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Workshops

How to Start a Learning Network in Your School
By Dr. Sonia Ben Jaafar

The role of a school leader is to create the conditions for educators to knowledge share and create so as to improve classroom practices. School leaders are responsible for so many dimensions of school management that instructional leadership sometimes becomes a secondary priority. Distributive leadership and network theories offer supportive mechanisms that leaders can use to support teachers through targeted network learning groups. This workshop will guide leaders on where and how to start network learning communities that are effective for and needs-based. Participants are strongly encouraged to bring a summary of their own school testing results so as to maximize the individual benefit of the workshop.

Target audience: Education policy makers, school operators, principals, educational companies, and tertiary education institutes

How to Learn and Share Using Student Artefacts
By Dr. Sonia Ben Jaafar

Teaching is hard work when it is done well. Sometimes, even the best teachers will try a number of different approaches to support a child’s learning and they still do not achieve the desired results! Network learning communities hold a lot of promise in helping teachers share and learn from each other to figure out their next step in the classroom. This workshop presents a specific practical approach on how to conduct a teacher group meeting to review student work given specific curriculum material and student achievement/learning goals. The process presented in this workshop assumes that the teachers have already established a relational trust and are ready for joint work as described in network theory. Participants are strongly encouraged to bring a student artifact from their own classroom so as to maximize the individual benefit of the workshop.

Target audience: Teachers, teacher leaders, teacher trainers, department heads, curriculum coordinators and developers, educational companies, and tertiary institutes

Conducting a Program Evaluation: Checking for School Improvement and Effectiveness
By Dr. Sonia Ben Jaafar

There are a number of different ways to improve student learning outcomes. But investing efforts is insufficient to guarantee results. The key to ensuring success is through the use of program evaluations that provide useful formative feedback that can direct and redirect program implementation; as well as summative results that demonstrate impact. Useful program evaluations are structured and offer valid and reliable information for educators, educational leaders, and policymakers or parents who decide to support programs. The workshop will specifically lead participants through a structured evaluation process using a series of steps. We will work through all the steps from defining the problem being addressed by the program to analyzing the data and using the results for program decisions.

Target audience: Teacher trainers, principals, education policy makers, school operators, publishers, educational companies, and tertiary education institutes

Designing a Logic Model for Program Evaluations
By Dr. Sonia Ben Jaafar

Monitoring and Evaluation is based on logic. Researchers and evaluators first establish the conceptual framework and then design the logic model when starting a new project. The framework and model are the two structures that serve to bring everyone onto the “same page.” The logic model serves as the foundation for M&E, and as such, its design is critical to the success of the M&E plan. This workshop offers targeted training in the development of logic models so that the participants will leave feeling confident in their ability to support their own organization in designing this foundational structure for a program evaluation.

Target audience: Principals, education policy makers, school operators, publishers, educational companies, and tertiary education institutes

Making Handwriting Fun: Pre-K Handwriting Readiness Program
By Dr. Denise Donica

Early learning experiences are a vital aspect of every child’s development. A playful learning environment is the most effective approach to teaching young children. The ability to write legibly requires a foundation of many readiness skills. High quality instruction must meet the diverse learning styles and abilities of all the students in the classroom. This presentation will offer creative multi-sensory play activities to develop skills that lay the foundation for writing readiness. The attendees will experience movement to music that teaches body awareness and social skills. They will learn teaching strategies to develop fine motor skills for pencil grasp and control. They will examine emergent forms of writing such as coloring, drawing shapes, and creating letters using play-based instruction. The session will incorporate lecture, music, children’s samples, hands-on activities and handouts.

