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Anita Friede, Independent Professional Developer, New York, N.Y.
11:15 a.m.-12:15 a.m. Friday, Treasure Island B
Anita Friede is the 2007 SIM Leadership Award Winner, an award earned for outstanding contributions to the professional preparation of teachers and administrators. Not only has she conducted professional development for many educators in the use of SIM interventions, she also has been an integral member of collaborative work conducted on behalf of the Center with other professional developers. We have invited Anita to open her coffers to conduct this session, in which she will share tips and techniques for professional development.
Don Deshler, KU-CRL, and Barb Ehren, University of Central Florida, Orlando
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Treasure Island B
Responsiveness to Intervention (RTI) programs are receiving considerable attention nationally. However, in most instances, the focus is on early grades. If we think about the Content Literacy Continuum (CLC), it becomes clear that it contains the seeds of a secondary RTI approach. In this session, the parallels will be drawn between the CLC and RTI with direct links between the CLC levels and typical RTI tiers. Further, discussion will focus on the basic tenets of RTI as a blueprint for implementing the continuum.
Suzanne Robinson, Strategic Learning Center
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Plunder Place
Learn about the CLC Development College, which is a certification/endorsement path for Professional Developers who aspire to become CLC Leaders. The Development College provides information about school and district adoption of the Content Literacy Continuum and how to lead such an initiative. This session will provide an overview of the College content and structure and will describe future opportunities for professional developer participation.
Jim Knight, KU-CRL
9 a.m.-11 a.m. Friday, Treasure Island A
Early in the Pathways to Success project, instructional coaches found that teachers who struggled with classroom management issues also struggled to achieve results. Coaches learned early on that to get results, they needed to improve some teachers' classroom management skills. In response to this challenge, Pathways to Success staff partnered with Randy Sprick and Wendy Reinke, and the result is Coaching Classroom Management: A Toolkit for Administrators and Coaches. This presentation will provide a brief introduction to the S.T.O.I.C. framework that coaches can use to identify coaching opportunities and an overview of the forms that coaches can use to focus their modeling, observation, and coaching conversations.
Paula Lancaster, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Mich.
2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Thursday, Treasure Island B
This session will describe and demonstrate interactive instructional CD-ROM programs for students, including the Self-Advocacy Strategy CD, the Test-Taking Strategy CD, the Listening & Note-Taking Strategy CD, and the FIRST-Letter Mnemonic CD. The presenter will review results from the field tests and share general tips for classroom use. Participants will have an opportunity to work with the programs on their laptop computers.
Janis Bulgren, KU-CRL; Keith Lenz, KU Department of Special Education; and Beverly Colombo, Strategic Learning Center
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Treasure Island B
If I hear one more time, "They are doing a great job of implementing Content Enhancement!" or "Wow, that teacher is one of our best Content Enhancement implementers," I am going to shout, "And where are the data to prove it!" This session will examine the dimensions of high-quality Content Enhancement implementation at the course, teacher, department, and school levels. We will discuss the need for including the use of different integrated devices as part of determining "good" implementation in addition to using frequency and quality as indicators. Issues related to the measures that we use to gauge Content Enhancement usage will be shared and discussed, including gaining SIM Professional Developer agreement and using various checklists in administrative walk-throughs and interviews as well as common assessments and alternative assessment approaches.
Keith Lenz, KU Department of Special Education
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Friday, Smuggler's Cove
All SIM Professional Developers must have a basic understanding of the Content Literacy Continuum. This session will focus on understanding the goals of the CLC, how to make a brief presentation, and how to access and use basic documents needed to promote an understanding of the CLC.
Janis Bulgren, Don Deshler, and Mike Hock, KU-CRL; and Jean Schumaker, Edge Enterprises
9 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Thursday, Treasure Island
Increasingly, we are being asked to explain the research that backs up University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning interventions. This session will (1) provide a quick tutorial on some language we can use to help us effectively explain research results (this will be fun!); (2) discover the three most important things we all should understand about University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning content enhancement research; (3) discover three take-aways from University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning learning strategy research; and (most importantly) answer everything you've ever wanted to know as a professional developer about educational research...and been afraid to ask!
Gail Cheever, Learning Specialist, Trophy Club, Texas
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Plunder Place
Focusing Together, the fifth manual in the Community Building Series, is an instructional program that promotes self-management skills in association with a set of classroom expectations that defines responsible work habits, respect, and emotional and physical safety. Specifically, students learn how to live by a set of learning community expectations; how their choice of whether or not to abide by those expectations affects their personal power; and how to follow a self-management strategy for staying on task when they must work independently or in small groups.
