Middle School Staff Development     

The first paragraph in each is the descriptor that I use for Conference Programs.  Then I try to describe the session in a little more detail below that.  Many of the sessions can be combined as needed by schools for in-service days.  I have done all of the sessions listed at many district, state and national conferences.  I do many Keynotes for District and State Conferences, and that descriptor is listed at the bottom of this page.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about any of the sessions and I will be happy to help out in any way that I can.

Thanks!!

NOTE:  I also often do professional development with teachers on their conference/planning periods.  Check out the Training Options page for additional ideas for bringing Randy to your school or district.

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Copyright 1997 -  2010 © Mākitso, Inc -- All Rights Reserved

KEYNOTES

I have been the keynote speaker at many state and district educational conferences.  I like to use humor and real stories about ordinary people that do extraordinary things to motivate educators.  I like to call my keynote "Impact Players" and I can customize the keynote to particular situations.

Staff Development and Conference Sessions

1.     Go Team! - - Practical Strategies for Middle Level Teams and High School Academies

       Session Descriptor:

Casey Stengel said, “Gettin' good players is easy.  Gettin' them to play good together is the hard part.”  In this interactive session the components of effective teaming will be shared.  We will look at practical strategies  for student management, curriculum development, administrative and guidance participation and support, time management, student support systems, great parent conferences, team building, and effective team meetings.  Many of the schools I have worked with have reduced their discipline referral rate by well over 50% using the strategies I share in this session.  Participants will leave with ideas for immediate use that will have a positive impact on student performance and make it much easier to ensure that No Child Is Left Behind.

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Click here to see Customized Training based on this Session and Book

Note:  The idea behind this session is simply to make the most of team meeting time.  Participants leave this session with a clear direction for teaming.  We set up agendas ahead of time by identifying the tasks to be accomplished and demonstrate how to stay on task.  For example, many of the middle schools I have worked with have cut their discipline referral rate by well over half by working together to be more pro-active with student management issues.  In this session I show teachers in their teams how to work with each other and with their administrators and counselors in much more productive ways.  Many of the things we look at are simple management techniques for getting things done more quickly. 

2.  DIFFERENTIATED LEADERSHIP- -LEADERSHIP FOR THE WHOLE SCHOOL

Session Descriptor:

This Session is where Practical meets Brain-Based in a synthesis of strategies designed to meet the needs of Leadership Teams.  Leadership is a Contact Sport!  Based on the book Differentiated Leadership, this session will demonstrate how to make every contact in your system count.  This session is most effective when it is presented to Leadership Teams.  Leadership Teams will learn about interactive, brain-based management systems which enable and require the types of interactions that are positive and productive, while disabling the interactions that are negative and counter-productive.  Leadership Teams will learn how to dramatically reduce discipline referrals, develop meaningful curriculums that motivate teachers and students, create flexible schedules, identify and solve group issues, facilitate change, create motivating staff meetings, and much more.

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Note:  Leading change in schools has been compared to trying to change the tires on a car while it's moving. To me it is more like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree!  Many good administrators have been undone by bad systems within their buildings.  In this session we will look at how to use Brain-Based strategies to facilitate change in schools, simplify your life and enhance your school.  We will look at how to assess your systems, how to get ownership with your staff, and how to keep things simple.  Whatever your leadership role, strategies will be shared to help the leaders become a more effective Leadership Team.

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Click here to see Customized Training Based on this Book and Session

Note:  In workshop and seminar settings, I ask that schools and/or districts bring their Leadership Teams.  Leadership Teams could include Administrators, Team Leaders, Teacher Leaders, Department/Curriculum Leaders, Counselors, Committee Chairs, School Improvement Committee Members, District Level Personnel and anyone else charged with leadership responsibilities all of whom will benefit from this session.  Past participants have said this is the most practical session on leadership they have ever attended.  Participants will leave with System Models, Forms and Processes that will help define issues and simplify the change process.  What I do is demonstrate how to get your staff invested in each other's success.  When teachers are truly invested in each other's curriculum development, classroom instruction, discipline and so on, progress is inevitable.

