4th Annual Dr. Barbara A. Sizemore 2013 Summer Conference Workshops
English As A Second Language
This workshop is designed for individuals who work or plan to work with young adults and adult students whose native language is not English. Facilitators will define who is an English Language Learner (ELL), what are linguistic and cultural diversity and what roles these play in the English Language Learners education. Also, presenters will cover how biases regarding cultural and linguistic diversity are demonstrated in K-12 classrooms. Instructors will provide helpful ideas on how educators can help ELLs in mainstream classrooms.
Facilitators: Dr. Nihat Polat and Dr. Laura Mahalingappa
Centering Community-Based Literacy Practices for Social Justice
The effect of trauma in distressed urban communities is rarely discussed as a significant factor impacting low academic achievement among urban youth. The larger social, political, and economic context of trauma is a social justice issue for critical urban educators. While most of us think of post-traumatic stress disorder in wars overseas, trauma affects young people right at home in the U.S. As many of the nation's major urban centers confront the trauma of homicide, poverty, and drop-out rates of urban youth, Dr. Prier suggests that community-based educators will increasingly become important agents of social change for urban schools in this area. This workshop explores the disruption of trauma through culturally relevant, community-based literacy practices in urban centers.
Facilitator: Dr. Darius Prier
Reading Challenges
This workshop will focus on one issue "Reading Disabilities" and one possible solution "Emotional Development - Inner Life of the child". The participants will take part in an activity that will inform them about the distinguishing differences in reading disabilities and how these disabilities impact the children's abilities to freely participate as members of a learning community in a school setting. Also participants will take part in an activity that will inform them about the impact of emotional development with a particular focus on strengthening the inner life of children to enhance their opportunities to freely participate in a learning community in a school setting.
Facilitators: Dr. Rosemary Mautino & Dr. Julia Williams
Igniting Reading Excitement Across the Curriculum for Grades 6-12
Do you struggle with motivating teens to read? Learn how e-readers and young adult literature (YAL) can ignite excitement about reading and learning across the curriculum. This hands-on workshop will share strategies for engaging adolescent readers through instructional planning that connects youths' interests, emerging e-reader technologies, and content area reading.
Facilitator: Dr. Terri Rodriguez
Mental Health In the Schools
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, one in five school-aged children suffer from some form of acute or chronic mental illness, yet 70% of adolescents struggling with mental health do not receive appropriate care. While the costs of mental health care may seem prohibitive to school districts, they are very little in comparison to costs incurred by mentally ill adults seeking social services or sentenced to prison, where more than half of inmates have a diagnosable mental illness. Therefore, addressing mental health in the schools is a critical issue, and one that has shown promising evidence of positively impacting anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. These changes can lead to increased attendance, performance, and likelihood of successful completion of secondary education, and could have myriad implications for a child's educational and financial future. This workshop will address the importance of mental healthcare in the schools as well as some strategies for identify and supporting students in need.
Facilitators: Dr. Shaun Harper, Rebecca Perry-Keenan, DeWayne Powell & Sean Means, Heinz Fellows
Stem Education and College Preparation
This workshop is designed for teachers of any discipline along with any individual who desires to give students in K-12 a positive and "amazing" STEM experience. We will define STEM education, its benefits and how it can change a child's outlook on learning. Participants will take part in a hands-on activity and learn how the Legacy STEM Project recruits students and parents while engaging them to embrace the journey to success. Lastly, participants will identify the steps used by the Legacy STEM ProjectTM to provide children with an "amazing" STEM experience even if you don't have a math or science background.
Facilitator: Mr. Darrly Wiley
Building High Self Esteem
Self-esteem is, in its simplest definition, the way you feel about yourself. When children feel confident about themselves and their abilities, they have good self-esteem. Children who feel like they're not liked by family or peer groups or who tend to believe their efforts will lead to failure have poor self-esteem. Self-esteem is one measure of a child's overall mental health. This workshop presents a self-developed curriculum on increasing Self-Esteem in African American Students with an emphasis from the historical perspective. Research will include the role of the importance of African American History and African.
Facilitator: Ms. Lisa Parker
Do Teachers Need Structure or Freedom to Effectively Teach Urban Students?
This session will drill down into the role of urban teachers in the classroom. By debating and discussing the extent to which urban teachers' work should be ‘free' or ‘structured', participants will come away with a better understanding of their own beliefs about what type of teachers urban students need.
Facilitator: Dr. Jason Margolis
Engaging Students in Learning Mathematics: Teaching Fractions Using A Concrete-Reprsentational-Abstract Sequence
Participants will learn to scaffold learning fractions by progressing from hand-on manipulative to picture representations to abstract numbers and symbols. This sequence of teaching is highly engaging and helps students build conceptual and procedural knowledge. Participants will leave with practical lessons that can be implemented in urban classrooms
Facilitator: Dr. Elizabeth Hughes
The Parent Voice: Breaking Down Communication Barriers Between Families and Schools in Providing Special Education Services
Teachers and school administrators will hear from, and converse with, a diverse panel of parents of children with special needs on their experiences educating their children. Participants will identify obstacles to effective home-school collaboration and generate ideas for its improvement in order to positively impact child education.
Facilitator: Dr. Rachael Robertson & Dr. Temple Lovelace