Friday Afternoon Workshops - $35

Friday, November 11, 2011
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

CW231
Assessment for Learning—The Driving Force Behind Differentiation
Kristina Doubet
Incorporating frequent learning checks into daily instruction can raise student performance and drive more effective differentiated grouping decisions. This session will help teachers discern the hallmarks of effective formative assessment, design their own assessments, and use analysis of assessment results to drive differentiation and improve student performance.

CW232
Building a Flexible Schedule in Nine Easy Steps
Elliot Merenbloom, Barbara Kalina
Flexibility and RTI are essential components when developing educational programs that are responsive to the needs of young adolescent students. Using a hands-on approach, participants will experience each of the nine steps in creating a flexible middle school schedule: mission/vision review, structural options, bell/lunch schedules, program of studies, projected enrollment and teaming options, blueprint and grid of teachers' assignments, and professional development.

CW233
Teaming Rocks! Collaborate in Powerful Ways to Ensure Student Success
Jill Spencer, Chris Toy
Working together, team teachers can strategically address literacy, information fluency, and numeracy while building the skills of collaboration and inquiry. This interactive session goes beyond team organization and explores a variety of strategies teams can use. Digital tools are integral to this process, so bring your mobile devices and laptops!

CW234
A Powerful Way to Close the Achievement Gap: Family Engagement
Joni Samples
The research on family engagement is very clear: Engaging families helps close the achievement gap. This workshop shows you how. Participants will identify their school and family engagement practices in four family engagement domains and begin planning strategies for increasing school and family collaboration as well as raising test scores.

CW235
Taking the Mystery Out of Special Education Inclusion
David Shepard
Schools across the country are moving in the direction of inclusion, but is it the best answer? Inclusion, as a practice, is only as good as the teachers who work together and use it. This session will examine teacher roles, planning, shared responsibilities, active teaching strategies, and differentiation practices that help all students.