Summer 2018 Professional Development Courses!

The snow has mostly melted and it’s almost summer again. That means it is time to register for professional development courses offered by SPFT! SPFT’s Teaching and Learning Center is proud to offer a variety of educator created and led professional development offerings, which can be taken to meet relicensure requirements, graduate school credits, or lane changes.

All of these courses are offered free of charge to our members! To register for these courses, sign up on PDExpress. Search SPFT to find these courses. You can also find a flyer we distributed at the April Membership Meeting to post in your building here.

Not an SPFT member? You can still register for our courses. Find out more information here.

If you have any questions, contact our Interim Professional Development Coordinator, Sarah Johnson, at sarahjo.johnson@spps.org.

Behavior Management Courses:

Managing Behavior in School Communities

This course is an introduction and overview of the topic of Anti-Social Behavior. Participants will examine research and methods beginning with a definition for and characteristics of anti-social behavior and continuing with an exploration of theories and practical strategies for working with students who struggle with these kinds of social and emotional challenges.

June 18-21 from 8:30am – 4:00pm

Meets relicensure requirements R & U

Managing Behavior in School Communities II

This course will explore cooperative small group learning, self-control strategies, anger management, designing replacement behaviors, behavior enhancement and reduction, the de-escalation cycle, supporting chronically absent students, and school-wide behavior support practices.

August 6-9 from 8:30am – 4:00pm

Meets relicensure requirements R & U

Managing Behavior for Support Staff

This course is designed for school-related personnel and paraprofessionals who have contact with and/or are responsible for managing behavior and safety of students. Participants will engage in small and large group activities and discussions as they interact with the research around best practices for engaging and supporting students.

Section A: June 25-28 from 8:30-4:00

Section B: August  6-9 from 8:30-4:00

Meets relicensure requirements R & U

Courses on Family Engagement:

Academic Parent Teacher Teams

This training will provide teachers and support staff with the information and resources that they need to implement APTT (Academic Parent Teacher Teams).  During APTT Conferences families and teachers meet as a large group, look at student data together, and practice activities that families can do at home to work on grade level skills.  By signing up for the training you are making a commitment to implement APTT the following school year.  If you would like more information about APTT before signing up, please contact Hannah Pierson at hannah.pierson@spps.org.

Section: A June 12-13 from 8:30am – 4:00pm

Section: B August 20-21 from 8:30am – 4:00pm

Parent Teacher Home Visits

This interactive session- led by a team of parents and teachers that are directly involved in the work- introduces the research, logistics, step by step guide, practice and skills of building effective relationships between families and teachers as co-educators of a child.

Section A: June 22 from 8:30am – 12:00pm

Section C: July 17 from 8:30am – 12:00pm

Section D: August 29 from 8:30am – 12:00pm

School, Family, Community Partnerships

Do you want to strengthen your communication between school and home?  Are you interested in creating meaningful relationships and partnerships to support student success?  This is the course for you!

June 12-15 from 8:30am – 4:00pm

Reading Courses:

Beginning Reading Instruction

This class will focus on the theories of emergent readers and looks at practical application in the classroom. This class will explore ways to work with phonemic awareness and phonics, book selection and the alphabetic principles. Learn how to record and analyze reading behaviors plus much, much more.

June 18-21 from 8:30am – 4:00pm

Meets relicensure requirements S & T

Reading Comprehension Instruction

Reading Comprehension Instruction is appropriate for all pre-K-12 teachers who need to increase their students’ comprehension of text. Participants will examine, discuss and evaluate the appropriate application of a range of instructional strategies including narrative and expository text structures, comprehension strategy instruction, Reciprocal Teaching, Questioning the Author, and vocabulary development.

June 25-28 from 8:30am – 4:00pm

Meets relicensure requirements S & T

Courses to Support Instruction:

Making Data and Assessments Work for You

Participants will surface their assumptions about data and will begin to identify what’s meant by “data;” understand two different types of assessment data and their uses and limitations; organize and use standards to help guide instruction and assessment; select, develop, and use quality classroom assessments and analyze data to make informed decisions about school improvement and instruction.

June 25-28 from 8:30am – 4:00pm 

Foundations of Effective Instruction

This course helps participants look at seminal educational research around best teaching practices. Classes provide time for educators to reflect and interact while examining relevant research and work on ways to implement it in their work with students. Topics covered are: Classroom and Group Management, Time on Task, Feedback and Praise, Interactive Direct Instruction, Cooperative Small Groups, Differentiated Instruction, and the Culturally Relevant Teaching.

Section D: June 12-15 from 8:30-4:00

Section E: June 18-21 from 8:30-4:00

Section G: August 6-9 from 8:30-4:00

Section H: August 13-16 from 8:30-4:00

Meets relicensure requirements R & S

Instructional Strategies that Work

This course provides practical applications of instructional strategies identified in the research on effective instruction. The focus of this course is cognitive strategies that foster critical thinking and transferability of acquired skills resulting in learners moving from novice to experts. Course participants will also learn how to evaluate curriculum materials, organize content for learning, and develop scoring guides for student tasks.

August 13-16 from 8:30-4:00

ELL Module 1

This course is designed for ALL mainstream PreK-12 educators that teach and support English Language Learners.  Participants will gain an understanding of second language acquisition to increase awareness of ELLs strengths and empathy for their needs. Participants will identify strategies to scaffold and differentiate instruction, increase knowledge of state and federal laws for ELLs, and examine research-based instructional strategies to optimize academic learning for ELLs.

June 13-15 from 8:30-3:00

Meets relicensure requirement S

Making Data and Assessments Work for You

Participants will surface their assumptions about data and will begin to identify what’s meant by “data;” understand two different types of assessment data and their uses and limitations; organize and use standards to help guide instruction and assessment; select, develop, and use quality classroom assessments and analyze data to make informed decisions about school improvement and instruction.

June 25-28 from 8:30-4:00