teachers' conference 2012

Biography: Julie Adams, a Nationally Board Certified teacher and Educator of the Year, has taught kindergarten through graduate school. She is a Content Area Literacy Consultant for the National High School Association and owner of Adams Educational Consulting. She also serves as the Instructional Coach and Literacy Consultant for the Stanford University New Schools Project and provides educational consulting to schools worldwide. Mrs. Adams is the author of Teaching Academic Vocabulary Effectively, Parts I-III and PDP Cornell Notes, A Systematic Strategy to Aid Comprehension.

General Topic: Literacy/ ELL

Workshop 1
Title:What Every Educator Should Know About Content Area Literacy & Effective Instruction
Description: Learn the latest research regarding content area literacy, how to end the 4th grade slump and achievement gap and utilize effective instructional practices to promote student engagement and comprehension across all content areas.

Workshop 2
Title:PDP Cornell Notes Across All Content Areas
Description: Learn from a Nationally Board Certified educator the most effective way to teach note-taking to your students. This comprehensive strategy boosts student comprehension and engagement across ALL content areas. This is one strategy your students CAN'T afford to be without!

Workshop 3
Title:Pre-During-Post Content Literacy Strategies for ELLs
Description: Learn research-based strategies that teach your students the skills they need to be successful across all content areas. This session will equip you with powerful skills-based instructional practices that you will employ immediately in your classes. Whether you teach math, English, ELLs or Gifted students, this is one session you don't want to miss!

Workshop 4
Title:Effective Content Writing Strategies to Boost Student Comprehension
Description: This session will equip you with a set of step-by-step strategies for scaffolding the writing process to your students across all content areas. Examples will be shared for engaging ELL students in the following areas: effective topic sentences, brainstorming, "scaffolded paragraph structures, MLA citation and peer-editing.

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Biography: Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A., former classroom teacher and author, is President of CBK Associates-International Education Consultants. She is known for highly engaging keynotes and professional development for conferences and international schools, state and country departments of education, universities, organizations, administrators, and teachers on a myriad of issues including service learning, student leadership, environmental solutions, engaging teaching methods, and respectful school communities. She is the author of The Complete Guide to Service Learning, Going Blue: A Teen Guide for Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands with Philippe Cousteau, the How to Take Action workbook series, and the upcoming You're All Wet and Other Reasons to Care About Water. Cathryn also authored the DVD available for free download on her website, Service Learning in International Schools: A World of Possibilities, with nearly 3000 pages of resources. Cathryn travels 120 days annually and otherwise resides in Los Angeles, California. Reach Cathryn at cbkaye@aol.com

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General Topic: Service Learning

Workshop 1
Title:The Time is Now for Service Learning: Engaging, Relevant, Real
Description: Service learning-a powerful teaching strategy-creates a conducive environment for developing transferable skills and knowledge, high engagement, and relevance benefitting teachers as well as students. Transform community service into service learning with the Five Stages of Service Learning, literature connections-fiction and nonfiction, and adding purpose to process. Highly interactive!

Workshop 2
Title:When Service Meets Learning: The Academic Imperative
Description: We must must must connect service to learning. Still, many examples of "service learning" remain teacher-directed assignments lacking student voice with marginal academic benefits. Let's challenge our thinking and discover new possibilities. Make links to curriculum, units of inquiry, and advanced classes. Strengthen academics while integrating engaging teaching methods.

Workshop 3
Title:Going Blue: Meeting Environmental Challenges with Service Learning
Description: Whatever we do, adding "blue" to being "green" matters. Let's dive into the latest environment and water-related issues with a process that is all about critical thinking and formative questions. This is an action packed workshop, modeling how to engage youth in investigation, action research, and solution building. Go Blue!

Workshop 4
Title:Now Read This: The Service Learning Bookshelf
Description: Books that inspire and inform may provoke or deepen learning and even jumpstart a service idea. Hear about must-have fiction and nonfiction covering a myriad of grades and subjects. Explore thirteen themes of service, at least 100 titles, with heart-warming stories, laughter and remember why books remain at the center of the joy of learning.

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Biography: Lori Boll has worked as a special educator for many years in schools with various programs; from full inclusion to learning support to self-contained. Over the past four years, Lori was the director of a small school in Shanghai working with a wide range of disabilities including Dyslexia, Autism, and Downs Syndrome. Lori has two graduate degrees; one in Reading Education and the other in Special Education and has been teaching for over eighteen years in international schools around the world and in the United States. Lori is the proud mother of two children. Her 12 year-old-son is on the Autism Spectrum, and Lori has dedicated much of her studies to helping him, other children, and parents who struggle with this disorder and other special needs. Currently, Lori is the Academic Counselor at Concordia International School, Shanghai. Reading Education and the other in Special Education and has been teaching for over seventeen years in international schools around the world and in the United States. Lori is the proud mother of two children. Her 10 year-old-son is on the Autism Spectrum and Lori has dedicated much of her studies to helping him, other children, and parents who struggle with this disorder and other special needs.

General Topic: Special Needs

Workshop 1
Title:Senses and Sensibilities: An Inside View on Sensory Issues
Description: Many persons on the autistic spectrum experience sensory stimuli with such variation that it can either be completely causing extreme discomfort, or on the other hand, be undetectable, and/or be so distorted as to be useless. All of these situations can be overwhelming, and at times, dangerous. Dr. Stephen Shore will give "the inside view" and help the audience experience what sensory integration issues feel like for individuals.
Lori Boll will share her experiences as a parent and teacher of children with severe sensory integration issues, and share strategies to help these individuals in the classroom and school setting. This is an interactive workshop, so come prepared to experience the senses.

Co-Presenter: Dr. Stephen Shore

Workshop 2
Title:10 More Strategies That Work for Children with Learning Needs
Description: At the last EARCOS teacher's conference, Lori presented on 10 strategies that work in your classroom for kids with learning or attention issues. Get ready for 10 more! Ten simple strategies you can use in your classroom to help all of your learners feel successful.

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Biography: Jill Bromenschenkel is an advocate for all students' access to literacy and content, especially through systemic & collaborative 21st Century practices. She has teaching, administrative and instructional coaching experience in the US and International schools in Asia. Jill began her educational career as a classroom teacher and has also served as an ELL teacher, K12 ELL Coordinator, District Literacy & Integration Coordinator, Education Specialist, and Middle School Principal. As an independent consultant, she works closely with schools to develop systems for student immersion, academic access, technology connections, and collaborative professional learning. Jill is currently pursuing her doctorial degree in Learning Technologies with Pepperdine University and is looking forward to more of the 'tomorrow' our students are living in today! Connect with Jill on Twitter: @JillBromen and the Connectivity Learning facebook page: http://tiny.cc/FBConnect

General Topic: ESL, ELL @ Classroom Collaboration

Workshop 1
Title:Engaging ELLs Through Technology
Description: Almost endless tech tools for communication and language interaction are available for us to empower ESL students in their journey toward language development and academic learning. Participants will align web 2.0 tools and awesome apps to empower ELLs' language use and academic engagement in both ESL and mainstream settings. We will examine steps to create curricular connections among TESOL, Language, and content area standards, through the world of technology and social media.

Workshop 2
Title:Yakity Yak, Please Talk Back!
Description: How do we promote quality content-area conversations and authentic academic language use, especially for English Learners? And, how can ELL teachers serve as coaches and consultants to increase academic language interaction of ESL students? Participants will identify digital tools and face-to-face strategies to positively impact student communication, collaboration, and academic language use within classroom instruction. Audience: ESL Specialists and all teachers who serve Language Learners.

Workshop 3
Title:Collaboration & Coteaching: Tools and Strategies for Working Together
Description: Those who work together... have greater success! We'll overview the three strands of effective professional collaboration: collaborative planning, collaborative instruction (co-teaching) and collaborative communication. We'll overview tools for collaboration that extend beyond "moving the geography" of an ELL Specialist. Whether Mainstream/Content-area teachers or ESL Specialists, participants will gather tools and take-away strategies to increasingly support students' language and content learning through a collaborative curricular approach. Sampling of topics addressed: roles and goals of each collaborator, models for coteaching, interactive structures to infuse language development into classroom content, social media and communication tools, and self-assessments.

