In-Service Workshops

We continue to find ourselves dealing with post-COVID children's developmental and learning gaps, decreased social engagement among both children and families, and interfering behaviors that occur at school, at home, and in the community. In this critical moment, we need to bridge the gap between school and home by focusing on relationship-building, collaboration, and skill-based programming across settings. This workshop will provide recommendations for how to establish partnerships that facilitate collaborative goal setting, problem-solving, and intervention development that align with both school and parent values. It is also integral that educational programming from preschool to high school teach students meaningful behaviors and skills that lead to improved academic productivity, social engagement, and self-advocacy in educational, familial, and community contexts. We will discuss evidence-based approaches for teaching socially significant skills in a way that builds on the school-home partnership while promoting generalization and maintenance of these skills and behaviors.

Everyone has biases. Period. However, if you are a person with an avowed commitment to treat all people equally and fairly without prejudice or judgment—well, then you still possess biases. Facilitated through a variety of interactive exercises, conversation challenges, and even a riddle or two, participants in this session will have the opportunity to not only discuss the definitions and different forms of bias, but also explore how the “hidden” bias appears in our everyday lives. Participants will also leave with an understanding of why it is critical to be aware of how bias impacts us, how to notice and name when it happens, and what you can do when either shows up.

Many students may comprehend classroom instructions and lessons, but struggle with organization and managing academic production demands, including homework and writing assignments. This workshop identifies the specific areas and skills involved in executive functioning, methods of assessment, and how we can effectively address this challenging area for students. This presentation is only available to educators.

This 90-minute workshop allows participants to have an honest conversation about conflict; specifically, this discussion explores having difficult conversations but also having difficult conversations with difficult people. There is a difference between the two, but both can be challenging! The presenter provides an honest conversation and tips to increase your confidence when it comes to engaging in these types of conversations, even for the most conflict avoidant individuals. You have the Competence, Now Own Your Confidence!

What is self-regulation and why is there so much discussion about it recently. We will look at how the pandemic may have interrupted the development of needed skills in some young children, as well as the importance of teaching and supporting self-regulation skills. Two self-regulation classroom curriculums will be introduced. This workshops is recommended for Preschool through Grade 2 staff.

This 90-minute workshop explores the social construct of gender, with interactive exercises for participants to better understand one’s own gender identity as well as gender expression, and most importantly, how this information can best support young individuals. A focus of the workshop will be discussing gender pronouns and answering some of the most frequently asked questions that include:

• What are binary and gender-neutral pronouns?
• How can faculty and staff introduce their own gender pronouns when speaking with students?
• What do I do if I misgender someone?
• What are some best practices when it comes to fostering inclusive conversations?

The Growth Mindset model was developed by psychologist Carol Dweck more than 20 years ago. It has proven itself to be a very effective way of helping students of all ages manage the challenges of any skill or task, including how to cope with imperfections and mistakes. Perhaps a good way of describing this model is to throw away the adage “Practice makes perfect” and instead say “Practice makes progress.” The Growth Mindset model addresses this, and this presentation covers how it does so. This workshop is 75 – 90 minutes.

Increasingly, data suggests that exposing youth to large amounts of time in front of screens (TV, computer, tablet, or smartphone) can have negative effects on physical and mental development including issues with memory, attention, and language skills. This workshop is designed to provide the tools and vocabulary needed for children and adolescents to make wise choices about balancing daily screen use while focusing more attention on exercise and nutrition.

Russ Terry has been documenting a different expression of gratitude every day for ALMOST ELEVEN YEARS, since 12/10/12. These almost 4,000 straight days of being grateful have had an infinitely positive impact on his life. In this workshop, he will teach you how you can use gratitude to improve your life too. As a result of attending, you will articulate up to 20 unique expressions of gratitude and the lessons you learned from being grateful.

"Who wants to get suspended?" This one-hour workshop engages current/graduating high school seniors' and provides them with honest/"real world" information about college success OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM, in RESIDENCE HALLS, and WORKING WITH COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION. This interactive conversation emphasizes safety, what to expect when you get to college, and community expectations including but not limited to alcohol and other drugs, noise, damage, and all the typical things that plainly speaking, first-year college students find themselves getting into trouble with. This workshop can also be done for high school administration and designed to encourage practitioners to think about what information they most want students to understand as they prepare for higher education.