FEA Summer 2010 Professional Development Regional Institutes
Get a Jump on the Upcoming School Year
This summer FEA is presenting several regional course offerings for members:
Western Region (Panhandle) – June 14-19
Central Region (VTO) – June 15-19, June 21-25, June 28-July 1, July 26-30
Southern Region (UTD and BTU) – June 21-25
Eastern Region – July 26-28
Southern Region (Palm Beach CTA) – August 2-6
Download the following documents for more information:
Heads Up! Bulletin | Courses and Descriptions
Registation Form | Print Registration Form
The course components will address several issues that you may face as school accountability continues to play out. We believe these course components are an excellent addition to your local Professional Development offerings as we move into what promises to be a challenging school year.
The regional institute model first offered last year; helped build local and regional training capacity exponentially. Through the regional institute model, FEA was able to provide more training to larger numbers of members within smaller geographical areas in a shorter period of time without sacrificing the depth of instruction, the length of the courses, or the quality of training.
We hope that your local will take advantage of the regional institute opportunities this summer as we work together to develop a strategies for the school reform process.
Please review the 2010 the Heads Up! Bulletin before you register.
If you have any questions, please call Danielle Montes at 850-222-7769 or via e-mail at danielle.montes@floridaea.org .
2010 PD Regional Institute Courses
- ESP First Aid Certification - Eastern Region, July 26-28
This AFT Health and Safety First Aid, CPR and AED (Automated External Defibrillator) course is a training of the trainer program and is certified by the American Safety and Health Institute. Upon successful completion participants will be certified and authorized to teach the program in their local associations. Your local can offer this valuable course to members or arrange for the teams to offer as a cooperative initiative with the district.
- NEA English Language Learners Applied Linguistics (ELL) - Central Region at Volusia Teachers Organization (VTO) June 15-19
This course fulfills the requisites for the first 60 hour ESOL course required of all core academic teachers. This session provides participants with excellent background knowledge on linguistics, hands-on best teaching strategies, curriculum resources, research-based classroom management techniques and differentiated instruction methodology to use in classrooms with English Language Learners and culturally diverse students. Emphasis is on understanding the “whole” student by examining a number of issues related to students’ educational outcomes, e.g. culture, socio-economic status, language acquisition, and language learning differences.
- ER&D Beginning Reading Instruction - Western Region (Panhandle) June 14-18, Southern Region
(Palm Beach) August 2-6
This course focuses on how children learn to read and the best ways to teach beginning reading from kindergarten to the end of second grade. Because the course contains considerable information on how students develop basic decoding skills, it is also useful for teachers and paraprofessionals working with older students who are still having difficulty with decoding and fluency.
The course presents a synthesis of the research consensus for beginning reading instruction. In addition, the most effective strategies for teaching beginning reading are provided with an emphasis on helping students develop phonemic awareness, knowledge of the alphabetic system, phonics/decoding skills, print awareness, fluency, and comprehension.
- Delivering Effective Professional Development - Western Region (Panhandle) June 19, Central Region (VTO) June 25
This mini-course, Delivering Effective Professional Development (DEPD), will assist you in your role as a trainer and coordinator of an ER&D program. You will receive guidelines as to what an effective presenter must know and do, i.e., presentation techniques, planning an ER&D session and ways to succeed with adult learners. As a site coordinator, you will learn how to manage an ER&D program and build local capacity for its growth and expansion. You will observe presentation strategies and begin preparation for a practice presentation in your strand.
- Foundations of Effective Teaching I - Southern Region (BTU/UTD) June 21-25, Southern Region
(Palm Beach) August 2-6
This core ER&D course addresses the fundamental aspects of teaching and learning that are relevant for teachers and classroom paraprofessionals in all grade levels and subject areas. It examines proven practices for establishing and maintaining classroom management, maximizing use of learning time, questioning and feedback skills, homework, interactive guided instruction strategies, and scaffolding techniques. Covering core topics critical to successful classroom practice, Foundations of Effective Teaching I is recommended as the primary offering for all ER&D local sites. It is frequently used as the basis for induction, mentor, and peer assistance programs and is an essential part of Local Site Coordinator training.
- Instructional Strategies that Work - Southern Region (BTU/UTD) (Palm Beach) August 2-6
This course provides practical applications of instructional strategies that are outlined in the research base on effective instruction and have been proven to support student learning. At the center of this course are cognitive strategies that foster critical thinking and the transferability of skills learned. Course participants will learn how to evaluate curriculum materials for any content area, organize content for learning, and develop or evaluate scoring guides for student tasks. These strategies can be applied in K-12 settings and are particularly helpful for students with special needs.
- Making Data Work for YOU - Southern Region (Palm Beach) August 2-6
Making Data Work for YOU was developed collaboratively by the American Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers and their Teacher Center, Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, and the Toledo Federation of Teachers. Participants will learn knowledge and tools to use data effectively in improving schools, informing instruction and advancing learning individually and collaboratively. Participants will surface their assumptions about data; will begin to identify what is meant by “data”; learn two types of assessment data, their uses and limitations; and learn how to analyze data to make informed decisions about school improvement and instruction.
