations. Lindbergh has stayed the course and is the engine that could…receiving numerous accolades such as National Blue Ribbon School, National School of Character and a Top 1000 School in the Nation.
Media Literacy: A Necessary 21st Century Skill
Presenter: Don Goble, Ladue School District
Media Literacy is a necessary 21st Century skill for all students. Critical thinking and analysis of multimedia messages permeate our world. In this session, teachers will understand the concept of media literacy, and will be offered an open invitation to allow for media literacy lessons and assessment through student-generated videos in their classrooms.
Look What English Learners CAN DO!
Presenter: Debra Cole and Marlow Barton, Cooperating School Districts/MELL
Busy classroom teachers with English Learners (EL) will experience, discuss, and apply instructional strategies to engage English Learners in the content classroom. You’ll be amazed at all that your English Learners CAN DO in the content classroom with the right support. Participants will also have a chance to preview resources and ask their burning questions. Come learn how to get results and close the gap for English Learners!
A Summer Academy as High School Intervention
Presenter: Tom McCracken and Diana Lehmkuhl, Winfield School District
This presentation will share the creation, evolution and implementation of a Summer Academy as a stand-alone intervention or part of a school wide focus to raise expectations for success in high school. Participants will view student created work, create their own plan and receive information to reproduce similar success.
"This project has increased student achievement by decreasing the average number of office discipline referrals by 50% and increased the attendance rate of the Summer Academy Students by 50% as well. This allows additional instructional time for these students.@This project has also changed teacher attitudes or beliefs and practices by practicing in a safe environment that allows them to take educational risks and encourage their students to do the same. Finally, this project has changed student attitudes and beliefs by increasing the connections that a typical struggling or bubble student brings to the high school and the team of peer mentors and staff form an educational safety net."
The Spartan Way – A 3-Tiered Approach to Behavior with Results
Presenters: Brian Schick and Suzan Wilson, Francis Howell School District
Saeger Middle School has spent the last six years building a solid 3-tiered approach to character education that defines, teaches, and encourages appropriate student behavior. Along the way, we struggled with fidelity of implementation, shared ownership, and insuring that we were meeting the needs of all our students. After years of revising and refining our approach, today our Spartan Way program is fully integrated into everything we do at Saeger. Last year, the Spartan Way reduced our office referrals from classrooms by a staggering 38%, our students are spending more time in our classrooms, and test scores are up. Join us as we share our best practices in character education using a 3-tiered pyramid approach.
Engaging Students, Teachers, and the Standards with Kagan Cooperative Learning!
Presenter: Adam Estes, Wentzville School District
The Common Core State Standards are fast approaching! What better way to learn more about them than by personally engaging in strategies that will help students meet the standards, too! These strategies are great for students as well as faculty learning to meet the rigorous expectations of the new standards!
Systems Thinking in the Classroom
Presenter: Patricia Ulrich, Ritenour School District
Systems Thinking provides useful tools for analyzing any system (a classroom, a student, a piece of literature, a society, a time period in history, etc.) by looking at how the individual parts affect one another and, therefore, the entire system. Systems Thinking can be used to improve classroom management and/or to improve students’ critical thinking skills in any subject at any grade level. The tools appeal to every type of learner in that they can be used visually, kinesthetically, linguistically, and logically. A basic overview of Systems Thinking, three of the basic tools (Behavior Over Time Graphs, Icebergs, and Feedback Loops) for applying Systems Thinking in the classroom, and further resources, such as suggested reading and internet resources, for learning about using Systems Thinking in the classroom will be provided. Handouts with Systems Thinking tools for future use in the classroom will also be provided.
Creating and Using Classroom Websites for Differentiation
Presenter: Gregory Taylor, St. Louis Public Schools
This presentation will focus on the Weebly.com web creation tool and its use as a classroom instructional portal. Topics such as Math lab activities, 24/7 student access to curriculum and instructional aids, integrating tutorial web links, SMART Notebook lessons, enGrade, and more for students to move ahead or refresh their skills as necessary. Also valuable for the student with intermittent or chronic absenteeism issues. Website for creating Web based tests and quizzes as well as some recommendations for resources to be independently explored by participants post presentation will be made available. A short tutorial on creating a Weebly page will be given and made available online for all who attend top avoid bandwidth issues at the time of the event.
Elementary Walkthroughs & the Three R’s
Presenters: Shawn Riley and Megan Sanford, Wright City School District
What’s going on in your classrooms? The power of meaningful walkthroughs and mini-observations in an elementary setting has transformed the culture and conversation at Wright City West Elementary. Administrators are in every classroom everyday looking at the level of instruction through multiple lenses. Learn how walkthroughs and mini-observations saves time, creates a culture of coaching, and produces results.
