This professional learning session was conducted for school leadership at the annual School Leadership Conference 2024. The session included an introduction to specially designed instruction and accommodations, a model lesson where the participants were immersed in a co-taught lesson as students themselves with specific IEP accommodations, and this was followed by a fishbowl exercise where they witnessed co-teachers providing SDI to select students. Participants were challenged to think about how they can take these co-teaching practices back to their local schools in supporting their teachers. 

Co-Teaching in Action Presentation

Co-Teaching in Action Resource Pack

This was an in-person session conducted for the Science Institute. Teachers got a brief introduction to accommodations and specially designed instruction. Then, they worked with three case studies of three students with different processing deficits and brainstormed ideas on how to support them in a science classroom. I shared my brainstorming process and additional ideas with each of the students. 

The presentation can be found here: One Size Does Not Fit All - Science Institute

This was a professional learning session conducted for GCPS mentors who will be supporting the new special education teachers. The session was divided into two parts. The first part was for new mentors only and focused on the basics of mentoring and some skills to support them. Veteran mentors joined in for the second part, which was new learning, that was focused on avoiding both procedural and content pitfalls in developing a compliant IEP. Mentors reviewed the different court cases associated with each pitfall and drafted a collaborative list of proactive suggestions to use as mentors. All resources are linked to the presentation.

GCPS Special Education Mentor Training 2024

This professional learning session was conducted for other instructional coaches and specialists within Gwinnett County Public Schools to introduce them to some instructional practices that we share with middle and high school special education teachers. The session included an overview of specially designed instruction and accommodations, a model lesson where the participants were immersed in co-taught lessons as students themselves with specific IEP accommodations, and this was followed by a fishbowl exercise where they witnessed co-teachers providing SDI to select students. Participants were also exposed to high-leverage practices and had a chance to dive deep into selected HLPs. 

Best Practices in Special Education Presentation

Best Practices in Special Education Resource Pack

This was a series of trainings that were conducted for different audiences. The base for all three presentations was the same with slight modifications to gear it to the audience. 

For curators, or those working on creating science resources and lessons for teachers, the session focused on what accessibility supports can look like and how to "bake" those into a lesson plan for teachers to use. Curators also took time to bake accessibility supports into their own lessons and share out the adaptations they made.

Presentation for Curators

For course team leads and department chairs, the focus was on identifying ways accessibility supports can easily be included in a lesson.

Presentation for Leaders

Resource Hub

For teachers, the module was done asynchronously with teachers doing similar activities to those done by the curators and leaders but in an asynchronous format.

Presentation for Teachers (Asynchronous) 

Asynchronous Resource Hub

This was an asynchronous session created for special education teachers to learn the basics of case management at their own time and pace. This session includes a case management checklist teachers can use as they progress through the module to set them up for the year. 

This module allows teachers to access the material in video and written/slide format. They can pick the mode that works best for them as they go through each section of the module.

Case Management (Asynchronous Module)

Case Management Checklist

This training is an interactive session for teachers supporting students with disabilities and is focused specifically on providing accommodations to the different learners in the group. This session involves a mock lesson in which participants are assigned a character with specific accommodations in their IEP. Participants participate in a biology lesson in which they are provided with accommodations and their goal is to document which accommodations they have received and/or observed. 

Accommodating the Diverse Learners Presentation

This was a set of two trainings for math general and special education teachers. The first training was focused on specially designed instruction in the teacher-led group and the second was focused on the group away from the teacher. These trainings were in collaboration with a colleague in the math department in order to support math teachers working with students with disabilities and special education teachers supporting the math department. 

Presentation: Teacher-Led Group

Presentation: Group Away from the Teachers

Resource Hub

This was a professional learning session conducted for GCPS mentors who will be supporting the new special education teachers. The session was divided into two parts. The first part was for new mentors only and focused on the basics of mentoring and some skills to support them. Veteran mentors joined in for the second part, which was new learning that involved important reminders to level set on special education compliance. This was a whole group learning in which we shared compliance information that we often receive questions about. We also utilized court cases and allowed participants to vote via paddles and engaged in discussions around the compliance piece of those court cases.

GCPS Special Education Mentor Training 2023

This training was conducted virtually for teachers teaching grades 1-3 at religious education centers around the nation. This was for both new and veteran teachers to give them a recap and/or introduction to the Responsive Classroom pedagogy. Teachers were also given information about social-emotional learning and how to support students. Alongside, teachers were introduced to the different resources they will be receiving from the national team that should be used to support SEL such as individual whiteboards, sensory materials, posters, and more. Additionally, all teachers were introduced to the new premade lesson plans that were rolled out during this training. Teachers were shown an in-depth overview of a sample lesson plan and were shown how to use a "Planning Sheet" which is a document created to support the premade lesson plans in adapting these lesson plans to the individual classrooms.