Target audience: Pre-school teachers, pre-school administrators, education students

Making Handwriting Fun: Printing and Cursive Skills
By Dr. Denise Donica

As children begin formal handwriting instruction, teachers are faced with the task of instructing students on proper printing as well has helping to correct poor printing habits. This session will be a hands-on opportunity to learn multiple multi-sensory techniques for both instruction of printing skills as well as suggestions and strategies to decrease poor handwriting habits including poor spacing, letter reversals, poor alignment, and poor number formation. Transitioning from a print style of handwriting to a cursive style is an exciting time for young elementary students. Cursive writing provides an opportunity for the student’s writing to look more adult-like as well as allow for increased speed with writing tasks. This interactive session will also empower teachers by uncovering cursive readiness skills and unlocking the mystery to cursive instruction. This session will uncover a unique developmental approach to handwriting instruction, lay the developmental foundation for handwriting skills, and highlight some case study examples.

Target audience: K-4th grade teachers, elementary school administrators, education students

The Use of Technology to Enhance Handwriting Skills
By Dr. Denise Donica

Over the last 10-15 years, technology has advanced exponentially to provide various means of communication that did not exist prior to this time frame. Due to the technological advances, the importance of handwriting instruction and handwriting skill development has been questioned. Children are entering schools with cognitive skills more advanced than in prior years. However, due to the increase use of technology and the change in childhood play activities, motor skill development is often behind. This session will emphasize the importance of handwriting skill development in children. Technology can be embraced and used not to replace written communication, but to enhance handwriting skill development. Use of various technologies to improve written communication will be introduced and hands-on opportunities provided with current devices such as the SMART board, Livescribe Pulse Pen, and the iPad.

Target audience: K-4th grade teachers, elementary school administrators, education students

Struggling With Handwriting Skills? How to Screen Your Class
By Dr. Denise Donica

The participants of this workshop will be introduced to the Screener of Handwriting Proficiency. This tool is a free screener that can be downloaded and administered to an entire classroom of students in just 10-15 minutes to identify children struggling with handwriting skills. During this interactive session, participants will learn how to locate the screeners (K-4th grade), administer and score the screeners. Printing screeners (K-2nd Grade) screen memory, orientation, placement, sentence skills, and name writing. Cursive screeners (3rd-4th Grade) screen letter skills, word skills, and name writing. Once the screener is completed and scored, multiple online tools are available to assist with functional application of the results. Teachers have the ability to create student and class reports online. Case study examples will be presented where participants can experience and use the tool. Online resources will be demonstrated.

Target audience: K-4th grade teachers

The Power of Books: Reading for Pleasure, for Learning and for Life
By Janet Evans

Part 1
Using Controversial and Unconventional Picturebooks in the Primary Classroom
Research relating to children’s responses to polysemic, postmodern picturebooks, often dealing with controversial, thought provoking issues, is increasingly showing that contemporary picturebooks can be very strange, ambiguous and unconventional in their subject matter, form and illustrative style. Some of these books are wordless picturebooks, others very artistic multimodal texts which exhibit high levels of creativity in their illustrative style and presentation. This session will look at some of these books and delegates will be encouraged to reflect on how they can be used with children and young adults.

Target audience: K-5th grade teachers and school administrators

Part 2
It isn’t good enough just to read books – you have to talk about them as well
Following on from part one, this session will consider why responding to texts should be an essential part of a language rich curriculum. Delegates will be introduced to the term Reader Response and will be shown how to employ Aidan Chamber’s “Tell Me” model of responding to texts prior to sharing some work done by children in relation to a particular picturebook. Consideration will be given to how children can be encouraged to respond to texts (orally and in written format) in whole class and small group situations and reference will be made to research in relation to picturebooks and reader response.

Target audience: K-5th grade teachers and school administrators

Talking Beyond the Page: Reading and Responding to Picturebooks and Multimodal Texts to include Moving Image
By Janet Evans

Part 1
From reading to writing: using rhymes, jingles, poems, songs and rap to teach literacy
After a quick look at using poems as a stimulus to bookmaking a variety of fairy stories and rhymes (many with humorous “alternative” variations) will be shared. In this practical session, course delegates will be invited to reflect on children’s responses to traditional texts and to do some bookmaking. This will be followed by a look at the writing of some 4 – 11 year old children who have been doing text innovations based on particular fairy stories and rhymes. The process they went through to reach their edited, published book will be considered and ideas for doing text innovations with other traditional stories will be considered.

