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Brain Compatible Schools

Training Options

Creative and Very Cost-Effective Ways to bring Training to Your School or District

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There are many ways that I can work with schools to make professional development convenient and very affordable. As a former teacher and principal, I understand how difficult it can be to afford and prepare for having staff out of the building for conferences and workshops. As always, feel free to email me at gator@edugator.com or diffleadership@prodigy.net

ü Planning Period Meetings

I often meet with teachers and administrators on the planning periods through the day and work with them in those small groups. In this setting I can do several things with the teachers and administrators. This way no teachers or administrators have to be out of the building for the training, and there is not cost for substitutes.

This can be follow-up for previous in-service to provide additional support, trouble-shoot and answer questions as they come up for teachers and administrators.
I can do initial training by doing sessions through the day. The sessions can be exactly like the concurrent sessions I do at state and national conferences. I can do the same topic all day so that everyone gets the same presentation, or I can do different sessions through for different audiences.
"Ask the Author!" Often teachers, administrators, academic teams, leadership teams and departments will use one of my books for a book study, and I will come in to lead discussion groups and answer questions. I will usually come back two or three times to discuss a portion of a book at a time.

ü Training "Trainers" for your school or district

I will train a cadre of "trainers" for your school or district. The participants will receive training to be able to present to other educational professionals. The participants will receive all of my power points and the handouts I use for all of the sessions. This training is as fun as it is intense. I want the participants to be the "experts" for the school or district. Generally, this training requires a week and during this time the participants will look at how to present fellow teachers and administrators. The goal is that after this training the participants will be able to run in-service days for the school or district on the topics we cover. During the week we will look at teaming, advisory programs, integrated curriculums, master scheduling options, differentiated instruction and assessment for engaged learning and more.

ü Bring the Conference to Your School

This is not only cost efficient, it is also fun! What I do is start the day with a motivational keynote to get things kicked off just like when I do opening keynotes at conferences. Then I do sessions during the planning periods for teachers to attend. I can do the same session all day, or you can pick from all of the sessions I do and I will be happy to do something different during each session as well. Then we can have a closing keynote presentation at the end of the day just like we do at conferences.

Of course to make this a "conference day" there should be great snacks for the teachers! And be sure to decorate the room where the sessions will be. We want the teachers to feel as much like they are at a conference as possible!

ü Schools Share Putting on a Workshop -- This allows teachers to attend sessions without ever leaving the district

With districts having to limit travel this is a very good option. Several districts that I have worked with have used this method to provide a variety of sessions within the district. What the schools in a district do is “pool” funds with each other or with the district to have me in the district for a week.

Here is how it works. Several schools, and/or the district could each pay for one day, and with enough schools, part of a day (ten schools could each pay for 1/2 day). Then every school would send few people every day. This will maximize the number of teachers that can attend training while minimizing the number of substitutes in the building on any one given day. If each school even sent only two or three teachers each day, at the end of the week it would be equivalent to sending 10-15 teachers to a conference or training. This will save a considerable amount of money over sending 10-15 people to a conference or workshop.

In this setting, I can do the same workshop every day, or do multiple topics while all of the schools send staff members to the workshops each day.

(Note: If the workshop is ½ day, then each school could send a few teachers in the morning and then switch at lunch and send a few more in the afternoon. This would double the number of teachers that can attend, but not increase the number of substitutes in the building each day.)
Leadership Team Training. The Leadership Team training takes two days. Again, if four or more schools pay for one day each (eight schools pay for 1/2 day each and so on), then we can offer the Leadership Team training twice in the same week. That way half of the members of the Leadership Teams from all of the schools could attend the first two days, and the other half of the members of the Leadership Teams could go for the next two days. This will minimize the number of substitutes in the buildings, and only half of the leaders are out of the building at a time. By offering the Leadership Team Training twice (or more in very large districts), all of the members of the Leadership Teams will be able to get the same training without ever having them all out of the building, and without having to pay for expensive travel and hotel arrangements.

ü In-Service Days shared with other schools

I am very comfortable working with large groups so schools will often share the cost of an in-service day. The only issue for large group sessions is the facility. It is important to have a facility that is comfortable for large groups. So schools can save funds by sharing the in-service day.

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