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Biography: Faye Brownlie is known for her passion and practicality in the areas of literacy, assessment, diversity and inclusion. She works in staff development throughout British Columbia, nationally and internationally, recently completing a three year project in Latvia, 'Think Differently in Math and Science' in the middle years, and a three year project on differentiation and assessment for learning at Concordia Middle School, Shanghai. Faye is frequently found in K-12 classrooms, demonstrating strategies or co-teaching. She teaches courses for Field Services at Simon Fraser University and has written many resource books for teachers, the most recent being It's All about Thinking - Collaborating to Support All Learners (2009 - English, Social Studies; 2011 - Math, Scienc).

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General Topic: Literacy

Workshop 1
Title:Grand Conversations, Thoughtful Responses: A Unique Approach to Literature Circles
Description: Students engaged in grand conversations about their books. Students writing thoughtful responses about the books they are reading. Students reading, reading and then reading some more! Create this scenario with literature circles without roles or set amounts of reading. Help ALL your students become more enthusiastic readers who actually read!

Workshop 2
Title:Everyone a Writer! Yes, It Is Possible - and Fun!
Description: Poetry, information research writing, narratives...choose your genre and experience writing strategies that British Columbia primary teachers are using to get everyone writing. We have found that a focus on pre-writing and oral language, teacher modeling, repeated practice with a strategy, clear expectations and high engagement are all factors for success.

Workshop 3
Title:It's All About Thinking: Active Learning Strategies to Deepen Understanding
Description: Our goal is to create independent, thoughtful, self-directed learners. What does this look like in daily classroom work? We will examine powerful practices that deeply engage learners with the content of the curriculum-open-ended strategies, collaboration, inquiry, assessment for learning, backwards design. Lead the learning with a focus on thinking!

Workshop 4
Title:Assessment for Learning Strategies: Improving Engagement and Performance for All
Description: Setting learning intentions, building criteria, giving descriptive feedback, questioning, peer and self-assessment, and ownership. These are the strategies for assessment for learning, the assessment focus that research shows impacts most on student learning! Work with classroom examples and leave with several successful practices to use immediately - any class, any time.

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Biography: Tim Burns is an educator and author whose background includes over thirty years of experience as high school teacher, counselor,First Offender Program facilitator, adolescent and family drug treatment program director, university instructor, and professional development specialist. While serving as program director at St. Vincent Hospital Family Recovery Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he taught for four years as a member of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies Institute faculty at the University of New Mexico. In addition he has, since 1986, taught graduate and undergraduate courses for the Division of Extended Studies, Adams State College, Alamosa, Colorado. Over the years, Tim has provided keynote addresses, professional development workshops, and given presentations in over three thousand schools, agencies, organizations, and at conferences throughout the United States and in nearly two dozen countries throughout the world.

General Topic: Brain-compatible Learning Strategies/ Well-being and Stress Hardiness

Workshop 1
Title:THREE BRAINS ARE BETTER THAN ONE: Integrating Brain, Body, and Heart Intelligences for Engaged Learning.
Description: Looking for a workshop experience that pulls together recent and relevant findings about the learning brain, while integrating intriguing discoveries about the role of the so called "second brain" (the gut or body-brain) and the "intelligence of the heart" in learning and well-being? If so, this is the institute for you. This informative, interactive workshop blends research and practical application within a framework of brain-based childhood development, showing why and -- most importantly to educators -- how to put these important findings into practice. Such an integrated approach to teaching and learning results in threat-free, enjoyable learning. Join us for an exploration of the engaged brains!

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Workshop 2
Title:ENERGIZING STRATEGIES for ENGAGED LEARNING: Using Movement, Rhythm, and Creative Play to Facilitate Classroom Learning.
Description: All new learning results from a sequence of events taking place in the brain, beginning with the arousal of the "attentional networks." In other words, a well-integrated neural system for bringing about focused attention is a key to learning. In this workshop we explore the three attentional systems and how they can be engaged more fully. This is where movement, rhythm, and creative play enter in for all students, all grade levels: together, these dynamic systems organize the brain throughout childhood and the teen years, and ready the brain for new learning throughout life. In addition, we look at specific movements that can help reorganize and engage the brain of children who, these days, tend to move and play less often, leading to problems in focus, concentration, and learning.

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Workshop 3
Title:IT'S ABOUT BALANCE: Stress-Hardiness, Resilience and Well-Being for Teachers (and Students, Too!)
Description: Are you finding it harder to keep up with the increasing challenges of being an educator? Or life in general? Feeling more stress and not quite sure how to keep or get things back into balance? In truth, most of us -- and our students -- are these days. And while there are no simplistic answers, are many practical things that you can do to enhance your "stress-hardiness" and, as well, pass along to your students. The good news is this: small changes, specifically applied, have been shown to produce positive results in stress reduction, health improvement, and enhanced overall well-being. From a synthesis of research in fields such as stress management, human resiliency, wellness, martial arts, exercise physiology, the brain sciences, neuro-feedback, positive psychology, and peak performance science, come key principles and useful techniques that will certainly help bring about a calmer, more energized, and balanced approach to living and learning. The workshop addresses theory, recent research and -- most importantly -- practical and effective tools with which to make it applicable. You'll benefit in both your personal life and in the professional setting, learn many techniques for immediate use, and have an enjoyable time in the process.

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Workshop 4
Title:THE AMAZING BRAIN
Description: Offered to students and parents in dozens of international school around the world, this workshop combines two presentations, one designed with students in mind, the other for parents. The presentation includes a dozen Brain Gain tips that can be immediately applied to improve and enhance brain function. These companion presentations accompany the staff workshop and help spread the amazing brain "news you can use" to students and parents in the school-community.

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Biography: Kim Cofino is an enthusiastic and innovative educator, presenter, and consultant. She is currently the Technology and Learning Coach at Yokohama International School in Japan. Previously, Kim taught at ISB in Thailand; MKIS in KL, Malaysia; and MIS in Munich, Germany. An Apple Distinguished Educator, she focuses on helping core subject teachers authentically embed current and emerging technologies in the classroom to create a global and collaborative learning environment. Her inquiry-based, constructivist approach to teaching utilizes project-based learning experiences developed using the Understanding by Design process combined with the MYP Technology Design Cycle. To learn more about Kim, please visit: http://kimcofino.com

General Topic: Technology

Workshop 1
Title:Connecting Your Community
Description: A blogging portal is a great way to help make the learning environment in your classroom or school transparent to all stakeholders while connecting the whole community. This presentation will share the vision and implementation process, as well as concrete examples from Yokohama International School's successful blogging portal, The Learning Hub.

Workshop 2
Title:Digital Citizenship: The Forgotten Fundamental
Description: In our excitement to use new technology tools to enable our students to connect, collaborate and share, we often neglect the attitudes, behaviors and ethics that go along with online interactions. This session will highlight the essential aspects of digital citizenship and share examples of how these skills and concepts are integrated into the learning experiences of students at Yokohama International School, Japan.

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Biography: Cathy N. Davidson served from 1998 until 2006 as the first Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, where she worked with faculty to help create many programs, including the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and the program in Information Science + Information Studies (ISIS). She is the co-founder of Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory, HASTAC ("haystack"), a network of innovators dedicated to new forms of learning for the digital age. She is also co-director of the $2 million annual HASTAC/John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition.
During her time as the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, she has published more than twenty books, including Closing: The Life and Death of an American Factory (with photographer Bill Bamberger) and The Future of Thinking: Learning Institutions in a Digital Age (with HASTAC co-founder David Theo Goldberg). She blogs regularly on new media, learning, and innovation on the www.hastac.org website as "Cat in the Stack" as well as on www.dmlcentral.com and Psychology Today.com. In December 2010, President Obama nominated her to the National Council on the Humanities.

General Topic: Digital Media: Collaboration & Innovation

Workshop 1
Title:How We Measure
Description: This Workshop introduces the history of the kinds and forms of measurement that dominate twentieth-century educational practices, K-20.

Workshop 2
Title:Teaching for the 21st Century: Peer-Assessment, Peer-Generated Syllabus
Description: This workshop introduces new modes of teaching and measuring for the twenty-first century, including concepts of peer-generated teaching, assessing, and measuring.

Workshop 3
Title:Innovation Challenge
Description: This is an actual, hands-on workshop where teachers are given an opportunity to co-author a document together using Google Docs, chat, and other simultaneous tools, preparing a collective statement about the needs and responsibilities of twenty-first century teachers and learners.