Target audience: K-5th grade teachers and school administrators

Part 2
Using short films, moving image and other multimodal texts to develop oracy, literacy and understanding of social and emotional issues with young children
This presentation will initially look at the multimodal potential in a simple text which focuses on issues of loneliness, friendship and loyalty. It will go on to consider how young children’s interests in moving image (film, TV, DVD) can be used to stimulate creative and critical understanding of the underlying meanings in certain, thought provoking moving image texts focusing on individuality, bullying and feelings of self worth. Delegates will be invited to look at some of the activities they can use with young children to develop awareness of moving image as a stimulus for promoting discussion of citizenship issues along with creative literacy activities.

Target audience: K-5th grade teachers and school administrators

Nurturing the Habitude of Curiosity: Keys to Learner Engagement, Creativity and Success in the 21st Century
By Dr. Angela Maiers

What's Your CQ? Come explore the Habitude of Curiosity in this hands-on session exploring the power of our student’s questions.

All of our children have curiosity. Unfortunately, our curriculum does not always tap this native talent. From Plato to Dewey to Einstein, scholars from a number of disciplines have identified curiosity as one of the most vital attributes for intellectual and personal success. Curiosity is not only a catalyst for deep learning, but critical for developing 21st Century capacities of imagination, problem solving, and adaptability.
Participants will leave this session understanding:
· How to discover, measure, and enhance students CQ or Curiosity Quotient
· How to identify and nurture the 6 Qualities of Curious Learners
· How to teach the 5 Critical Elements of a Good Question
· How to harness the curiosities that already exist to maximize learner engagement and productivity

Rachel Carson once said: “If a child is to keep his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”
Our students need YOU! Bring your questions! Bring your wonders! And, let the learning begin!

Target audience: All educators

Habitudes for the 21st Century Learner: Keys for Lifelong Learning and Success- School Wide Implementation
By Dr. Angela Maiers

Creativity, Innovation, Problem Solving... buzz words no longer! To meet the complexities of today's world, our students need more than skills -- they need Habitudes! Successful students, workers, and citizens have identifiable habits and behaviors, which allow them to manage emotions, communicate effectively, and sustain themselves as independent and successful lifelong learners.

This session explores ways schools and teachers can create and implement a systematic, school wide framework for the lessons and conversations that nurture and develop each Habitude across any K-16 setting.

Target audience: All educators

Web 3.0 Literacy: The Basics
By Dr. Angela Maiers

In a Web 3.0 World, literacy goes beyond the ability to read and write. Our students must be able to use web tools to find, analyze, organize, create, and share information.

Teachers must know how to use web tools for their personal and professional development and how to implement selected tools to further learning in the classroom.

This session will teach the “basics” of the web, addressing the most critical lessons for new web users as they search, analyze and evaluate digital content for relevancy and authenticity.

Target audience: All educators

Web 3.0 Literacy: Advanced Lessons
By Dr. Angela Maiers

In a Web 3.0 World, literacy goes beyond the ability to read and write. Our students must be able to use web tools to find, analyze, organize, create, and share information.

Teachers must know how to use web tools for their personal and professional development and how to implement selected tools to further learning in the classroom.

This session is explores the advanced skills and behaviors that sophisticated web users engage in as they move their online interactions beyond information consumption. We will explore strategies for networking, filtering, and crowd sourcing data for contributions to a global network

Target audience: All educators

Training Great Debaters Workshop
By Dr. Kate Shuster

Class and contest debating presents an incentive structure for students to become active participants in their own learning. Through debating, students examine diverse subjects from a variety of perspectives in a dynamic and rigorous atmosphere. Participants in this session will receive comprehensive, field-tested curricular materials for debate, argument, and public speaking instruction, learn to establish contest and public debating programs in their schools, districts, and regions, and practice and refine assessment procedures for class and contest debating. Teachers of any experience level with any subject expertise will benefit from this workshop, which provides techniques that can be adapted to any subject matter.