Responsive Classroom & Lesson Planning Grades 1-3 Presentation 

This training was conducted virtually for teachers teaching grades 4-6 at religious education centers around the nation. This was for both new and veteran teachers to give them a recap and/or introduction to the Responsive Classroom pedagogy. Teachers were also given information about social-emotional learning and how to support students. Alongside, teachers were introduced to the different resources they will be receiving from the national team that should be used to support SEL such as individual whiteboards, sensory materials, posters, and more. Lastly, teachers were given a recap of the premade lesson plans they have available as well as how to adapt these to the needs of their students.

Responsive Classroom & Lesson Planning Grades 4-6 Presentation 

This training was a 3-part series where individual schools could choose to do only part 1 of this series or do all three parts. The first session focused on the different models of co-teaching and what they would look and feel like - here participants got to experience all the models as learners. The second session focused on planning a co-teaching lesson and the third session consists of peer observations. The first part of this series was adapted to Co-Teaching in the Digital and Concurrent environment as well as adapted to an online session but for Co-Teaching in person. 

Co-Teaching 101

Co-Teaching 101 (Presented Digitally) AND Resource Hub

Co-Teaching 101 for the Digital and Concurrent Setting

Co-Teaching 102

This was a 3-part series in which teachers were introduced to Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) and then given the tools and strategies to be able to identify students' needs and match appropriate strategies. The first part of this series was adapted into a digital session as well as a solo session for other school leaders - below you will see various parts and versions of this presentation. 

Digital Single Presentation

Digital Resource Hub

Part 1 of 3 Presentation

Part 2 of 3 Presentation

Part 3 of 3 Presentation

This session was created for new and veteran teachers to help them in staying organized when it comes to their case management responsibilities. The session begins with an introduction to the role of a case manager and then provides specific examples and tools for organization - including a case management toolkit!

The presentation can be found here: Case Management Organization

The toolkit can be found here: Case Management Toolkit (Restricted to GCPS GSuite Users)

This was a two-part series to introduce new and veteran teachers to progress monitoring. Participants first got an in-depth understanding of what progress monitoring is and why it is important. Participants then were able to create measurable goals and objectives and then create probes to match those specific goals and objectives. 

The session was also updated to be a one-part series in which teachers get an in-depth understanding of creating probes by matching objectives to probes. 

The presentation for part 1 can be found here: Progress Monitoring Part 1

The presentation for part 2 can be found here: Progress Monitoring Part 2

The updated presentation can be found here: Progress Monitoring

This resource pack was provided to participants: Progress Monitoring Resource Pack

This training was conducted for Heads of Instruction that support religious education centers around the nation. This session was attended by both new and retuning Heads of Instructions and was meant to ensure that all leaders were on the same page in terms of how to support their teachers when it comes to lesson planning and its components. A Dunkin Donuts theme was used to motivate and inspire Heads of Instruction and to help them understand what a crucial component they are of their religious education centers.

The presentation can be found here: Rethink: Modeling Leadership

The link sheet used by participants can be found here: Rethink: Modeling Leadership Link Sheet

This presentation was conducted for teachers that were supporting students during the summer session of Extended School Year. This session provided teachers with ways to build relationships and a classroom community in the digital classroom. It also provided teachers with an introduction to some of the zoom features that are helpful in digital classroom management. And lastly, this presentation introduced various ways Google tools can be used to enhance digital instruction. 

The presentation can be found here: Navigating Digital Instruction for ESY

Note Taker and Link Sheet: Navigating Digital Instruction for ESY Notes and Links

Resources Site: Navigating Digital Instruction for ESY Site

This training was conducted virtually for teachers teaching grades 4-6 at religious education centers around the nation. This was for both new and veteran teachers to level set the themes and big ideas from the religious education curriculum for grades 4-6. Additionally, teachers were introduced to the responsive classroom elements that they can incorporate into their pre-made lesson plans to better support students.

The presentation can be found here: Responsive Classroom and Lesson Planning Grades 4-6

The link sheet used by participants can be found here: RC and LP Grades 4-6 Link Sheet

Department chairs and other school admin play a big role in supporting co-teaching at the local schoo level. To ensure they were able to continue to support the different co-teaching models in the digital and concurrent environments, I presented a session with a colleague where participants were able to experience all of the different co-teaching models digitally. Along with experiencing those models digitally and understanding what they would look like concurrently, we also embedded a number of different tech tools throughout the session so they could also experience the user end of those different tools.