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Biography: Alison Davis is an inspirational presenter who is passionate about helping individuals make progress in their lives through education - and, in so doing, to help their families, communities and countries to prosper. She has a wealth of educational experience interacting with international educators to share best practice and contribute to improving the learning outcomes for students. Alison works closely with teachers, school leaders and bureaucrats to ensure that students access the very best teaching and learning opportunities.

General Topic: Reading

Workshop 1
Title:Minds-On + Hands-On = Thinking Readers
Description: There are many skills and strategies which thinking readers use - before, during and after reading. These minds-on strategies need to be taught to students in a systematic and explicit way so they have deep understanding of everything they read. There are multiple opportunities in a teaching day for teachers and librarians to model minds-on strategies - and the in-head cognitive processing - with both narrative and factual texts. Hands-on strategies can be modeled with digital or enlarged text, guided reading text or independent reading books to produce the construction of meaning. So minds on reading + hands-on strategies = deep comprehension.

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Biography: Brett Dillingham teaches children how to write and tell their own stories and poetry across content areas. He has worked in Ireland, England, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Canada, Alaska and the Lower 48 states. In his teacher workshops, Brett teaches storytelling and poetry as performance literacy. He is the author of the children’s book Raven Day (McGraw Hill, 2001) and the textbook Performance Literacy Through Storytelling (Maupin House, 2009), which was the Gold Recipient of the Independent Book Publisher Awards. He is the past president of the Alaska State Literacy Association. He is a sought after educator and speaker and is frequently invited to present keynote addresses. Brett teaches workshops on Performance Literacy where students write and perform their own stories and poems to real audiences. In addition to his teaching, Brett is a world-class storyteller.

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General Topic: Performance Literacy

Workshop 1
Title:Culturally Responsive Literacy Through Storytelling: Performance Literacy
Description: Culturally responsive literacy is rich, rewarding, and consistent with the values of students' cultures and focuses on improving academic learning. In this workshop we will engage in activities that have a strong theory/evidence base. Performance Literacy storytelling activities encourage and facilitate children's oral and written language development, increase listening and reading comprehension and inspire a love of reading and writing. These processes build on constructivist learning principles with the learner as an active participant in the process.

Workshop 2
Title:Storytelling and Emergent Writing Ages 3 - 6
Description: Developing oral language-speaking and listening skills-is the foundation for reading and writing. After all, we don't expect children to read and write words they have never spoken nor heard in context. Yet because of a variety of factors (very little conversation at home, too much television, English as a second language, etc.) many children come to school with vocabularies that are insufficient for comprehending even simple texts, or writing simple stories. Pre-school and kindergarten teachers are aware of this challenge. In order for children to learn the syntax (sentence structure) and vocabulary that will allow them to read and write, they must speak and listen to stories that they can understand-stories told in context. They must tell, retell and listen to stories they create.

Workshop 3
Title:Culturally Responsive Literacy Through Storytelling: Performance Literacy
Description: Culturally responsive literacy is rich, rewarding, and consistent with the values of students' cultures and focuses on improving academic learning. In this workshop we will engage in activities that have a strong theory/evidence base. Performance Literacy storytelling activities encourage and facilitate children's oral and written language development, increase listening and reading comprehension and inspire a love of reading and writing. These processes build on constructivist learning principles with the learner as an active participant in the process.

Workshop 4
Title:Found Poetry: Performance Literacy Across Content Areas
Description: Learn to teach students to write a content focused poem (science, history, social studies) and then "perform" their writing-which teaches their peers the content in an interesting and contextual framework. This process includes oral language development, writing, reading for meaning, content integration, self assessment, assessment of others' work and lessons the teacher chooses on grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

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Biography: Formerly a classroom teacher and teacher educator in her native Kentucky and currently a teacher educator at Brigham Young University, Dr. Monroe has devoted her career to education at virtually all levels. Active with professional development for teachers in many locations, her passion for mathematics teaching and learning is also a driving force in her mathematics education courses at BYU. An author, speaker, and consultant, she is especially interested in the intimate link between language and mathematics and enjoys helping teachers and their students understand and use the language of mathematics. She believes that "math is all about relationships"-it is no coincidence that she sees the wonder and interconnectedness of nature through the eyes and mind of a mathematician during her travels. Yet she is always eager to return home to the people and values that anchor her life-her family, her friends and colleagues, and her church. Her hobbies include writing poetry on occasion, listening to county music, reading, and, yes, traveling.

General Topic: Elementary Math

Workshop 1
Title:A Baker's Dozen: 13 Ways NOT to Discourage Mathematical Discussion
Description: Do some of your teaching approaches and strategies inadvertently discourage rather than encourage meaning mathematical discussion? This session identifies common teacher behaviors and other factors within the classroom that discourage students from engaging in the discourse of mathematics. In each case, adjustments are suggested to offer a more positive alternative.

Workshop 2
Title:Facts Fluency
Description: Educators differ about which weighs more heavily in balanced mathematics instruction--conceptual understanding or procedural fluency--but most would agree that fluency with basic facts is essential for both. This session highlights practices that help children develop such fluency with understanding, thus supporting the development of both concepts and procedures.

Workshop 3
Title:Thinking Mathematically: Developing the Vocabulary
Description: Many years ago Vygotsky wrote: "The relation between thought and word is a living process; thought is born through words." The role of language in the development of mathematics concepts is the focus of this session, with an emphasis on using familiar literacy strategies for developing the vocabulary of mathematics.

Workshop 4
Title:Number Mini-Lessons Help Children Develop Number Sense
Description: Wondering how to help your students develop number sense? Number mini-lessons could be your answer. These brief, focused classroom conversations are guided by the teacher, who uses carefully developed number strings, models, and questioning to scaffold reasoning. This session demonstrates number mini-lessons and helps participants learn to develop their own.

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Biography: Sandy Furth has a MS degree from the University of Utah with course work in Educationally Handicapped from the University of Colorado. She has taught for over 20 years in Colorado, Japan, Malaysia and England and has experience as a regular educator as well as a Learning Disabilities specialist. In addition, Sandy has had a private tutorial business and has consulted with several international schools on ways to implement special needs programs in an international setting.

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General Topic: Counseling

Workshop 1
Title:Kids in Crisis, Families in Need
Description: It is never the intent of an international school to ask a student to leave their school. Unfortunately, there are times when the school and student do not 'fit'. As everyone knows, the reasons are numerous; ranging from specific learning issues to behavioral issues. While not an easy conversation to hold with parents, there are some viable options to share. Kids in Crisis and Families in Need will discuss options and challenges in locating specific programs for these students.

Workshop 2
Title:Transitioning Students with Specific Learning Issues to University
Description: Transitioning high school students to university is a challenge in and of itself. Transitioning high school students with specific learning issues adds another iron to the fire. What universities want from these students and how to get into their support program is one issue, how to work with students who are well qualified for university with additional issues (i.e. Aspergers, ADHD) adds more complex details to a student's profile. Transitioning Students with Specific Learning Issues to University will explain a variety of options and programs to help these students transition to higher education.

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Biography: David Grant is a teacher, professional development leader, media producer, and consultant in school reform and technology integration. He currently works as the Technology and Expeditionary Learning Strategist for King Middle School in Portland, Maine. Over the past fifteen years, he has been an integral part of the leadership team that has transformed King from a failing school into a national model for project based learning and technology integration. Additionally, David is a professional development consultant and national media producer for Expeditionary Learning Schools(EL)-- a national school reform network. He is currently working on a multiyear project to create a set of core program materials for EL, documenting best practices in schools around the country. From 2001-2004, David was a consultant and professional development facilitator for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI)--the first-ever whole state effort to bring the power of laptops and wireless classrooms to every 7th and 8th grader in a state. David continues to provide one-to-one consulting through the Maine International Center for Digital Learning, working with education development teams from around the world. You can learn more about David's work at Edutopia, or at the Buck Institute for Education.

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General Topic: Project Based Learning & Digital LIteracy

Workshop 1
Title:Teaching Students to Shoot like Pros
Description: Students at King Middle School in Portland, Maine shoot and produce documentary video of learning expeditions at every grade level, on every team. In this hands on workshop, participants will explore how students can master simple but powerful videography conventions. Participants will leave with new knowledge of how to shoot great video, as well as with a ready-to-use lesson for teaching students how to shoot like pros in their classrooms.
Please bring a phone or camera that shoots video and a wire for uploading

Workshop 2
Title:6 Steps for Great PBL
Description: King Middle School in Portland, Maine is an original public Expeditionary Learning school. Once a bottom performer in the state, King's 550 students now outperform their peers in every subject, at every grade. How did the school turn around? High quality PBL. Students explore compelling topics, collaborate with professionals and community experts, engage in authentic research, create final products based upon professional models, and exhibit their work to the public. In this workshop, we will dig into King's well-documented 6 Steps planning process. We will examine products and outcomes from successful learning expeditions, and explore what it takes to make PBL meet the needs of all kids.