- Managing Antisocial Behavior - Western Region (Panhandle) June 14-18, Southern Region (BTU/UTD)
June 21-25, Central Region (VTO) July 26-30, Southern Region (Palm Beach) August 2-6
Managing Antisocial Behavior (MAB) is an ER&D module that presents the most recent research on antisocial behavior and provides educators with effective strategies for managing antisocial behavior across a number of learning environments. The module reviews what is found in the ER&D Beginning of the Year Classroom Management (BYCM) and takes the research to the next level for students who do not respond to basic prevention through effective classroom management. MAB will provide teachers and support staff with the information, tools and skills they need to prevent a great deal of antisocial behavior and/or to manage this behavior when it arises.
- What Effective Schools Do When Students Don’t Succeed: The Power of Collaboration - Southern Region (BTU/UTD) June 21-25, Southern Region (Palm Beach) August 2-6
How important is “teacher work” outside the classroom? --So important that researchers now say that “increased student learning is inextricably tied to teacher learning and collaboration” (Morrissey & Cowan). In fact, teacher collaboration done well serves as a powerful model for student behavior in the classroom. It serves to improve student performance and increase positive student behavior. This session examines ways to make teacher learning and collaboration truly powerful in their effect on raising student achievement. Come look at processes such as looking at student work, ways to conduct the most effective school-based professional development, what structures to put in place for the most successful collaboration, and how to identify and implement interventions collaboratively that make a genuine difference in your students’ lives.
This strand will include Lesson Study, Professional Learning Communities and What Every Educator Should Know About RTI.
- Reading Comprehension Instruction - Western Region (Panhandle) June 14-18
This course focuses on the research and exemplary practices that help students acquire strong reading comprehension skills. It provides participants with a synthesis of the research based on reading comprehension instruction and vocabulary development. Participants examine, discuss, and evaluate the appropriate application of a range of instructional strategies from explicit to implicit teaching of comprehension skills. Strategies are presented for increasing student comprehension of both narrative and expository texts—including content area textbooks. In addition, approaches are presented to help students monitor their own comprehension and apply appropriate “fix-up” strategies when comprehension is not achieved. Practice in using these instructional strategies and examples of student work are embedded in each unit.
This course is appropriate for all K-12 teachers who need to help increase their students’ comprehension of text—whether that text is a literature selection or a subject area textbook.
- School, Family and Community - Southern Region (Palm Beach) August 2-6
The primary function of this course is to help school staff understand how they can assist parents to better support their children as learners. Topics explored include: (1) using effective communication strategies to develop learning partnerships with families; (2) designing more productive homework assignments to involve families; (3) explaining classroom work and grading systems to parents; and (4) developing school wide parent involvement plans.
- Strategies for Student Success - Central Region (VTO) June 21-25
This research-based program consists of modules on teaching and learning aspects of the classroom and is appropriate for new and veteran teachers. Module topics are: Order in the Classroom: Rules/ Procedures/Consequences; Homework: Let’s Get It Right; Feedback: Friend or Foe; Differentiated Instruction; Response to Intervention; LINCS: A Learner Strategy.
- Thinking Mathematics I - Western Region (Panhandle) June 14-18, Southern Region June 21-25, Central Region (VTO) June 21-25
This course focuses on research about how children learn mathematics and how these findings can be applied in the classroom. Ten principles capture practices that lead to a better understanding of math for all students and are applicable at all levels. In this course, the ten principles are exemplified through the research on counting, addition, and subtraction. The course takes a broader look at the importance of patterns and relationships throughout math, addresses the kind of questioning that promotes thinking in math class, and provides a framework for thinking about curriculum and lessons.
- Thinking Mathematics II - Western Region (Panhandle) June 14-18, Central Region (VTO) June 21-25
The second part of Thinking Mathematics presents research-based strategies for teaching and learning multiplication, division, and beginning proportional reasoning. Primary teachers and paraprofessionals can see how children in the earliest grades can build a foundation of understanding as they begin to deal with problems that typically are reserved for later years. Teachers of older students learn how to promote understanding of basic mathematical properties and laws that will be used when students study algebra. The course also shows a connection between several of the practices suggested by Thinking Math and the study of higher mathematics. Pre-requisite: Thinking Math I
- Thinking Mathematics Middle School: Journey to Algebra - Western Region, June 14-19, Southern Region (Palm Beach) August 2-6
This Thinking Mathematics course will provide middle school teachers with the background to help students who reach middle school still struggling with the mathematics of earlier grades as well as those who are ready to tackle beginning algebra. Participants will engage in traditional Thinking Math topics: 10 Principles, Number Sense, Additive and Multiplicative Structures, and Algebraic Thinking, and examine them through the middle school lens. They will learn interactive activities and develop challenging strategies to engage early adolescents in mathematical thinking. This course is geared for 5th - High School teachers who wish to learn how to use conceptual strategies to help improve their student’s mathematical proficiencies.
If you have any questions, please call Danielle Montes at 850-222-7769 or via e-mail at danielle.montes@floridaea.org .