The presentation can be found here: Social Emotional View of the Child

The link sheet used by participants: Social Emotional View of the Child Link Sheet

I created this session for the computer science teacher in my district. Many students with disabilities take classes in the computer science department, but often teachers in the department aren't familiar with the best way to support students with disabilities. I provided explicitly examples and strategies that they can utilize in their classrooms.

The presentation can be found here: Computer Science for Students with Disabilities 

Department chairs and other school admin play a big role in supporting co-teaching at the local schoo level. To ensure they were able to continue to support the different co-teaching models in the digital and concurrent environments, I created this session with a colleague where participants were able to experience all of the different co-teaching models digitally. Along with experiencing those models digitally and understanding what they would look like concurrently, we also embedded a number of different tech tools throughout the session so they could also experience the user end of those different tools.

The presentation can be found here: Co-Teaching in the Digital and Concurrent Environment

This training was conducted for district level staff including directors, coordinators, and instructional coaches to provide them with how to use the tool Nearpod both for professional development purpose and to support teachers using it in the classroom. 

The presentation can be found here: All About Nearpod

This was a two part series focused on how to write compliant and meaningful IEP goals and objectives. In part 1, I focused on the different parts of a goal/objective and then in part 2 I focused on revising and writing goals/objectives. As part of the second session, I created a workbook that teachers worked on in small groups. 

The presentation for Part 1 can be found here: IEP Goals and Objective Part 1

The presentation for Part 2 can be found here: IEP Goals and Objective Part 2

The workbook for Part 2 can be found here: IEP Goals and Objectives Workbook Answer Key

Just like many schools have taken on a virtual approach, so has religious education. I conducted a training for new and veteran teachers that are embarking on virtual teaching. I covered the following objectives: 

• To understand the concept of co-teaching in a virtual environment

• To navigate various scenarios in a virtual environment

• To acquire strategies that will help “dissolve the screen”

The presentation can be found here: Navigating RE in the Virtual Environment

This was a training a designed and implemented for a group of local volunteer teachers. This session was aimed at providing teachers with new ideas and strategies they can use in their classroom the very next week to be able to formatively assess student in various ways. The main component of the training was a carousel activity in which participants went through 6 stations where they learned about a formative assessment strategy (3 tech and 3 non-tech) and then had the opportunity to actually make one of their own. The entire training also had a pre-quiz and some recap and reflection activities through which ALL 6 of these strategies were embedded, which allowed participants to see all the strategies in action. 

Here is the presentation that was used: Adding Spice to Formative Assessments

Here are the station directions:  Adding Spice Station Directions and Supplies

Here is the resource packet participants used to develop the different types of questions based on Blooms and DOK: Adding Spice Notes and Resource Packet

Here is the landing page that participants were sent to access ALL of the digital resources shared during the training (Password = SPICE): Resource Page

This was a webinar conducted for volunteer teachers around the country to introduce them to the concept of responsive classroom and specifically to two components of it - energizers and quiet time. I incorporated a number of interactive components throughout the webinar to ensure participants were engaged and understanding. This webinar was conducted by another volunteer and myself as both of us attended the Responsive Classroom Elementary Education Course. 

The presentation can be found by click here: Responsive Classroom PD Webinar

This was a 15 minutes presentation at the Innovation in Teaching Conference where I covered how to utilize both two column notes and different tech tools to formatively assess students throughout a lesson. This is the presentation deck that was used: 

Formatively Assessing Throughout a Lesson

This was a 1.5 hour module that I created to support teachers and management memebers that worked with students for classes where student learned specific rites and prayers. The purpose of this training was to provide the participants with classroom management tools, strategies to work with students, and how to deal with difficult situations with specific scenarios. I used an MnM theme and we began our day by opening a pack of MnMs that were labeled "stress relief pills" and used that for an icebreaker and later on for a classroom managmeent strategy.  Here is the presentation that I developed for the training: 

Stress Relievers Presentation

This was a one hour module conducted for teacher and management to help them build a community not only within the classroom, but also within the entire religious education center. The module consisted of building relationships, building a positive classroom community, and how to reduce misbehaviors. Here is the presentation that I developed for the training:  

Building a Community Presentation

This was a two hour module conducted for teachers to help them understand the best practice of co-teaching. This training also looked at lesson planning based on the religious education curriculum - this included utilizing the objectives, utilized premade lessons, and incorporating creativing within the lessons. Here is the presentation that I developed for the training:  

Co-Teaching and Lesson Planning Presentation