I have had the honor of having been asked to prepare professional development presentations for the benefit of my fellow educators. Thus, in drawing upon my experience in the classroom and as an attendee of professional development opportunities (to quote Stephen Covey, one must “sharpen the saw”), I have embedded my two most-recent professional development presentations. This page is a work in progress and is updated periodically.
Please do not hesitate to submit your thoughts, comments, and any other feedback in the comments section at the bottom of the page!
In chronological order of presentation with the most recent presentations listed first.
- Creating a Community of Exploration, June 2016
- Session Summary: Learn how to reset the culture of your classroom, team, and school to embrace exploration as a means for teaching and learning.
- Presentation Link
- Session Summary: Learn how to reset the culture of your classroom, team, and school to embrace exploration as a means for teaching and learning.
- Cultivating Visual Literacy in the STEM Classroom, June 2016 (Co-presented with King Springs Elementary School STEM teacher Joannah Shoushtarian)
- Session Summary: Learn how to construct student-driven lessons that integrate video production tools such as TouchCast as a means for developing digital and media literacy skills.
- Genius Hour Quick and Dirty Tips, June 2016
- Session Summary: Do you want to try Genius Hour but don’t know where to start? In this session, learn how to present Genius Hour to your administration or staff and guide students (and their parents) through the process and expectations while maintaining a safety net so students feel comfortable in their exploration.
- Presentation Link
- Session Summary: Do you want to try Genius Hour but don’t know where to start? In this session, learn how to present Genius Hour to your administration or staff and guide students (and their parents) through the process and expectations while maintaining a safety net so students feel comfortable in their exploration.
- Harness the Power of Virtual Reality, June 2016 (Co-presented with Floyd Middle School 7th grade Science teacher Daniel Harbert)
- Session Summary: Learn how to use and create virtual reality experiences to enhance classroom instruction. Join us in exploring this new medium and come prepared to step into a new dimension in teaching and learning!
- Genius Hour
- Visual Literature: Using Television Shows, Commercials, and Short Films to Teach Literacy
- Session Objectives: Within this session you will learn to see television shows as a means for heightening student engagement in the understanding of grammar, writing, and literature. You will be able to embed television show clips to show brief examples of various English Language Arts concepts (i.e. tone, mood, plot structure, organizational structure, hooks, point of view, and word choice). You will also be presented with specific strategies to make including such visual media in the lesson planning process quick, easy, and stress-free.
- Playing with Classroom Management
- Session Synopsis/Objectives: Wouldn’t it be great if students worked hard to manage the classroom? In this session, participants will learn how to turn management of the classroom into a series of easy-to-implement games that will foster teamwork, personal responsibility, and heighten student engagement. Each participant will leave with all of the tools necessary to implement as much or as little as they would like and customize it to meet the needs of his or her classroom environment.
- Work Smarter, Not Harder: Making Technology Work for You to Enhance Student Engagement
- Session Synopsis: We educators are required to do a myriad of things and teach on top of it all. Why not let technology do a lot of the work for us, so we can continue to be quality educators and people (with less stress in our lives)? Learn how to utilize technology to communicate with your students and the community through blogging or social media, create shortcuts to lesson and unit planning, differentiate lessons, deliver school/classroom news, as well as report on and manage student behavior.
- Work Smarter, Not Harder QR Codes:
Checking for Understanding Quick Links