Jim Knight, KU Department of Special Education
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Smuggler's Cove
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Thursday, Plunder Place
New manual! Students who are able to identify and paraphrase main ideas and details are more likely to understand and remember what they read. Unfortunately, for many students, finding main ideas and details and paraphrasing are not easy tasks. The Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing is designed to provide the fundamentals students need to learn those important strategies. Fundamentals contains lessons on paraphrasing words, phrases, and sentences, as well as lessons on identifying main ideas and details in paragraphs and short essays. Professional developers who are looking for a step-by-step approach to increasing some important elements of reading comprehension should benefit from this presentation.
Irma Brasseur and Mike Hock, KU-CRL
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Smuggler's Cove
This session will discuss one of KU-CRL's newest reading programs. The Fusion Reading program consists of newly developed reading interventions organized into three components: (1) The Motivation Program, (2) The Bridging Program, and (3) The Comprehension Program. Each of these key components will be highlighted. Additionally, the presenters will share the preliminary results of research conducted to measure the efficacy of the Fusion Reading program.
Trent Steffen, Strategic Learning Center
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Thursday, Treasure Island A
This workshop is designed for those who are already familiar with one or more Content Enhancement Routines. Participants will learn how to use GIST to create new organizers, as well as organize and refine existing Content Enhancement devices using GIST and the Content Enhancement Library. There will be an introduction/review for new and returning attendees, followed by a focus on creating integrated Content Enhancement devices. Participants will learn to start with a Course Organizer and link it to other devices such as Unit Organizers, Frames, Content Mastery and Anchoring devices, LINCs tables, and so forth. Participants also will learn how to turn these products into PowerPoint slides.
Peter Lenz, Velvet Bridge; Trent Steffen, Strategic Learning Center;
Sherri Wagner, Moxxisoft Solutions; and Keith Lenz, KU Department of Special Education
7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Hidden Jewel
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, Hidden Jewel
7:15 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, Hidden Jewel
These open consulting sessions are offered to help SIM Professional Developers develop plans and resolve issues related to using GIST in their work. Members of the GIST planning and development team will be available for individual and small-group discussions designed to answer questions, develop plans, offer individualized learning opportunities, and meet individual needs related to increasing your success with GIST.
Barb Duchardt, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, La.
9 a.m.-11 a.m. Friday, Plunder Place
This session is for teacher educators who would like to share how they implement SIM in higher education courses. We'll discuss SIM in the following areas: course syllabi, course requirements, course instructional materials, course implementation ideas and activities, clinical and field-based experiences, and national and state standards. The National Staff Development Council (NSDC) encourages the sharing of "high quality" professional learning, so student learning will be supported and improved. We value your participation in this creative professional learning community.
Nanette Fritschmann, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Penn.
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Thursday, Smuggler's Cove
9 a.m.-11 a.m. Friday, Treasure Island B
New manual! The purpose of this presentation is to provide information about a research study designed to develop, evaluate, and validate an instructional program for teaching the Inference Strategy, an inferencing and reading comprehension strategy. Further, participants will learn the steps associated with how to teach the Inference Strategy in various classrooms. The goal associated with teaching the Inference Strategy is to improve students' ability to comprehend reading passages and to improve their ability to respond to inferential questions as required in most of their subject-matter classes as well as on state assessments. Specific outcomes of the study and student data will be presented, including the results from a standardized assessment. At the end of this interactive session, participants will have learned the procedures of the Inference Strategy and the outcomes related to a study of a reading comprehension strategy focusing on inferring meaning from narrative text.
Jim Knight, KU Department of Special Education
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Friday, Treasure Island A
This presentation provides a quick overview of the material covered in the new book, Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to Improving Instruction. This session will briefly summarize the components of coaching, the partnership philosophy, partnership communication, and partnership leadership. This presentation is ideal for people who have never attended a session on instructional coaching but who would like a quick introduction to the topic.
Patricia Alexander, Professor and Distinguished Scholar/Teacher in the
Department of Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Maryland
8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Treasure Island
There is a growing awareness that strategic thinking and strategic behavior are requisite to competent learning for all students, especially those who struggle academically. Nonetheless, there are lingering issues about the very nature of strategies and about the steps teachers can take to support their students' strategic development. In this keynote address, the presenter will highlight the pivotal role of student motivations in strategic learning and strategic teaching. For instance, the effect that human intentionality or goals plays in distinguishing strategic processing from skillful performance will be considered. Also, the influence of such motivational constructs as efficacy, expectancy, interest, and relevance in initiating and sustaining students' strategic efforts will be explored. Finally, the presenter will review instructional guidelines for promoting students' efficient and effective use of general and domain-specific strategies.