Leadership Teams should bring several sample discipline referrals and the curriculum outlines for at least one grade level to get the most out of this workshop.  When visiting schools, I help the school apply the steps to the issues that school is facing.  We look at building ownership by getting the staff invested and clearly laying out a game plan to implement change whether it is putting in new practices or adapting and modifying current practices.  In a conference format with less time, we will look at some generic issues to demonstrate how practical and easy we break down the steps for leaders.

3.    FIRE UP FOR LEARNING! Differentiated Instruction to motivate and engage all of the learners in your class!

Session Descriptor:

Supercharge the learning experience in your classroom!  Differentiated instruction means finding ways to reach every student in your classroom.  In this session you will learn creative instructional techniques, assessment options and great activities that can be used in any content area to motivate and challenge the total class.  Participants will learn how to teach to the test without teaching like the test.  Put the fun back into your classroom along with the content rigor and retention we need for the students to test well.  Based on several of Randy's books, including “Fire Up For Learning!” you will leave with ideas to motivate your students, and “Fire Up” your classroom.

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Click here for Information Regarding the Books

Note:  It can be especially difficult to motivate and teach every student in a classroom with widely varying abilities.  We do not want to teach over any of our students and we absolutely cannot water down our curriculum to teach to the lower levels.  Closing the achievement gap means that we need to keep all of our students motivated.  In this session I model activities for teachers to demonstrate how to actively engage every student in their classrooms regardless of the skill levels involved.

This session can be a one day to a multiple day workshop with teachers and departments having the opportunities to develop lessons after the activities and lessons that are modeled for them.  This session is also a very popular concurrent session for conferences.  We do not get to do as many activities, but it is always very motivating for the teachers that participate.

4. Curriculum Development- -With the Brain in Mind!

   A Practical approach to integrating skills, activities, assessments and projects across curriculum areas

      Session Descriptor:

     This session we will demonstrate an easy way to align each content area with the state standards and develop an interdisciplinary approach to instruction.  We will show how to ensure that curriculums are aligned with the state standards so that as each interdisciplinary learning connection is developed test scores are guaranteed to rise.  You will experience the highest levels of teaming as we chart the curriculums and begin to develop shared projects and assessments, which will make teaching and learning more real, relevant, challenging and motivating.  We will also demonstrate how to actively involve the exploratory teachers with the teams.  When you leave this session you will know how to make sure your curriculums are developed to meet the requirements and ensure no child left behind.  Based on the book “Get Fit!  The Personal Trainer for Academic Teams” this is one of the most practical sessions you will ever attend.

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Note:  Every time I do this session participants tell me this is the most practical session they have ever attended.  This session demonstrates an easy way to enhance curriculum development based communication and gets teachers working together in ways that had been impossible before.  If you want to promote collaboration between departments, or you want to get into Project-Based Learning, or you want to start a hugely successful community partnership program then this session will fit your needs.

Interdisciplinary Instruction has often been associated with "Themes" or "Teams" and in this session you will see that you do not have to have either of those to have a very interdisciplinary approach to instruction.  In this session you also see that I do not ask teachers to ever change What they are teaching or When they are teaching it.  This is a system that helps teachers find naturally occurring learning connections with other subjects and share things like worksheets, overheads, and assessment items.  Much of the work done by students gets looked at by multiple teachers, and credit is given in multiple areas.  By cross-referencing the topics we teach with the skills needed from other areas, we reinforce skills between content areas, we motivate our students, we close achievement gaps, and we raise state test scores.

5.   THE STUDENT ASSISTANCE PERIOD - - aka ADVISORY

      DEVELOPING "STUDENT SKILLS" TO PROMOTE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Session Descriptor:

The focus of this "hands on" session is to demonstrate how Advisory programs can promote academic success by working to meet young adolescents' affective as well as cognitive needs. An activity-based, student-centered Advisory program brings together guidance services, teaching staff, and administrators. I like to call Advisory "The Student Assistance Period" as we use that time to assist students in a variety of ways to ensure their academic success.  The goals of this session are to provide numerous activities and how to use this time to create iSAPs - Individual Student Assistance Plans for every student in the school.  Imagine teaching students how to become better students and creating an owner's manual for student success for every student.