Closing the Achievement Gap One Learning Target at a Time
Presenter: Dan Tripp and Courtney Rejniak, Parkway School District
Learning targets are the foundation to the formative assessment process. Discover how PLC implementation in the Parkway School District has increased student learning as measured by district and state assessments, via assessing FOR learning. Learn how specific PLCs use measurable learning targets from common formative assessments to provide feedback and have students’ self-assess, set learning goals, and self-reflect.
From Crisis to Insight: Life Space Crisis Intervention
Presenter: Cheri Purpura Thurman, Wentzville School District
Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is an advanced therapeutic technique which gives Administrators and teachers skills to turn a student's crisis into a learning opportunity. This presentation will be an overview of 6 specific Interventions used with students exhibiting self-defeating behaviors. There will be a description of how staff will use 6 stages of an Intervention to help calm a student, guide them to gain insight into their choices and teach skills to cope with their stressors in various environments. There will also be a brief discussion covering the following topics:
6 stages of LSCI addressing Tier I, Tier II and Tier III needs PBIS and LSCI Using LSCI Conflict Cycle to conduct an FBA
Magnificat Credit Recovery Program: Using Online Courses to Keep Students on Track to Graduate
Presenter: Kaitlyn Sanders, Marian Middle School
The Magnificat Credit Recovery Program at Marian Middle School is a virtual high school program for students at high risk of dropping out of high school. We help students take classes through the Missouri Virtual Instruction Program using technology available at Marian Middle. Through small group presentations and a hybrid model of online learning, students have been able to recover credits, improve their GPA and are back on track to graduate. This presentation will cover the lessons we have learned through the first year of the program and advice on using online courses as a way to engage students at risk of dropping out.
eValuate-A Tool for Success
Presenter: Jan Walkonis and Panel, Lindbergh School District
Lindbergh School District's math and communication arts scores were #1 and #2 respectively in the region as cited by the Post-Dispatch. Although their success can be attributed to a combination of factors, school leaders and teachers alike point
to their use of data to inform instruction as a key component. A panel of Lindbergh teachers and principals come together to share their use of the eValuate formative assessment as a tool in their success toolbox.
Teaching ELA for the Common Core State Standards
Presenters: Bertha Richardson, Cooperating School Districts/Regional Professional Development Center and Nicalee Stephens, The School District of University City
The ability to conduct and write “Research” projects, whether short, focused projects (such as those that may be required on work projects) and longer term in depth research is focused on throughout the Common Core State Standards but most especially in the writing strand since a written analysis and presentation of findings is so often essential.
Session topics include planning, teaching for and assessing essential learning outcomes, structures for collaborations, and effective pedagogies and practices for seamless learning environments. Samples of first and second grade student writing will be shared along with the results of formative assessment data that illustrates increased performance levels in writing informational/explanatory texts, at those grades.
iPads and the Library: Transforming All Students into Digital Learners
Presenter: Jonathan Sanders, Hazelwood School District
In early 2012, the Innovative Technology Education Fund awarded a grant to Jury Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District. With a mobile cart of 22 Apple iPad 2 tablets, the librarian and five teachers in grades 2-5 are advancing digital literacy collaboration between the library and the classroom. For the first time at Jury, students are using the iPad to access digital books and magazines from the school and local library, engage high-interest apps to strengthen math and literacy skills, and utilize high-quality digital non-fiction sources in library and classroom instruction. This presentation will share best practices on how to use tablet technology to address non-fiction reading instruction and transform all students into digital learners.
GIFTs from Teachers Academy: “Great Ideas for Teaching”
Presenters: Teachers Academy Members
Four members of the St. Louis Teachers Academy will share their favorite Student Engagement Centered Instructional Strategies in a panel format. Participants will leave with six new strategy ideas to share with their colleagues and try in their classrooms. Strategies presented are designed to be adaptable to any grade level or content area.
Why Every Student wants to be a Pediatrician: Media Messages and Career Choice
Presenters: Elizabeth Reckker and Chantal Chandler, Special School District
Using TV programs, YouTube, magazines, and advertisements, we will demonstrate the connections between media literacy and occupational socialization and show teachers how to promote the crucial critical thinking skills that lead students to be informed media consumers in relation to career choice. Having the skills to deconstruct media messages about occupations will transform the way students think about their own career goals.
Keep It On The DL
Presenters: Helen Headrick, HEC-TV
How do you use Distance Learning in the classroom? What way would you like to use it, but can't right now? Come join the Cooperating School Districts of Greater St Louis (CSD) and Higher Education Channel Television (HEC-TV) for a round table sharing discussion. Attendees should bring a lesson, idea, story or concern for using distance learning in the classroom. In 2011, CSD and HEC-TV joined forces with MOREnet and local school districts to support student achievement and professional growth through the use of distance learning by forming the Show-Me Distance Learning Networking Group. We'll show you examples of our work and look forward to having you show us examples of yours.
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