Workshop 3
Title:The Fast Way to Technical Competence with iMovie -- So You and Your Students Can Spend Time on Content*
Description: Video production is a fantastic way to create engagement in the classroom -- that is until production challenges get in the way of teaching and learning. In this workshop, we will look at a series of strategies and tutorials that I use in my classroom to create student competency in just a few lessons. (Examples of years of students work can be seen at http://king.portlandschools.org/files/tv ) Then it's on to the important stuff: literacy, content, and great story telling.
To fully participate, please bring your own apple laptop with the content for this class already downloaded and the most current version of iMovie. The download content is available at http://staff.portlandschools.org/ grantd/earcos12/

Workshop 4
Title:What's Working in Progressive Education: Best Practices from Expeditionary Learning Schools Across America*
Description: Expeditionary Learning is a public school reform network with 165 member schools throughout the United States. Although EL schools focus on integrated, project-based curriculum rather than "teaching to the test", students in EL schools outperform their district peers in reading, writing, and math in elementary, middle and high school. For the past year, I have been working on program media development for Expeditionary Learning, visiting the highest performing schools in the country, and shooting documentary video spotlighting key practices that lead to success. n this workshop, we will look into several classrooms across America and discuss practices that all teachers can use to increase student ownership and success with learning.

Workshop 5
Title:What Did Students Learn from Making This?
Description: In this workshop, we will look at a variety of student products -- pamphlets, movies, websites, books, performances, etc. -- and explore the connections between products and learning. We will discuss strategies for getting the most learning out of products, review the workflow for making sophisticated mixed-media products with whole classrooms or grade level groups of students, and consider how products provide, and do not provide, opportunities for assessment of key learnings.
*Please download all materials prior to attending this workshop at http://staff.portlandschools.org/grantd/earcos12/

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Biography: Nick is the Chief Technology Officer of KCP Technologies, and is the software designer responsible for The Geometer's Sketchpad®, which has repeatedly been voted the "Best Educational Software" in mathematics. As one of the founding members of the Visual Geometry Project at Swarthmore College in 1987, he designed and developed all of the VGP interactive software; and in that capacity, began formulating the Dynamic Geometry approach that defines the Sketchpad experience. That approach has now become the ubiquitous paradigm of the entire field of mathematics visualization software. Nick has been a senior scientist and P.I. on many National Science Foundation research projects, is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, and works frequently with teachers in professional development settings.

General Topic: Math

Workshop 1
Title:The Geometer's Sketchpad Introductory Workshop: Tessellations and Tilings
Description: Participants will meet and learn the basic operations of The Geometer's Sketchpad, the most widely-used school mathematics software, in the context of exploring regular tessellations of the plane via regular polygons. This hands-on workshop is for mathematics teachers at all grade levels, and is recommended for users new-or relatively new-to Dynamic Geometry technology. Bring your laptop!

Workshop 2
Title:The Geometer's Sketchpad Workshop: Beyond Geometryhop
Description: This hands-on technology workshop will focus on applications of Sketchpad outside the typical geometry curriculum--especially to algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. While representative topics and activities will be visited, our attention will be split between topics and the tool itself--particularly those aspects of the technology appropriate to mathematical modeling involving equations and their graphs.

Workshop 3
Title:The Geometer's Sketchpad Workshop: Non-Euclidean Geometry
Description: In this workshop we'll develop basic ideas of non-Euclidean geometriy by suspending Euclid's 5th postulate, and we'll pursue them to some satisfying early results. While we'll use Sketchpad heavily, our focus here will be less on the tool than on the advanced mathematical topic, which Sketchpad makes accessible and engaging at a non-advanced (early secondary) learning level.

Workshop 4
Title:The Geometer's Sketchpad Advanced Workshop: Introduction to Iteration
Description: In this final Sketchpad workshop, we'll move beyond basics to explore Sketchpad's powerful iteration capabilities. We'll use numeric and geometric iterations to build various growth models, sequences and series, Fibonacci series and their graphs, and fractals. While the curricular focus will be at the secondary level, iterative techniques are applicable across mathematics. Some Sketchpad experience recommended.

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Biography: Nancy J. Johnson currently teaches 8th grade Reading/Language Arts at the Singapore American School during a two-year leave as professor of English/Language Arts at Western Washington University. There she teaches courses in children's and young adult literature, English/Language Arts methods, and writing. A former elementary and high school teacher, she works in schools and presents at conferences locally, nationally, and internationally. She is the co-author of The Wonder of It All: When Literature and Literacy Intersect, as well as three books about literature circles, and she coordinates Western Washington University's annual Children's Literature Conference. An active member of NCTE, IRA, and ALA, in 2003 Johnson served on the Newbery Award selection committee and was awarded the Arbuthnot Award by the International Reading Association for teaching and advocacy of children's literature. She has recently been elected to the 2013 Caldecott Award selection committee.

General Topic: Literacy

Workshop 1
Title:Reading Aloud in Middle/High School? Best Teaching Partner Ever
Description: This workshop considers how the literature we read to our students in secondary classrooms can inform and transform reading, writing, thinking, creating. We will explore choosing response-rich read alouds and examine how this practice can teach reading response strategies, writer's craft, and ways to engage adolescents in the voice of literature.

Workshop 2
Title:Poetry's Pleasures: Reading It, Writing It, Teaching It, Loving It
Description: This workshop explores how to design a poetry unit of study that invites intermediate through high school students to read and enjoy the language of poetry, discover topics for poetry writing, craft poetry in a variety of forms/formats, and discover the wondrous literature and poetry partnerships available to inspire reading and writing poetry.

Workshop 3
Title:Nurturing Curiosity and Wonder: Nonfiction in the Middle/High School Classroom
Description: The wealth of engaging, well-written nonfiction literature for middle and high school readers has exploded in the past ten years. This workshop introduces the place of nonfiction in the secondary curriculum, how to involve students with books that nurture curiosity and wonder (such as through literature circles), and discovering resources for selecting award-winning nonfiction.

Workshop 4
Title:Response-Ability: Deepening Understanding through Talk, Writing, and Visual Arts
Description: Writing about literature has served as one way for readers to respond to their wonderings, questions, and discoveries as readers. This workshop examines ways to deepen understanding by teaching reader response strategies that include writing, but also promote creative examination of literature through diverse forms: oral, visual, and performance.

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Biography: Doug Johnson has been the Director of Media and Technology for the Mankato (MN) Public Schools since 1991 and has served as an adjunct faculty member of Minnesota State University since 1990. His teaching experience has included work in grades K-12 both here and in Saudi Arabia. He is the author of six books including Teaching Right from Wrong in the Digital Age; Machines are the Easy Part; People are the Hard Part; and The Classroom Teachers Survival Guide to Technology (forthcoming). His long-running column "Head for the Edge" appears in Library Media Connection. Doug's Blue Skunk Blog averages over 50,000 visits a month, and his articles have appeared in over forty books and periodicals. Doug has conducted workshops and given presentations for over 130 organizations throughout the United States and internationally and has held a variety of leadership positions in state and national organizations, including ISTE and AASL.

