Paraeducator - Teaching Conference August 28, 2009   8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

This full-day workshop is designed to provide training for paraprofessional support staff and supervisory professionals (certified staff who are working with children with autism and related disabilities.  The focus will be on collaboration and defining roles and responsibilities.  The first 20 teams (supervising teacher and paraprofessionals) registering will receive a copy of "The Paraprofessional's Guide to the Inclusive Classroom Working as a Team", Second Edition.

Topics that will be addressed include:         

A “short course” on autism and related conditions
    * The hallmark features of autism in social behavior & communication/language impairment
    * Impact of student’s interests, activities and imagination
    * Abnormal response to sensation
    * Theory of mind, information processing, and organization skills
    * The changing roles and responsibilities of the paraprofessional as well as some pitfalls
    * Being a member of a team in the inclusive classroom
    * Providing curricular and individualized instructional support
    * Understanding and implementing positive behavior supports
    * Maintaining communication between team members and confidentiality of information

For registration and more information visit:  https://odie.esu10.org

Feel the pride of success when your students celebrate the joy of learning.  This three-day training on July 27 - 29, 2009,  is an opportunity to learn a system that can be immediately used in the classroom.  It includes:

• Management of learning
• A focus on content knowledge
• Strategies for challenged learners
• Provisions for inspiring enthusiasm
• Performance results 

The results inform students of their personal progress in learning targets for the class and inform teachers regarding students' mastery of those targets.  Many schools use this approach as one of their School Improvement strategies.  Other teachers just want an informal basis to determine if their students are learning important concepts, processes, and factual information for a subject area.

See details and register on ODIE.  Contact Bob Lungrin at blungrin@esu10.org for additional information.

This professional development opportunity on July 13-15, 2009, examines the 21st Century Skills framework and integrates academics, career education and technology into the traditional classroom, thus providing relevant and contextual learning experiences for students.  According to the Southern Regional Education Board's "High Schools That Work" initiative, students who learn academics in the context of career education learn at a faster rate and are able to retain more knowledge.  This is most likely due to the rigorous coursework and the relationships built with the instructor and the business community.

Experience
Participants experience the following:

• Immersion as a "student" in the curriculum delivery model, tasked with solving a problem
• Collaboration with a business or community agency in their local area
• Utilization of technology and multi-media to "hook" students' attention and introduce curriculum
• Share the design of their curriculum delivery model with other participating faculty
• Participate in future online discussions

Problem-Based, Case-Based Learning promotes team building and collaboration among career education and academic faculty; therefore, 100% attendance is required.  As an interdisciplinary effort, it is strongly suggested that faculty attend in pairs, one academic and one career.  Problem-Based, Cased-Based Learning is not intended to be an 'add-on' to existing curriculum, but rather a more integrated way of delivering concepts and understanding in a knowledge-based economy.

Technology
Participants will be expected to use the following technology: e-mail, internet, video/digital camera, film editing software (iMovie and/or Movie Maker) or have the willingness to learn.

Please register on ODIE.  Contact Bob Lungrin at blungrin@esu10.org for more information.

Raymond J. McNulty, Senior Vice President of the International Center for Leadership in Education, will present a two-day conference for administrators and teachers.  The International Center for Leadership continues to study both the nation’s most successful schools and the most rapidly improving schools. While there is no one formula for improving schools, the center has identified eight components of school excellence that schools typically address to achieve rigor, relevance, and relationships for all students. Ray McNulty will give an overview of these components and explain how other schools can make substantial improvement by addressing the components on August 10-11, 2009, at ESU 10 in Kearney.
 
This will be the second year that Ray McNulty has presented at ESU 10.  Those that attended last year gave excellent reviews of his seminar.  Schools should begin now to form a team of at least six people to attend this informational and inspiring conference.  See ODIE.
 

Weak phonemic awareness is a primary cause of reading/decoding and spelling problems.  Students with poor phonemic awareness have difficulty judging sounds within words.

The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing (LiPS) Program addresses the development of phonemic awareness as a base for accurate reading and spelling. This two-day workshop will provide training to any K-3 Teacher, Resource or Title I teacher and SLP's who would like to implement the LiPS program. 

The two-day workshop will be held at ESU10 on September 25, 2009 and October 20, 2009. Attendance on day one is required in order to attend day two. 

Registration deadline is September 18, 2009.  More information is available on ODIE.