Target audience: All educators

Student debate session workshop
By Dr. Kate Shuster

Target audience: All educators

Media Literacy
By Dr. Kate Shuster

One of the biggest hurdles young people face in an accelerating world is the challenge of interpreting information from different, often conflicting, media outlets. This session will explore media literacy techniques that teach students to unpack and critically examine information they receive from a variety of media. When students build an understanding of how persuasive techniques work, they are able to challenge and critically evaluate information rather than being passive receivers of information.

Target audience: Teachers of secondary classes

Beyond Grades: Teaching Students to Think
By Dr. Kate Shuster

Critical thinking is not easy to teach, in part because it is a way of knowing rather than a specific subject to memorize. This workshop will inform participants about current research in critical thinking and suggest a variety of approaches teachers can use to integrate critical thinking practice for students across the curriculum. Emphasis will be placed on techniques that allow for transfer of learning from one subject to another, and on learning “everyday logic” that will help students cope with changing situations in their daily lives.

Target audience: Teachers of secondary classes

Connections for Professional Learning
By Dr. Kari Stubbs

In this workshop, Dr. Kari Stubbs guides educators on their journey to become 21st century teachers. This empowering discussion targets how to harness the power of a variety of online communities to develop a personalized professional learning network. Online learning communities enable educators to connect online to improve professional practice around specific content areas or fields of expertise. Technology as a social platform enables teachers to receive personalized professional development, and encourages them to become seekers of their own knowledge. Make the Great, as you move beyond classical teaching methods.

Target audience: all educators

Make Learning “Stick” with Visual Communication
By Jocelyn Wallace

Square peg, round hole...hmmm. Why doesn’t it fit? We know that all people-- big and little – learn differently. Yet we struggle to find new ways to reach the visual learner. If the research doesn’t convince you, the results will. This session explores visual communication methods designed to enhance comprehension, improve memory retrieval, and make learning “stick.”

Target audience: All educators

Graphic Facilitation: A New Kind of “Sign” Language
By Jocelyn Wallace

Language and communication abounds in a digital world, but why do we mentally “check out?” Because the brain’s memory is finite and it makes choices about which bits and bytes keep or toss. The answer? A new kind of “sign” language. Graphic facilitation is the process of consuming information, synthesizing it, and translating it into a visual form. This hands-on session gives participants an opportunity to become a visual translator using graphic facilitation techniques. You will also leave this session equipped to teach students of all levels the very methods you learned and practiced.

Target audience: All educators

The No-Tech Touch
By Jocelyn Wallace

Remove the firewalls and open the floodgates! These lessons mimic social media tools in the classroom – but without using a computer or the internet! How, you might say? Through visual communications and an emphasis on the habits and attitudes needed for success in the 21st Century. A must for those who want to increase digital literacy in the classroom but are limited by restrictions placed on internet use.

Taregt audience: All educators

Let’s Get Visual
By Jocelyn Wallace

Overwhelmed by cool tool fireworks that ultimately fizzle out? There is an abundance of tools out there -- but many are used without purpose. Well, fret no longer. This session includes hands-on lessons using on and-off-line tools, but with an emphasis on flexing visual communication muscles.


Target audience: All educators

The Great Grade
By Nibal Hamdan Barq

Grades have always been the primary concern of students, teachers and above all, parents. Unfortunately, grades do not always reflect students’ academic performance, skills and level of understanding. This workshop sheds light on the appropriate strategies that schools should use to assess students' academic and cognitive skills and that can yield information that are reliable, valid and bias free. Participants will be engaged in a series of activities that help them assess given objectives using traditional methods and using alternative methods (performance tasks, portfolios, and other assessments designed for multiple intelligences and learning styles). They will also be asked to write and evaluate each others' tests in terms of fairness, objective coverage, distribution of skills, clarity etc. Participants will also be asked to share ideas on how they calculate the final average of a student from different given data and will see how each one of them will come out with a different grade (though they will all be given the same data). A movie that shows how students do not really know how they are assessed will be projected in this session.