General Topic: Library/Technology Integration

Workshop 1
Title:The Sane Teacher's Guide to Technology Integration
Description: Never been a technology geek or guru? Still rather think of a mouse as something that eats cheese than rolls around on your desk? Yet as a conscientious teacher, you KNOW your students should be practicing technology and information literacy skills. This workshop explores how good teaching practices and the content area curriculum can be enhanced through the judicious use of technology upgrades that support best practice. Examples of real student technology enhanced projects are given and a staff development model based on adult learning needs is described.
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Workshop 2
Title:Rules of Engagement: Using Technologies to Motivate Rather Than Distract
Description: Are personally owned devices - laptops, netbooks, smartphones and tablets - distracting your students? Or are you using to motivate and engage? Learn some simple rules that help you make the most of these devices that are increasingly common in the classroom. This presentation/discussion: * Examines the difference between entertainment and engagement * Describes five strategies for dealing with "distractive" technologies in the classroom. * Gives concrete examples of how personally owned devices can be used to both enhance traditional educational practices and to completely restructure learning.
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Workshop 3
Title:School Libraries and Cloud Computing
Description: Discover how libraries can benefit by moving to the cloud and what role librarians can play when staff and student applications become hosted. The session discusses the implication of hosted computer applications and resources on school library programs and the role of the school librarian. What are the advantages of moving to a "hosted" school library catalog and circulation system? How can school librarians themselves take advantage of GoogleApps and similar cloud-based productivity tools? And what roles can the school librarian play when a school adopts a program like GoogleApps for Education?
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Biography: Dr. James Kett has extensive experience in Mathematics Education as teacher, department head, consultant, and author. After teaching in the Michigan public school system, he received his Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from Western Michigan University in 1996 and became a teacher and department chair at Singapore American School. For six years, from 2004 to 2009, he was also an Advanced Placement Reader in Statistics. He has published two books on effective use of technology in the mathematics classroom. Now, as a private consultant, he speaks at conferences, trains teachers using Autograph, helps schools develop math competitions, and gives inspirational lectures to students and teachers.

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General Topic: High School Math

Workshop 1
Title:Problem Solving and Motivating the High Achiever
Description: While problem solving is the heart of mathematics, seldom do students experience problems that require investigation and lengthy analysis. In this interactive workshop, teachers will experience real problem solving and learn concrete techniques they can teach their students.

Workshop 2
Title:What Works and What Doesn't
Description: After 40+ years of experience as a high school Mathematics teacher, instructional leader, and author, Dr. Kett will share his impressions of classroom management and instructional strategies: those that work and those that do not.

Workshop 3
Title:Effective Use of Technology: Part I
Description: Technology should be used as a facilitator of teaching and learning. Using technology effectively inspires students and makes teaching more enjoyable. In this interactive workshop, you will experience how technology should be used in teaching statistics. Topics covered include: 1-variable statistics, linear regression, probability distributions, sampling distributions, and The Central Limit Theorem.

Workshop 4
Title:Effective Use of Technology: Part II
Description: This workshop is the continuation of Effective Use of Technology: Part I. The focus will be on algebra and calculus. Topics covered include: linear functions, quadratic functions, linear programming, conic sections, differentiation, and volumes of revolution. Attendance at Part I is not necessary.

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Biography: Lori Langer de Ramirez began her career as a teacher of Spanish, French and ESL. She holds a Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently Chair of the ESL and World Language Department for Herricks Public Schools in New York. Lori is the author of books and articles on the topics of technology, diversity and language teaching. Her interactive website (www.miscositas.com) offers picturebooks, videos, thematic units and other curricular materials for teaching world languages. Lori has presented workshops at conferences and in schools in the U.S. and internationally. She is the recipient of the Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture, several NEH grants, and a Fulbright. Her areas of research and curriculum development are multicultural education, interdisciplinary and content-based teaching, folktales and authentic materials, and Web 2.0 tools.

General Topic: World Language Education and ESL

Workshop 1
Title:Language, Identity, and the Multicultural School
Description: In this presentation, we will explore the role that culture and language play in a multicultural educational setting. Through activities and real-world examples, will examine issues such as teacher identity, 21st Century Skills, and world language education as essential components for building a multicultural/multilingual community of excellence.
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Workshop 2
Title:Empowering Language Learners with Tools from the Web
Description: This session will present web tools to language educators. We will discuss the uses of blogs, wikis, podcasts, VoiceThread, YouTube and Facebook, Twitter, and social bookmarking sites like Delicious. The session will provide language educators with an overview of different tools available, briefly explain how they work, and discuss a rationale for their use in teaching languages. The workshop will situate web-based technologies within the framework of differentiated instruction and 21st century learning skills. The central purpose of the workshop is to de-mystify these tools and show how they can be used in teaching and assessing language learners.
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Workshop 3
Title:Fantasy Trips in the Language Classroom
Description: Students learn best when they are given authentic tasks and real-world contexts. As a means of bringing the world closer to our students, we explore the concept of a "fantasy trip" in which students travel to Colombia and experience the folklore of the country through communicative activities that involve students' five senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. Rich in culture and history, la costa colombiana provides ample opportunities for designing lessons involving food, music and crafts. Sample activities and handouts provided.
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Workshop 4
Title:21st Century Language Learners - What works in the "new" millennium
Description: Participants will explore 21st Century Skills as they apply to the language curriculum. Lessons, projects, and units that incorporate authentic materials and tasks in an inquiry-based curriculum will be shared. The presentation will highlight critical thinking, problem-solving and cross-cultural communication as 21st Century Skills of particular importance in the language classroom.

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Biography: Dr. Steven L. Layne serves as Professor of Literacy Education at Judson University in Elgin, IL, where he teaches course in children's literature and directs the university's Master of Education in Literacy program. Steve is a respected literacy consultant, keynote speaker, and featured author throughout the world, and his work as an educator, researcher, and writer of books for children and young adults has garnered critical acclaim from organizations such as USA Today Newspaper, The Milken Family Foundation, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the International Reading Association. Author of 21 books, Steve lives with his wife Debbie, a K-12 curriculum coordinator at Westminster Christian School in Elgin, their four children: Grayson, Victoria, Jackson and Candace, and one very adorable 65 lb. collie named Shelby in St. Charles, Illinois.

General Topic: Author/ Literacy

Workshop 1
Title:Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers
Description: Energetic author and educator Steven L. Layne promises a session to delight, empower, and motivate every teacher. Based on his bestselling professional book Igniting a Passion for Reading, this presentation will offer a practical and highly motivational strategies to engage reluctant readers in text.
Audience: Literacy Teachers PreK-12, Admin., SpEd., ELL/ESL

Workshop 2
Title:Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers (Repeat of Workshop 1)
Description: Energetic author and educator Steven L. Layne promises a session to delight, empower, and motivate every teacher. Based on his bestselling professional book Igniting a Passion for Reading, this presentation will offer practical and highly motivational strategies to engage reluctant readers in text.
Audience: Literacy Teachers PreK-12, Admin., SpEd., ELL/ESL

Workshop 3
Title:Steve's Top Five Writing Tips in Grades 3-8
Description: Award-winning author and educator Steven L. Layne shares five dynamic and practical strategies for implementing better writing instruction in the intermediate and middle grades.
Audience: Literacy Teachers Grades 3-8, SpEd., ELL/ESL

Workshop 4
Title:Using Children's/Young Adult Books to Excite Young Writers
Description: Teachers are always in need of a good response to kids who say, "I can't think of anything to write about." After this energizing presentation, you'll have several great answers! Join award-winning author Steven Layne as he uses a wide-range of children's picture books and novels to introduce five key arenas from which authors draw story ideas. Discover how easily this information translates into practice in any K-12 classroom where literacy development is a top priority. It's time to get your students' pencils moving with excitement!
Audience: Literacy Teachers Grades 3-8, SpEd., ELL/ESL

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Biography: Before moving abroad to Southeast Asia in 2007, Maggie Moon was a Senior Staff Developer at The Reading and Writing Project, at Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to working across the US with the R&W Project, Maggie taught both 3rd and 4th grades, at P.S. 163 in NYC. She has worked with hundreds of elementary schools within NYC and across the US, and presented at the R&W Summer Institutes for over 6 years, even as a classroom teacher. She also had the privilege of being part of the team that helped to implement the role of Literacy Coach across the NYC Public School system at its onset. Since moving abroad, Maggie has lived in Manila, Phillipines, Guangzhou, China and now currently resides in Shanghai. Maggie has worked with many of the International Schools in the southeast Asia region, as well as local schools in Manila. Maggie has presented at EARCOS and NESA Administrators and Teacher Conferences for the past few years, and has run the three previous cohort sessions of the Literacy Coaching Asia Institute out of Hong Kong International School. Her next round of the Literacy Coaching Asia Institute for 2011-2012 is at Shanghai American School.

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General Topic: Literacy

Workshop 1
Title:How to Plan Out the Best Possible Mini-Lessons: Make Your Teaching Stick & Make Good Use of Your Time To Keep It Mini!
Description: One of the main aspects to a strong Reading or Writing Workshop is the daily Mini-lesson. As many teachers know, it is often too easy to try to wing Mini-Lessons, or somehow find that 20 minutes have passed and the lesson isn't over! In this workshop, teachers will examine the importance of pacing a good Mini-lesson and will consider the various ways to keep a Mini-lessons actually mini. Each part of a mini-lesson will be looked at closely, and teachers will have the opportunity to revisit past lessons and dream up how to turn them into a string of Mini-lessons. Participants will also plan out Mini-Lessons by breaking a specific teaching point down into steps.