Keith Lenz, Ku Ddepartment of Special Education; Janis Bulgren, and Don Deshler,
KU-CRL; and Barbara Ehren, University of Central Florida, Orlando
9:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Smuggler's Cove
Recently, we have been surprised by questions about why we include teaching routines in our literacy improvement efforts in the Content Literacy Continuum. Although it seems clear that the routines can significantly shore up background knowledge and vocabulary, there are other dimensions of the routines that not only address literacy but also provide language supports, scaffold emerging literacy strategies, and provide a bridge to high literacy requirements of state assessments. The presenters will visit Content Enhancement Routines, identifying why each is important in the development of a comprehensive secondary literacy program and illustrating the point with cross-routine literacy links.
Jana Craig Hare and Amber Rowland, KU-CRL's ALTEC Division
9:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Treasure Island B
This session will help expand your awareness and understanding of the use of technology for teaching and student learning. In addition, it is designed to interactively provide an overview of the LoTi framework, survey, and online portal. The benefits of LoTi include the following: 1) analysis of authentic technology use in the classroom, 2) DETAILS for 21st Century skillsets, 3) differentiated professional development, and 4) framework for school reform. LoTi is a valuable resource for the development of district- and building-level technology plans, as well as school improvement initiatives.
Connie Gentle, Independent Consultant, Winter Park, Fla.
2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Treasure Island A
Increasing numbers of mentors are needed to assist Potential Professional Developers (apprentices) in completing requirements for KU-CRL certification in Content Enhancement or Learning Strategies. A process that is effective and consistent requires helpful guidelines. This session will share the guidelines given to individuals in Florida who serve as SIM mentors. These include mentor guidelines, observation forms, and reflection forms that are used during an apprenticeship. With careful mentorship, we can have a positive effect on the number of apprentices who complete the requirements for certification.
Jerri Neduchal, Learning Resource Specialist, Orlando, Fla.;
Leslie Herod, Turlock Junior High School, Turlock, Calif.;
Bruce Noah, Davenport Schools Administration Services Center, Davenport, Iowa;
and Gail Cheever, Learning Specialist, Trophy Club, Texas
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Treasure Island A
This session will provide an opportunity for a number of SIM Professional Developers to offer ideas for spicing up Content Enhancement professional development sessions. Participants will complete the prompt "The neatest thing I do when I do sessions on (name of routine) is..." Come prepared to gather great ideas to energize your work.
Sue Vernon and Kristin Vernon, Edge Enterprises
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Hidden Jewel
The focus of this presentation will be on an interactive multimedia (IM) program for teaching at-risk students social skills. The IM program provides self-paced instruction in four social skills that provide youth with alternatives to behaviors that result in social problems (e.g., inappropriate behavior after formal and informal reprimands from authority figures; social isolation). The four skill lessons developed to date include: Dealing with Critical Feedback, Coping with No, Accepting Advice, and Negotiation. Three new skills are in the final stages of development and will also be discussed. Participants will have an opportunity to preview the programs on their laptop computers. Some laptops will be provided.
Suzanne Robinson, Strategic Learning Center, and Barbara Ehren, University
of Central Florida, Orlando
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Plunder Place
Professional developers working with schools to adopt the Content Literacy Continuum know that buy-in and understanding of the CLC on the part of teachers and administrators are crucial components of the process. However, an important lesson learned over the years has been that buy-in and understanding are not accomplished by initial efforts alone; that is, buy-in takes more than up-front willingness to engage in CLC adoption, and full understanding requires more than a CLC overview. In this session, participants will discuss the kinds of activities that facilitate CLC buy-in and understanding and the timing for these activities over the course of a CLC adoption initiative. Participants will gain knowledge about critical components to consider when developing a CLC adoption strategy.
Julie Tollefson, David Gnojek, and Ali Abrams, KU-CRL
1 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Thursday, Hidden Jewel
SIMville has a sleek new look, featuring a "dashboard" gateway to vital tools of the professional development trade. Stop by the board room to explore the new SIMville, ask questions of the developers, and give your feedback and suggestions for further improvement.
Suzanne Robinson and Beverly Colombo, Strategic Learning Center
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Friday, Plunder Place
This session will provide a brief overview of the range of current SLC-CLC projects, including the Striving Readers projects in Oregon and Massachusetts. Lessons learned about CLC program development will be discussed. CLC implementation support initiatives of the SLC will be shared. This session is appropriate for any professional developer and especially for those interested in becoming involved in future CLC projects.
Aaron Sumner and Amber Hoffman, KU-CRL
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Treasure Island A
Stratepedia is more than threaded discussions and shared Unit Organizers. Learn what we're doing to create and nurture collaborative, interactive environments for online professional development. We'll explore the Online Learning Labs, the all-new Library, the Dossier assessment system, and other web-based supports for professional development and CLC.
