Professional Development
Below are our Semester 2 2015-16 Professional Development Offerings
Unless otherwise noted, all PD is held in FHS room 333, the PD Cafe.
Conscious Discipline - Self-Regulation Tools* (If you signed up for this first semester, you are still enrolled!)
Dates: February 4, February 11, February 25, March 10
4:00-5:00 PM
Facilitator: Dina Rocheleau
Conscious Discipline is a longtime leader in integrating classroom management and social-emotional learning. It utilizes everyday events rather than an external curriculum, and addresses the adult's emotional intelligence as well as the child's. Conscious Discipline empowers adults to consciously respond to daily conflict, transforming it into an opportunity to teach critical life skills to children.
The Conscious Discipline Brain State Model becomes a frame for us to understand the internal brain-body states that are most likely to produce certain behaviors in children and in ourselves. With this awareness, we learn to consciously manage our own thoughts and emotions so we can help children learn to do the same. The goal of this model is not to turn into neuroscientists, but to provide a simplified brain model as a means for increasing our self-awareness so we can respond consciously to the needs of the moment.
Research, as well as life experience, tells us our internal emotional states dictate behavior. When we feel grumpy, we tend to become easily frustrated and curt with others. When we feel grateful, we tend to be generous and thoughtful. When we feel upset at our children, we see ourselves behaving, disciplining and speaking much like our parents did to us when they were upset. The Conscious Discipline Brain State Model helps us understand how all this happens and how we can change it.
Our internal state allows us to draw upon certain skills. In a survival state where we feel triggered by threat, these skills are flight, fight or surrender. We can’t think clearly to add 45 plus 68 when a tiger is chasing us. In the modern world, the tiger may be a disrespectful child, but our brain’s evolutionary skill set is the same: fight, flight or surrender.
Dates: February 4, February 11, February 25, March 10
4:00-5:00 PM
Facilitator: Dina Rocheleau
Conscious Discipline is a longtime leader in integrating classroom management and social-emotional learning. It utilizes everyday events rather than an external curriculum, and addresses the adult's emotional intelligence as well as the child's. Conscious Discipline empowers adults to consciously respond to daily conflict, transforming it into an opportunity to teach critical life skills to children.
The Conscious Discipline Brain State Model becomes a frame for us to understand the internal brain-body states that are most likely to produce certain behaviors in children and in ourselves. With this awareness, we learn to consciously manage our own thoughts and emotions so we can help children learn to do the same. The goal of this model is not to turn into neuroscientists, but to provide a simplified brain model as a means for increasing our self-awareness so we can respond consciously to the needs of the moment.
Research, as well as life experience, tells us our internal emotional states dictate behavior. When we feel grumpy, we tend to become easily frustrated and curt with others. When we feel grateful, we tend to be generous and thoughtful. When we feel upset at our children, we see ourselves behaving, disciplining and speaking much like our parents did to us when they were upset. The Conscious Discipline Brain State Model helps us understand how all this happens and how we can change it.
Our internal state allows us to draw upon certain skills. In a survival state where we feel triggered by threat, these skills are flight, fight or surrender. We can’t think clearly to add 45 plus 68 when a tiger is chasing us. In the modern world, the tiger may be a disrespectful child, but our brain’s evolutionary skill set is the same: fight, flight or surrender.