Workshop 2
Title:Book Clubs For Upper Grade Readers (Grades 3-6)
Description: Book Clubs are no longer a novelty, but a norm in our society. People all over the world meet to talk about their favorite characters, the parts they found intriguing, or other authors they'd like to explore. Talking about books is a crucial skill for students and adults alike! This workshop will explain the key differences between Book Clubs and Literature Circles, and will show teachers how to run successful Book Clubs within a Reading Workshop structure. Forming successful reading partnerships that lead into book clubs will be another area explored.

Workshop 3
Title:Taking A Closer Look at Pre-K and Early Kindergarten - The Best Ways To Support Literacy Development Without Launching a Formal Reading Workshop
Description: This workshop will focus on three components of Balanced Literacy that Pre-K and K teachers can emphasize in their classrooms- the Interactive Read Aloud, Shared Reading and lastly Writing time. Reading Aloud to young kids and getting them to talk to each other is essential in all elementary classrooms. Teachers will learn how to set up 'Turn and Talk Partnerships' as a way to support oral language development. Shared Reading offers early readers a clear view into the world of successful reading in action and allows students to participate when they are ready. And lastly, encouraging students to make books on their own opens up many developmental doors and offers teachers a glimpse into students' natural literacy abilities.

Workshop 4
Title:Conferring and Note-taking-Finding an Effective System For Gathering, Managing and Analyzing a Body Of Evidence
Description: The backbone of a strong Writing Workshop is a teacher's ability to quickly assess and document student growth, and link that to instruction for the individual writer, as well as whole class instruction. This workshop will go through the basics of how to best document students' growth as writers while conferring. Building and using a conferring notebook, and also having a toolkit attached to it to support writers is an excellent way to make sure this is done effectively, and teachers will have a close-up look at a system for doing just that.

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Biography: Bairbre Ni Oisin is ESOL Specialist Teacher at St. Michael's International School, Japan. Her professional interests include teaching ESL/EFL to elementary school students and teacher development through reflective practice and action research in an international school setting. She is one of the awardees of the EARCOS Action Research Grant 2010-2011.

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General Topic: Action Reseacrh

Workshop 1
Title:EARCOS Action Research Grant: A Catalyst for Our Professional Growth
Description: The EARCOS Action Research Grant is a fantastic opportunity for us, EARCOS educators! I am hoping that this interactive workshop will help you to become familiar with action research, reflect on your own situation, brainstorm your possible action research plan, and get motivated to apply for the Grant!

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Biography: Lisa has been a high school counselor for 16 years, 11 of those overseas. Now in her first year at International School Manila, she has also worked with international high school students at the American International School of Cyprus, the American Community School of Abu Dhabi, and Lincoln, the American International School in Buenos Aires. She has spent the last three years in her home state of Texas, working with a diverse group of students including many immigrants and refugees. She is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), and the Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling (OACAC). She is a former President of OACAC.Curt Nichols is now in his ninth year overseas as a high school counselor. After four years as the program leader at Thai-Chinese International School in Bangkok, Thailand, Curt served two years as the director of guidance at Lahore American School in Pakistan before coming to ISM in 2009. He is a member of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), and the Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling (OACAC).

General Topic: Counseling

Workshop 1
Title:The International High School Counselor's Toolbox
Description: This workshop will communicate the skills needed to survive in a fast-paced high school counseling office, focusing on the key audiences with whom high school counselors interact, including programs to help address each of those audiences-teachers, universities, students, parents, and administration. We will also provide examples so that participants don't need to "reinvent the wheel." We'd be very happy to provide a part 2 to this workshop. In part 1, we are scaffolding the basic elements of the job, while in part 2, we could go much more in-depth into specific topics integral to creating a successful high school program. For example, these topics would include college counseling, financial aid, testing, and managing international transitions.

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Biography: Dr. Jason Ohler is a professor emeritus, speaker, writer, teacher, researcher, and lifelong digital humanist who is well known for the passion, insight, and humor he brings to his presentations, projects and writings. He has worked both online and in classrooms at home and internationally for over a quarter century helping students develop the new literacies they need to be successful in the digital age. He is a passionate promoter of "Art the Next R" and of combining innovation, creativity and digital know-how to help reinvent teaching and learning. He is also an enthusiastic champion of the need for students to learn how to use technology wisely and safely, with awareness and compassion, so they can become informed and productive citizens in a global digital society. He has won numerous awards for his work and is author of many books, articles, and online resources. His current book, Digital Community, Digital Citizen, explores the issues of helping our students and ourselves blend our digital and non-digital lives into one integrated approach to living. His previous book, Digital Storytelling in the Classroom, reminds us that he is first and foremost a storyteller, telling tales of the future that are grounded in the past. "The goal is the effective, creative, and wise use of technology... to bring together technology, community, and learning in ways that work. And while we are at it, to have fun."

General Topic: Digital Literacy

Workshop 1
Title:New Media in the Classroom - From Tools to Assessment to Social Media
Description: Following from the keynote, Jason demonstrates practical tools and processes for implementing new media narrative projects in classroom activities in exciting, creative ways. He addresses a number of topics, including media assessment, media grammar and the role of research-based digital stories and media development in the curriculum. This presentation is based on Jason's book, Digital Storytelling in the Classroom (Corwin Press, 2007).

Workshop 2
Title:New Media in the Classroom - From Tools to Assessment to Social Media (Repeat of Workshop 2)
Description: Following from the keynote, Jason demonstrates practical tools and processes for implementing new media narrative projects in classroom activities in exciting, creative ways. He addresses a number of topics, including media assessment, media grammar and the role of research-based digital stories and media development in the curriculum. This presentation is based on Jason's book, Digital Storytelling in the Classroom (Corwin Press, 2007).

Workshop 3
Title:Digital Citizenship: Ethical Mandate for an Era of Extreme Change
Description: The future promises unfathomable, rollercoaster innovation with no braking system. Our only response: embrace digital citizenship, and help students use technology effectively, creatively... and wisely. We need to do more than prepare students to be not only capable work force members, but also good neighbors, informed voters and participatory citizens so they can effectively balance technology's opportunities and limitations in light of its value to the human community. This presentation is based on Jason's books, Digital Community, Digital Citizen (Corwin Press, 2010).

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Biography: Ericson Perez is the Middle and Upper Schools Student Services Coordinator at Brent International School Manila. He graduated from Brown University and The George Washington University with a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in special education, respectively. He taught middle school science at Sedgwick Middle School in West Hartford, Connecticut, after which he joined the United States Peace Corps and served as a volunteer biology and chemistry teacher at a rural school in Kenya. When he returned from Kenya, he taught biology and general science to students with special education needs at Watkins Mill High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 2005, he became a National Board Certified teacher as an Exceptional Needs Specialist, with a specialty area in mild/moderate disabilities. He is actively involved with SENIA, the Special Education Network in Asia, as well as with IBEN, the International Baccalaureate Educators Network.

General Topic: Special Needs

Workshop 1
Title:Inclusion with No Special Education Support--Can it Work?
Description: What can you do if you teach students with special education needs or other learning challenges, and your school has limited to no special education support? Participants will work with a practical and systematic team approach in order to build capacity to provide students much needed classroom support.

Workshop 2
Title:Moderation of Support: From Learned Helplessness to Independence
Description: How much academic support is appropriate for students with special education needs? Is the support the student receiving perpetuating learned helplessness or is it facilitating independence? Participants will work with a practical and systematic team approach to determine appropriate levels of and consistency in academic support provided for students with special education needs.

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Biography: Donna Kalmbach Phillips is Professor of Education and the current Thomas S. Thompson Distinguished Professor in Education at Pacific University, Oregon. Donna teaches courses in literacy and action research in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Prior to her life at the university, Donna taught 13 years in public schools, spending her days writing and reading primarily with young adolescents. Donna completed her first teacher action research project as a middle school teacher and has been a proponent of teacher action research since that time. She is co-author with Dr. Kevin Carr of the book, Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research.

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General Topic: Action Research

Workshop 1
Title:Teacher Action Research: An Overview
Description: This interactive workshop is designed to answer the question, "What is teacher action research?" Attendees will define action research, understand the usefulness of action research to classroom teachers, and gain a broad perspective of how action research is implemented.