Target Audience: Science and Math teachers of all levels

Building One Team in Schools
By Nibal Hamdan Barq

Good schools foster effective communication and relationships with and among staff and parents. Effective interpersonal communication is so important for the success and productivity of schools as well as any organization.
This session presents strategies that might be followed by school personnel and teachers to ensure proper communication channels with parents and with each other. Participants will do activities that show the importance of proper communication and collaborative work. By role playing, participants will understand the importance of body language (postures, facial expressions, gestures –eye contact, style of dress, etc) in communication .They shall also realize that spoken words just constitute 7% of the effective communication skills and that the average person communicates through speech about 23 percent of the time and listens to communication about 53 percent of the time.
Participants will take communication and personality quizzes and will be asked to respond to different situations. Discussion of these responses will follow and consequently proper strategies for effective communication and good communication skills (courteousness, clarity, precision, proper language, low speaking volume, etc) will be presented.

Target Audience - Teachers/Educators of all grade levels

مدخل الى إدارة المشروع التربوي الناجح
المحاضرة: نبيلة علي الميرزا

تعتبر المشاريع التربوية من الممارسات الإدارية التي تحاول أن تجد أو تبحث عن الخيارات والبدائل التعليمية التي يمكن توظيفها في سد نقص ، أو في الوقاية والعلاج، أو حل المشكلات، أو التطوير والنمو، أو التنمية الفردية والمجتمعية على حد السواء .

فتلقى الورشة الضوء على أهم المراحل التي يمر بها المشروع التربوي الناجح، وكيفية ادارتة بطريقة فاعلة، كما أنها تساعد المديرين والمعلمين في بناء مشروع تربوي على أسس علمية ومنهجية

من المتوقع أن يشارك في هذة الورشة المديرون والمعلمون

صحف التفكر
المحاضرة: نبيلة علي الميرزا

تتحدث هذة الورشة عن كيفية التفكر في الموقف التعليمي أو الموقف التربوي الذي يمر به المعلم أو مدير المدرسة ويتوقع من المعلم أو المدير في نهاية الورشة أن تكون لدية القدرة في كتابة صحيفة التفكر يومية أو اسبوعية أو شهرية يستطيع من خلالها أن يطور من أدائة التعليمي أو التربوي ويرسم لنفسة خطةمستقبلية للتغلب على العديد من التحديات التي تواجه .

الحضور: تستهدف هذة الورشة كل من المعلمين ومدراء المدارس

رواية القصص: أقصر الدّروب إلى قلوب التّلاميذ
المحاضر: مازن الشيخ

ما هي فوائد رواية القصص للتّلاميذ؟ كيف نختار قصصاً ممتعة لنرويها لتلاميذنا؟ ما الفرق بين قراءة القصّة ورواية القصّة؟ كيف نروي قصّة رواية مشوّقة؟ في هذه الورشة إجابة عن هذه الأسئلة وفرصة للاستماع إلى قصص سيعشقها التّلاميذ حتماً.

الحضور: معلّمو اللّغة العربيّة

الطّلاقة أم الدّقّة؟
المحاضر: مازن الشيخ

نهدف في تعليمنا اللّغة العربيّة إلى جعل التّلاميذ يعبّرون عن أنفسهم بطلاقة وبلغة سليمة. ولكن متى يجب أن نركّز على طلاقة الأفكار؟ ومتى يجب أن نهتمّ بالجانب اللّغويّ؟ وكيف نوفّر في تعليمنا توازناً بينهما؟ هذه أسئلة جوهريّة يتعرّض لها معلّمو اللّغة العربيّة يوميّاً، ولا بدّ من الإجابة عنها ليكون تعليمنا فعّالاً. هذا هو هدف ورشتنا.

الحضور: معلّمو اللّغة العربيّة

طرق التدريس الحديثة في صف اللغة العربية
المحاضر: عادل الضبع

تشتمل هذه الورشة على تدريب نظري وعملى على بعض طرق التدريس واستراتيجياته المختلفة . مع تقديم تصور لاستخدام التقنية الحديثة في صف اللغة العربية للأجانب والعرب على حد سواء.

الحضور: الورشة موجهة لكل المستويات المختلفة.

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