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Note:  I prefer to call this time the "Student Assistance Period" because we assist the students in developing the "Student Skills" required to successful in the high school.  My session and the programs I promote are very skill-based.  In this session we identify the skills critical for students to be successful in their particular school setting.  Then I focus on activities that can be used to develop, practice and master these Student Skills.  We tend to teach Student Skills by consequence in education and not by direct instruction.  Advisory gives schools the time and place for the instruction and practice of Student Skills.

When teachers understand the Purpose of Advisory is to help students develop Student Skills, and we identify what those specific skills are, and then give them the materials and training to teach those skills, Advisory Programs can have a huge positive impact on the academic performance of the students, and the climate of the school.

6.iSAP Individual Student Assistance Plans

Session Descriptor:     

     Imagine having easy to use customized Individual Student Assistance Plans for every student that are proactive in diagnosing student issues and providing interventions when needed.  Individual Student Assistance Plans (iSAP’s) are interactive individual plans designed to provide customized assistance for success for each individual student in your school.  At the core of the student assistance plan is the Student Support Team (SST) which will have regular Student Progress Reviews.  In high schools with teams and/or academies, each team or academy will learn how to become a Student Support Team in this session.  Participants will learn how to run Student Progress Review Meetings and how to assess both cognitive and affective skill areas for each student.  Participants will learn how to identify the academic, social, behavioral, emotional and personal needs of each student, as well as learn about the interventions available.  Student goals and the continual assessment of student progress will guide the iSAP process and the Student Support Team’s efforts.  In this session I demonstrate how to use systems already in place to create and maintain iSAPs and keep them teacher friendly.    The iSAP becomes the owner's manual to maximize every student's performance!

7.   INCLUSION CONFUSION

Session Descriptor:

Inclusion. No other term in education seems to create so much confusion. This session looks at what inclusion is -- and isn't. In this session, we will look at what it means to co-teach and how to be successful with inclusion.  A lesson for the inclusion classroom will be shared along with strategies for planning lessons for the inclusion classroom.

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Note:  In this session we look at the advantages of regular education and special needs teachers co-teaching in the same classroom.  We also look at the difficulties that can occur and how to avoid them.  I share and model co-taught lessons and how to plan together for a successful co-teaching experience.  The co-planning time is usually very limited for the teachers that will be teaching together, and often one special needs teacher will be asked to plan and co-teach with more than one regular education teacher.  I have a simplified process and planning form for teachers to use to make the most of their limited planning time.  Inclusion is discussed in detail in one of the chapters in the book "Get Fit!  The Personal Trainer for Academic Teams".

                      Click here for Information Regarding the Book

8."DIFFERENTIATE THIS!"

      Session Descriptor:

     Experience differentiated instruction and take away examples for immediate use in your classroom!  In this session we will demonstrate how to effectively challenge every learner in your classroom regardless of skill level.  You will leave this session with a clear idea of how to design and implement a differentiated lesson so that you will not have to ever teach above or below any of your students.  This session will take the mystery out of differentiated instruction by showing participants easy, practical ways to plan lessons and by giving them activities to take back to help them jump start their classes.

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Note:  Differentiated Instruction simply means finding ways to teach them all.  It can be especially difficult to motivate and teach every student in a classroom with widely varying abilities.  We do not want to teach over any of our students and we absolutely cannot water down our curriculum to teach to the lower levels.  Closing the achievement gap means that we need to keep all of our students motivated.  In this session I model activities for teachers to demonstrate how to actively engage every student in their classrooms regardless of the skill levels involved.

This session can be a one day to a multiple day workshop with teachers and departments having the opportunities to develop lessons after the activities and lessons that are modeled for them.  This session is also a very popular concurrent session for conferences.  We do not get to do as many activities, but it is always very motivating for the teachers that participate.

NOTE:  This session and number 3. "Fire Up for Learning" are essentially the same.