Workshop 2
Title:Teacher Action Research: Framing a Study
Description: This interactive workshop is designed to guide participants through the first stages of developing an action research project: problelmatizing practice, finding a topic, developing a critical question, choosing a study design, and connecting critical literature to an action research study. Participants will work towards designing a draft action research proposal.

Workshop 3
Title:Trustworthy Teacher Action Research
Description: What makes a teacher action research project 'good'? This interactive workshop is designed to introduce criteria for creating and implementing trustworthy action research projects. Participants will analyze the role of triangulation and self-reflexivity; consider the selection of appropriate data collection strategies; and explore the importance of critical colleagues and collaboration.

Workshop 4
Title:Teacher Action Research: Data Analysis, Interpretation & Publication
Description: "I've gathered the data: now what?" This interactive workshop introduces participants to principles and strategies for ongoing data analysis and final data interpretation that they can apply to their own teacher action research projects. The presentation will include strategies and avenues for publication of final action research projects.

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Biography: Dennis Sale is presently Senior Education Advisor at Singapore Polytechnic. He has worked across all sectors of the British educational system and presently provides a wide range of consultancies in both public and private sector organizations in several Asian countries. Over the past 20 years Dennis has been extensively involved in training, coaching and assessing teaching professionals in a variety of vocational and cultural contexts. His specialist areas include Creative Teaching and Curriculum Development. He has invented highly effective and practical models in these areas, conducted numerous workshops in all educational contexts and many countries, presented papers at international conferences and published in a variety of journals and books. He is widely noted to be a dynamic and creative presenter, blending practical relevance with situated humour.

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General Topic: Thinking Curriculum

Workshop 1
Title:Demystifying Creative Teaching: The Science and Art of Highly Effective Teaching
Description: This workshop draws upon a wide range of current validated research on human learning and summarizes the implications for teaching and learning into a Creative Teaching Framework (CTF). The CTF provides a set of easy to use practical heuristics for designing highly effective and interesting learning experiences for any group of mainstream learners.

Workshop 2
Title:Producing Pedagogically Sound Blended Learning Easily
Description: With the advent of easy to use rapid development software and Web 2.0 tools, it is now easy to produce effective and efficient online learning resources, providing the design is pedagogically sound. This workshop models the design process, the key decisions that need to be thoughtfully addressed and illustrates with examples.

Workshop 3
Title:The Educational Use of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)
Description: The field of neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is often both misunderstood and misrepresented. In this workshop, the key applications to practical teaching and enhancing learning will be identified and demonstrated. Participants will experience the ways in which specific NLP concepts and skill applications can be used for powerful changes in student learning and behaviour.

Workshop 4
Title:Promoting Good Thinking in the Curriculum: What it is and How to do it?
Description: The importance of good thinking as the key to developing understanding is well documented. However, the many different models of thinking and plethora of jargon often confuse rather than aids busy teaching professionals. This workshop demonstrates a practical approach to developing good thinking, which can be easily tailored to all mainstream educational contexts.

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Biography: Nathan has worked as a school counselor for 16 years. He started his career at a Western NY Public School; he and his wife then ventured off to Bangkok, Kobe (where their daughter was born), and currently Singapore where they have worked as a primary teacher and counselor. One of Nathan's passions is helping the whole student; that includes not only social/emotional support but also areas related to fitness, nutrition, and finding balance.

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General Topic: Counseling

Workshop 1
Title:Teenage Sleep Deprivation
Description: Generation Y is often times counting more pokes and points instead of sheep and focusing more on screens, grades, and peers instead of getting the shut-eye they desperately need. This workshop will help counselors/educators learn about the importance of sleep and how one can help students find balance and get more zzzz's.

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Biography: Dr. Peggy Sharp is well known for her presentations and writings about childrenʼs books and motivating children to read and use library media centers. She is a highly regarded teacher and library media specialist and has received national awards for her creative teaching ideas. She is one of the experts in North America on childrenʼs literature and strengthening reading and library programs. Her articles about teaching with childrenʼs books, motivating reading and enhancing the instructional program of both the classroom and the library media center have appeared in the top professional magazines. Peggy is a member of the Beverly Cleary Childrenʼs Book Award Committee, the Julie Andrews Collection Advisory Board, and she has written Sharing Your Good Ideas and several other books for educators. One of the foremost experts in North America on children's literature and literature programs, she is a consultant for the Bureau of Education and Research and hundreds of school districts. She has conducted thousands of fast-paced practical workshops for Phi Delta Kappa, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Staff Development, International Reading Association and other groups and organizations. You can view her workshops at our Workshops and Training section. Her articles about teaching with children's books, motivating reading, and strengthening the instructional programs in both classrooms and library media centers have appeared in top professional magazines such as School Library Media Activities Monthly, Instructor, Teaching K-8, The Reading Teacher, Journal of Reading, Emergency Librarian, The Computing Teacher, and The Mailbox Bookbag.

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General Topic: Librarian

Workshop 1
Title:New Books for Grades K-2 and How to Use Them in Your Program
Description: Learn of some of the best new books for younger students and specific strategies for using them to motivate reading and promote learning. Ideas presented are highly-practical ready-to-use tomorrow strategies for all areas of your program that are appropriate for the new books as well as for your old favorites.

Workshop 2
Title:New Books for Grades 3-5 and How to Use Them in Your Program
Description: Learn of some of the best new books for intermediate students and specific strategies for using them to motivate reading and promote learning. Ideas presented are highly-practical ready-to-use tomorrow strategies for all areas of your program that are appropriate for the new books as well as for your old favorites.

Workshop 3
Title:New Books for Grades 6-8 and How to Use Them in Your Program
Description: Learn of some of the best new books for middle grade students and specific strategies for using them to motivate reading and promote learning. Ideas presented are highly-practical ready-to-use tomorrow strategies for all areas of your program that are appropriate for the new books as well as for your old favorites.

Workshop 4
Title:Keeping Them Reading in a Digital Age, Grades 3-8
Description: The world of reading is changing. Learn of specific strategies for using the latest technologies to motivate and promote reading as well as books (in various formats) that will inspire your students to read. The best new books and materials that reflect the impact of technology will be shared.

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Biography: Stephen Shore, Ed.D., is an assistant professor at the Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University teaching courses in special education and autism. He focuses his research and teaching on matching best practices to the needs of people with autism.
In addition to working with and talking about life on the autism spectrum, Dr. Shore presents and consults internationally on educational and social inclusion as well as on adult issues pertaining to relationships, employment, advocacy, and disclosure as discussed in his numerous books, articles, and DVDs.
Non-verbal and diagnosed at age two and a half with "Atypical Development and strong autistic tendencies," recommendations for institutionalization were rejected in favor of parent-based intensive early intervention and support.
Dr. Shore serves on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), as Vice President of the Board of Directors for Autism Society - Massachusetts Chapter (AS?MA), as past President of The Asperger's Association of New England (AANE), and advisory board member of Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association (AHA), and other autism related organizations.

General Topic: Special Needs

Workshop 1
Title:Understanding the "Hidden Curriculum" for Learners on the Autism Spectrum and Related Conditions
Description: When is it appropriate to talk in class? How does one act when hanging out with friends, in school, or in the library? Is there a way to reckon with the fact that the "lunch hour" at work is only 30 minutes? Most people automatically know the answers to these questions and many like them through observations of social interaction. This presentation examines Power Cards, Social Stories by Carol Gray, emotional thermometers and mnemonic devices such as Stop, Observe, Deliberate, and Act and other strategies for providing practical solutions to the vexing problem of teaching appropriate social interaction to people on the autism spectrum in appropriate social interactions.

Workshop 2
Title:Life on and Slightly to the Right of the Autism Spectrum
Description: Join Stephen in his autobiographical journey from the nonverbal days as he relates his life to the many challenges facing people on the autism spectrum. Some of the areas discussed include classroom accommodation, teaching of musical instruments, as well as issues faced by adults such as relationships, self-advocacy, higher education, and employment. The session ends with a short audience activity demonstrating what it feels like have autism and to struggle through some of the challenges surrounding communication and socialization.