Elementary Science: Blending Cambridge, NGSS, And Battle Creek Science Kits
Dates: March 8, April 12, May 3rd 4:00-6:00 PM Facilitator: Tom Maes Michigan has adopted new science standards. Ferndale Elementary School will include Cambridge Science next school year. What do each of these look like and how will they impact science at Ferndale Elementary School? This PD series aims to answer this question and give teachers opportunities to begin the transition process. Most of the work we will do will be in grade level teams, so it is recommended that you register in grade level teams. Performance Tasks In The Middle School and High School Math Classroom
Dates: February 9, March 1, March 15 4:00-6:00 PM Facilitator: Tom Maes Have you been wanting to include performance tasks in your secondary mathematics classroom, but have not been able to fit them in? Then this PD series is for you. Teachers will interact with performance tasks appropriate for their grade level or course and work in teams to develop a plan for implementation in their own classes. |
Envision Math (new elementary math curriculum study)
Dates: March 22, April 19, May 10 4:00-6:00 PM Facilitator: Tom Maes Are you curious about EnVision 2.0, the new elementary math resource? If so, then this PD series is for you. Teachers will receive an overview of the program and then will have time to work in teams to get a jump start on the planning and implementation process. Most of the work we will do will be in grade level teams, so it is recommended that you register in grade level teams. Digital Writing in the Secondary Classroom (Blended)
Dates: March 17 and March 31 (there will be some outside work, as well as these 1 hour sessions) 4:00-5:00 PM Facilitator: Lauren Villaluz The format of this course is flipped meaning that two hours will be completed face to face and the other two hours will be completed through a digital platform. The course is both an introduction for teachers new to digital writing and those looking for a variety of ideas for the tech savvy teacher and is designed to be applicable to all content areas. This course will engage participants in discussing how to teach digital writing by examining the author’s craft, guidance for students in writing web texts, and the best technology tips, tools and connections for teaching digital writing. |
Eric Jensen's Teaching With Poverty In Mind
Dates: March 24, April 14, April 21, May 5 4:00-5:00 PM Facilitator: Dina Rocheleau All students have unique learning modalities, but children who come from impoverished backgrounds require a unique blend of educational attention and socio-emotional supports in the classroom. Eric Jensen is an expert in human development and has done a great deal of work around brain-based strategies for supporting at-risk students and students who comes from impoverished families. Come learn how to transform your classroom activities so that these students have all the tools they can get from the school in order to succeed in life. Starting with the End in Mind: Backwards Design Lesson Planning
Dates: February 2 (PD Cafe) and February 9 (FHS Conference Room) 4:00-6:00 PM Facilitator: Beth Grillo How do you know that your students are learning and retaining what you want them to learn and retain? And what do they have to DO in order to prove it to you? When using backwards design lesson planning, you will start with the end goal in mind - the task that you believe will best allow students to demonstrate knowledge or skill, and then you'll design a step-by-step approach for how they will arrive at that end goal. Backwards design is a completely different way to think about instruction, and it frees you from using the same old assessments that may or may not be the best gauge of how and what your students are learning. Join us by bringing one unit that you teach during 2nd semester. You will leave with ideas for how to make the unit more dynamic and authentic. |
Jumpstart on Your New Grade Level - Curriculum Study
Dates: February 4 and February 11 Location: FHS Media Center 4:00-6:00 PM Facilitator: Beth Grillo Are you teaching a new grade next year? Want to get a head start on your planning? Come with anything you need to spend 4 hours getting ready for your new curriculum. This is not a facilitated Professional Development series, but rather time to kickstart your planning. Beth will be on-hand to offer feedback on curriculum and guidance, but these sessions are pretty self-directed. Book Study: Reality Pedagogy And Urban Education
Dates: TBD - Begins end of March) Facilitator: TBD Come together to read and discuss Christopher Emdin's new book, FOR WHITE FOLKS WHO TEACH IN THE HOOD... AND THE REST OF Y'ALL TOO: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education. Book description: Drawing on his own experience of feeling undervalued and invisible in science classrooms as a young man of color, Christopher Emdin offers a new lens on and approach to teaching in urban schools. Putting forth his theory of Reality Pedagogy, Emdin provides practical tools to unleash the brilliance and eagerness of youth and educators alike—both of whom have been typecast and stymied by outdated modes of thinking about urban education. With this fresh and engaging new pedagogical vision, Emdin demonstrates the importance of creating a family structure and building communities within the classroom, using culturally relevant strategies like hip-hop music and call-and-response, and connecting the experiences of urban youth to indigenous populations globally. |