7. THE BEST TEACHERS ON THE BLOCK

Session Descriptor:

So, now that you have those longer periods in the block, what are you going to do with them? You have certain weapons in your teaching arsenal, but 90-110 minutes is a long time to be with one group of students. John Wooden said, "Failure to prepare is preparing to fail." So how do we prepare to take advantage of the block time to meet the wide variety of individual needs of our students? The goal of this session is to explore a variety of teaching models, strategies, and resources for the Extended Learning Time (ELT) of the Block. Learn how to actively involve your students and become the Best Teacher on the Block.

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Note:  Many schools report problems when they move to block schedules such as teachers not covering as much material, classroom management issues due to the longer periods, and student apathy in lecture type classes.  THE SCHEDULE IS NOT THE PROBLEM!  When teachers are properly trained and given the planning time (part of the training should be how to teach students in the extended learning time, and part of the training should be how to plan to teach students in extended learning time) block schedules can have a tremendous impact on student performance.

In this session I like to model lessons designed for block schedules and help teachers develop lessons.  This will require some departmental work on curriculum realignment and individual teacher planning to more actively engage the students in the lessons.  Lecture only will not work in extended periods of time, so I demonstrate how to utilize multiple instructional strategies and how to make the most of teaching in the block.

10.  COMPASS -- SETTING THE COURSE FOR THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

Session Descriptor:

The way to get the community and families reengaged in the educational system is to make them a part of the curriculum. COMPASS (Community Partnerships Assuring Student Success) is an innovative program, which is bringing the community, through its businesses and organizations, into the middle school by linking them with teams and developing a "community-based" curriculum.

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Note:  this session is built into the Curriculum Development- -With the Brain in Mind session (#4) listed above.  We use the COW's that we build in that session to get the business community and parents actively involved with our curriculums.  We want to get their support in the development of our curriculums and in the delivery of our lessons.  The trick is to create a system that enables communication between our teachers and our business community.  We want the business community to have an understanding of what skills are being taught in classes and then give them several ways and opportunities to support our planning and teaching. 

The need for getting the business community meaningfully involved is critical, and the impact a program like COMPASS can have on your school cannot be overstated.

11.   BUILDING BLOCKS I

               Creative Scheduling Options for Schools

Session Descriptor:

If your school were a car, then your schedule would be the engine. It doesn't matter how nice the body looks, if the engine isn't running well, you're not going far. The "muscle" behind the middle school is in its block schedule. Flexible instructional delivery, student movement, team effectiveness, advisory, alternative assessment, etc., are all determined, to no small extent, by the block schedule. The goal of this session is to look at the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of block schedules.

12.   BUILDING BLOCKS II

Session Descriptor:

Now that you have decided that a block schedule is for you, how do you build it? This session takes a look at the nuts & bolts of building a block schedule. This is a practical, roll-up-your-sleeves look at the process of schedule development.

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Note:  In these sessions I give the participants a look at the various kinds of "Block" schedules and  the various modifications that are used in Middle and High Schools.  I demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages as well as the challenges of building the various types of schedules. During this presentation we take a look at how to build different schedules, and just as importantly, how to get the most use out of whatever schedule they might have. There are some guiding principles for building the most effective and efficient schedules, but schools need to understand that no two schedules look alike!  Every school is unique and will have to look at scheduling accordingly. Also, scheduling should not be just about teacher assignments.  The scheduling process should include a look at student movement patterns, the impact on curriculum development and delivery, teacher room assignments, and other issues in the building.     (Note: Building Blocks I & II can be, and often are, combined for one session.)

12.  "GRIN AND BEAR IT!"

Session Descriptor:

Did Daniel Boone really grin down a bear? Who knows, but you can always get further with a grin than a growl. This session will present how to build and maintain a positive school climate. Starting with good communication, many ideas and strategies will be presented to make your school a positive, productive, and FUN place to work and learn.

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Feel free to contact me at gator@edugator.com  

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PLEASE NOTE: Sessions may be combined or customized to suit individual needs.  Most sessions can also be altered to fit any time slot from one hour (conferences or planning periods), to multiple days (in-service days or retreats).

Copyright 1997 -  2010 © Mākitso, Inc -- All Rights Reserved

2804 Waterford Circle, Nashville, TN  37221
Revised 03/01/10