Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Why have you come?

Quote of the Day:

"If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

-- Aboriginal Activists Group, Queensland, 1970s. Often attributed to Lila Watson, who has said she was "not comfortable taking credit for something that had been born of a collective process" - the attribution here is the one she accepts.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Response to Intervention Workshop--March 19th in Sacramento

I just got an email about this workshop. For those of you who may be interested in Respone to Intervention strategies/special education it sounds really interesting. Wish I had $300.

Call 309-662-5016
Response to Intervention “In the Trenches!”
Featuring Pat Quinn – “The RTI Guy!”

Sacramento, CA
March 19, 2010

If you want to see how RTI looks in real classrooms...this is the seminar for you!

A one-day seminar that shows how to implement RTI in real classrooms with real students! Designed by teachers for teachers and any other educational personnel involved in implementing RTI.

Guaranteed to answer these questions:
• Where do I find Interventions?
• Where do I find the time to do interventions?
• How do I handle the paperwork and recordkeeping?
• How do I do Progress Monitoring for all of these students?

This seminar is appropriate for all grade levels K-12 and will cover the use of RTI for both academic and behavioral purposes.

About the Presenter:
Pat Quinn is known nationally as “The RTI Guy”. He is the author of the nation’s most popular RTI newsletter with over 5,000 subscribers. Mr. Quinn’s latest book, Ultimate RTI: Everything a Teacher Needs to Know to Implement RTI, is filled with concrete strategies and techniques that can be implemented the next day. Mr. Quinn has taught at the elementary, middle and high school level.

Each year educators around the country improve their teaching, renew their passion, and lengthen their careers as they hear Pat Quinn speak about closing the achievement gap and meeting the needs of all students. Mr. Quinn is the author of twelve books on meeting the individual needs of students including Designing an Alternative Curriculum and the bestselling Changing Lives. He has taught undergraduate courses for Lakeland College and graduate courses at Alverno College . He is the former editor of the educational newsletter The Unconventional Teacher.

Special Bonus!
All attendees will receive seven special bonuses:
- Special Report#1: Quickstart Guide - How to Implement RTI FAST at your School
Stop talking and start implementing: Concrete steps every teacher can take NOW!
- Special Report #2: A Professional Development Plan for implementing RTI
Step-by-step plan for professional development at your school
- Special Report #3: Implementing RTI at a High School
Specific information for high school teachers
- Special Report #4: Implementing RTI at a Middle School
Specific information for middle school teachers
- Special Report #5: Pat Quinn's Simple Explanation of RTI
Making RTI Simple for Teachers, Not Scary
- Bonus Gift #6:Academic Intervention Handbook
Over 150 Interventions for the 16 most common academic student deficiencies!
- Bonus Gift #7: Behavior Intervention Handbook
Over 150 Behavior Interventions for the 15 most common student behaviors!

A note from Presenter Pat Quinn…
Greetings Fellow Educators…
Like many of you I quickly became frustrated with the lack of concrete strategies and techniques available for teachers who are trying to implement Response to Intervention in their classrooms. One weekend I read three books about RTI and I STILL didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I don’t think we need more theory – I think we need real answers to tough questions about time, resources and most importantly: where do I find good interventions?
This seminar is designed for real teachers in real classrooms. You know, the classroom with 35 kids of varying abilities. The classroom where you are expected to do it all – there is not help on the way. How does RTI look in that classroom? I will not only answer that question, but dozens of others I get every week from my newsletter readers. Questions about time management, handling paperwork, using RTI for eligibility purposes and many, many more.
Please join me for this day of sharing and learning!
-Pat Quinn
“The RTI Guy”

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Conference Schedule

Designed for Classroom Teachers, Special Education Teachers, Counselors,
Title I Staff Members, Instructional Assistants and Administrators serving Grades K-12

8:30 – 9:00 Registration and Breakfast

9:00 – 10:15 Session 1: An RTI Model that Works
Implementing Response to Intervention at your school does not have to be difficult and painful. Schools have many choices to make during the implementation process that can make the use of RTI easy, effective and realistic. This session describes an RTI process that teachers will love, parents will appreciate, and students will benefit from.
NOTE: This session will not spend time discussing the history of RTI, the theory behind RTI, the legislation that mentions RTI or the reasons you should use RTI. This seminar is a practical, hands-on seminar filled with concrete steps you can take the next day to help students.

10:30 – 12:00 Interventions Techniques that Work (even with BIG Class Sizes!)
So how are we supposed to implement these interventions and teach our class at the same time? Great question – and this session will answer it! It will also show you where to find great interventions.

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch (on your own)

1:00 – 2:00 Session 3: Using RTI to Change Behaviors and Motivate Students
Along with providing a series of academic interventions for students, Response to Intervention is also effective at changing student behaviors. This session is filled with the most effective interventions and simple strategies any teacher can use to improve student attitudes, effort and motivation.

2:00 – 2:45 Session 4: Ten Characteristics of Successful RTI Schools
Pat Quinn is the author of 12 books on designing learning environments that maximize the learning potential of all students. Learn from one of the nation’s leading experts on educational design how you can make small changes to your school to help students become successful. Like every session in this seminar, this presentation is filled with steps any teacher can take the very next day.

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The cost of this seminar is $199. Call (309) 662-5016 for group pricing.
Click here to see sample videos of Pat Quinn – www.PatQuinn.info

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Free Fraction Worksheets

Again from Deb Russell's math blog . . . Tons of worksheets on fractions for student practice--whether they're in grade 1 or they're working to pass CAHSEE.

Teacher Grants up to $30,000

Pacific Coast Teacher Innovation (PacTIN) is awarding grants of up to $30,000 each to 24 teams of K-12 teachers. The grants will allow teachers to design their own professional development and to translate that experience into a classroom or school project.

Apply online at http://teachergrants.ucdavis.edu/

Projects are unspecified as to grade level. Projects may be discipline/content specific or cross-disciplinary in nature; they may also focus on specific student populations or on practice and pedagogy. Projects that engage parents and families, business and industry, and the use of technology are encouraged, as are projects focused on providing youth with a voice in their own education.

Anxious female math teachers???

I saw this on Deb Russell's Math blog on about.com . . . According to a research study at the Univesrity of Chicago, female elementary school teachers who are anxious about math may undermine girls' confidence and unwittingly encourage them to believe that boys are better at math than girls.

We need to work more diligently to hook our girls on math and help them understand that those positive attitudes go a long way to seeing success in math!