Barbara Ehren, University of Central Florida, Orlando
9 a.m.-11 a.m. Friday, Smuggler's Cove
STRUCTURE Your Reading is a strategic reading approach that has been under development over the past five years. A variety of studies have been conducted to test its effectiveness in improving reading comprehension. It is in its final stages of preparation for publication. This session is intended for professional developers who want to try it out now and are willing to provide feedback regarding the final published product; that is, what should the guidebook look like to be user friendly for implementers? The most recent research results also will be reported.
Maryann Marrapodi and Saudhi Vargas, Teachscape
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Treasure Island B
What can you do to ensure professional learning continues and deepens, even when you are not at the site? How can you make the routines and strategies visible and real to the participating faculty? How can you build local site capacity even more effectively and efficiently? Technology-enabled professional learning offers you a way to answer these questions, extend your reach, and provide adult learning strategies that have been proven successful. Join two of your Teachscape partners for an overview of how technology-enabled professional learning is used to deepen understanding, illustrate practices in action and support enhanced coaching built on less face-to-face time and more actual time for professional learning. As part of this session, you will see and discuss how technology-enabled approaches are scaffolding both improved teaching practice and student achievement across the country and view, analyze, and discuss the new SIM technology-enabled resources that will soon be available for you to use in your work.
Jean Schumaker, Edge Enterprises, and Paula Lancaster, Grand Valley State
University, Grand Rapids, Mich.
1 p.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, Treasure Island B
This session will discuss and demonstrate a new series of interactive multimedia professional development programs. The first series of programs is related to beginning and advanced Strategic Tutoring skills. The other series of programs relates to the Content Enhancement Routines, including Concept Mastery, Concept Comparison, Concept Anchoring, and Question Exploration. Participants will have an opportunity to preview the programs on their laptop computers.
Monica Harris, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.
1 p.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, Treasure Island A
This presentation focus on a morphemic analysis approach to vocabulary instruction and will investigate the results of a vocabulary morphemic analysis strategy called Word Mapping. The presenter will provide examples of generative and non-generative approaches in vocabulary instruction and will describe and model the Word Mapping Strategy embedded within vocabulary instruction. Participants will have an opportunity to apply the Word Mapping Strategy to several words and to draw conclusions on the effectiveness and meaningfulness of using a morphemic analysis approach to teaching vocabulary.
Mike Hock and Irma Brasseur, KU-CRL
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Smuggler's Cove
During this session, we will share the results of a descriptive study that informs teachers, administrators, and SIM Network members about the word-level component skills of struggling adolescent readers. The findings from this research will provide information that helps answer the question, "What reading skills and strategies should we be prepared to teach adolescents who struggle with reading at the middle and high school levels?" Additionally, we will share revisions to the Word Identification Strategy and will discuss procedures for teaching the strategy in the context of highly engaging reading material.
Paula Lancaster, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Mich.
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Hidden Jewel
During this session, participants will learn about the research and development process that lead to the creation of Wordsmith. Participants will have an opportunity to "play" the game and experiment with its sessions and features. Finally, participants will hear about the results of a recent pilot test conducted with secondary students with LD. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops for hands-on experience with the game.
Patricia Alexander, Professor and Distinguished Scholar/Teacher in the Department of Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Maryland
9:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Treasure Island A
In this session, the presenter will follow up on the ideas presented during her keynote address. More detailed information about the role of student motivation in strategic learning and strategic teaching will be explored.
Jean Schumaker, Edge Enterprises
9:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Plunder Place
SIM was selected in a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education as one of two reading interventions for struggling adolescent readers to be tested in a randomized trial national study. KU-CRL launched this study in 2005-2006, and it has continued in 2006-2007. This session will give an overview of Xtreme Reading and will provide descriptions of the new strategies and instructional methodology developed for the course. Also, instructional features such as the Book Study Activities will be described.
Lisa Walsh, Edge Enterprises
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Hidden Jewel
The Makes Sense Strategies CD contains a set of tools for teachers to use to present content information and teach skills. The CD contains hundreds of graphic devices along with examples of their use in a variety of subject areas. These devices can be used in conjunction with several of the Content Enhancement Routines, or teachers can invent their own routines. Participants will learn how to use the CD, fill in the graphic devices, use implementation resources on the CD, learn about the research that has been conducted, and discuss how to incorporate instruction about the CD in their professional development sessions. Some computers will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring laptops for a hands-on experience.
2007 Conference Home |
2007 Preconference Workshops |
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