Workshop 3
Title:Examining and Contrasting Promising Approaches for Educating Children with Autism
Description: Noting that there has been no true comparison between educational/behavioral/developmental approaches for working with children on the autism spectrum, qualitative research was initiated to investigate Applied Behavioral Analysis, TEACCH, Daily Life Therapy, Miller Method, and DIR. Other methods such as RDI and SCERTS are also discussed. Some preliminary findings suggest that current definitions of autism are lacking and a more multi-dimensional approach is needed, the autism spectrum as currently employed is too wide to be useful, many techniques are applicable across approaches, and a general sense that people with autism have something valuable to contribute to the community as a whole.

Workshop 4
Title:Promoting Social Inclusion of People with Autism and Other Disabilities
Description: This presentation examines the development and use of educational accommodations as extensions of good teaching practice. For example, a student with special needs in a regular education choral class who is unable to stand still and sing can be afforded another way of meaningfully participating in the choir performance. Attendees will come away with easy to implement, practical solutions for including children with autism and other special needs into the regular education experience.

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Biography: Jonas Edman / Rylan Sekiguchi / Johanna Wee / HyoJung Jang
Jonas is a curriculum writer at SPICE and is currently working on a unit on the Chinese American experience. Prior to joining SPICE he taught at Stockholm International School in Sweden. Jonas is a graduate of Stockholm University. Rylan is a curriculum specialist at SPICE and his publications include Uncovering North Korea, 10,000 Shovels: China's Urbanization and Economic Development, An Examination of War Crimes Tribunals, and Inter-Korean Relations: Rivalry, Reconciliation, and Reunification. Rylan is a graduate of Stanford University. Johanna is SPICE's sales and marketing manager and webmaster. Johanna coordinates SPICE's national and international dissemination efforts-most recently with international conferences in Nice, France and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. In addition, Johanna manages SPICE's web based resources, and she is currently working on a project to accompany the Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health curriculum unit. She is a graduate of Santa Clara University and a former English teacher in Japan. HyoJung is a curriculum writer at SPICE who specializes in curriculum units on topics on East Asia. Her most recent publication is Inter-Korean Relations: Rivalry, Reconciliation, and Reunification, and she is currently co-authoring a unit entitled China in Transition: Economic Development, Migration, and Education. HyoJung is a graduate of Stanford University where she received her master's degree in East Asian Studies.

General Topic: Social Studies

Workshop 1
Title:North Korea, South Korea, and Inter-Korean Relations
Description: This session will introduce secondary school teachers to activities and resources from the SPICE curriculum units "Uncovering North Korea" and "Inter-Korean Relations: Rivalry, Reconciliation, and Reunification." Participants will engage in interactive activities. Extensive curriculum resources will be distributed.
Presenters: Jonas Edman / HyoJung Jang / Rylan Sekiguchi

Workshop 2
Title:Engaging Visual Learners: Strategies and Resources for Teaching Global Studies
Description: Using visuals in the classroom-illustrations, graphic novels, film, maps, etc.--can enhance our students' understanding of complex information. How can visual media improve the teaching of global studies? This workshop introduces strategies and resources for teaching global studies with a focus on engaging visual learners. Extensive curriculum resources will be distributed.

Presenters: Jonas Edman / Johanna Wee / Rylan Sekiguchi

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Biography: Joe Stucker is the Director of the American International School of Guangzhou, China. He has held similar positions at the Vientiane International School, Academia Cotopaxi and the International School of Tanganyika. He was high school principal at the International School of Manila and the International School of Kuala Lumpur. He was also a high school principal in the U.S. prior to entering international education in 1983. He has experience interviewing and hiring administrators as well as being a candidate for various administrative positions. He is married to Jaci Stucker an art teacher. Their two sons, Kirk and Derek, graduated from ISKL.
Paul Wood is the High School Principal at the International School of Beijing. He previously worked at schools in Yokohama, Ottawa, Dar es Salaam and Guangzhou. This is his sixth year of involvement in recruiting teachers and his M.A. thesis considered factors affecting faculty recruitment and retention at International Schools.

General Topic: Recruitment Process

Workshop 1
Title:A Perfect Match - International School Recruitment from the School's Perspective
Description: "If a school has great teachers, it is a great school" (Whitaker, 2004). International school recruitment has become virtually a year-round process. Both recruiters and schools need to take advantage of all available resources to ensure the best possible match. This interactive workshop provides participants with insight into the recruitment process from the school's perspective and offers practical suggestions for how teachers and aspiring administrators can optimize their chances of being hired by the right school. It will also consider the roles in the process of the initial application, resume, email communications, Skype/telephone interviews, the recruitment fairs, and professional networks such as LinkedIn.

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Biography: Anna Rose Sugarmanis a specialist in educating gifted. As an Associate Member of the Advisory Committee on Exceptional Children and Youth to the Office of Overseas Schools, US Department of State, she has provided training and consultant services through international conferences and in various international schools. While actively working with administrators, teachers, parents and students, Anna designs and implements professional development options to create optimal learning environments to enhance educational programming for all children. She currently works as the Professional Development Trainer/Coordinator (K-12) for Shenendehowa Central Schools in Clifton Park, New York.

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General Topic: Special Needs

Workshop 1
Title:Identifying and Maximizing Talent
Description: Working definitions of giftedness will provide a foundation for this presentation which will highlight characteristics of high ability students and explain how they can be facilitators for or distractors of learning. Participants will explore practical applications and options in the international schools to maximize learning and aptitude development.

Workshop 2
Title:What's It All About? Managing a Differentiated Classroom for High Ability Learners
Description: This presentation asks the participants to review their own management practices and identify trouble spots; discuss requirements for a rich learning environment and examine traditional and differentiated forms of classroom management. Participants will explore and evaluate differentiated classroom experiences that illustrate various options and structures for management processes that optimize learning.

Workshop 3
Title:Stepping Up: Creating 21st Century Student Centered Learning Environments
Description: In the 21st Century, education professionals are called upon to develop more rigorous, motivating assignments and choice in learning environments; helping to contribute to the development of increased self-directed learning and student aspirations to prepare for college and career pursuits. Workshop participants will examine innovative and current pedagogical practices to determine methods that will create a foundation for this development.

Workshop 4
Title:Without and Within: Social Emotional Needs of Gifted Children
Description: This presentation will focus on the social/emotional needs of gifted children: what they are, how they impact their lives and interventions to improve their lives through personal growth and self-discovery, without and within.

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Biography: Jeff Utecht is an international educator, educational technology consultant and author. He has worked internationally since 2002, in Saudi Arabia, China, and Thailand. Prior to that he worked in the United States. Currently Jeff is working as the High School Technology and Learning Coordinator for the International School Bangkok. Additionally, Jeff has consulted for Web 2.0 companies on educational issues. Jeff has been mentioned in several books on Web 2.0 and education and in his recent book, Reach, talks about using online communities and networks to create professional development opportunities for educators. Jeff regularly shares his thoughts on education and technology on his blog, thethinkingstick.com. To learn more about Jeff visit jeffutecht.com.

General Topic: Technology

Workshop 1
Title:Google Apps in the Classroom
Description: This session will focus on using Google Apps in the classroom with students 3rd - 12th grade. This free educational service encompasses a powerful set of tools that is revolutionizing education. Combining these tools with other free Google products like Google Maps and Google Earth only enhances the learning for students.
We will go hands-on with real lessons being used in classrooms right now as we discuss how Google Apps changes the learning environment. From science notebooks, to collaborative notes and classroom newspapers we'll get our hands dirty with what these powerful tools have to offer. Participants will need a Google Account.

Workshop 2
Title:Flipping Your Classroom (Reverse Instruction): Getting Started with the Flip
Description: When content is free and accessible to students anywhere and anytime how do we flip the instruction in our classroom to take advantage of anywhere anytime learning? This workshop will discuss the pedagogy behind reverse instruction along with examples of how teachers are flipping their classrooms to take advantage of the web and the resources it has to offer. Walk away with strategies you can start using tomorrow in your own classroom.

Workshop 3
Title:Getting Social with Students
Description: Let's face it, kids are social and they want to connect! They want to connect with each other, with their teachers, with their school at large. This will be a discussion on the use of social-networking tools with student bodies to engage them in learning, foster school spirit, and just have fun! We take a look at how some schools are using social-networks to communicate with students as well as the school community at large. Come with ideas to share, questions on how to get started, and be ready to take a look at social-networks through the eyes of kids today.

Workshop 4
Title:10 Digital Tools For Digital Educators
Description: Back by popular demand this session is about the latest tools educators should know about. Bring a tool to share and leave with a list of cool new tools to use in your classroom. Fast paced and fun!

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