Substitute Teacher Essentials – Resources and Support

Session Description:
There are many challenges that go along with substitute teaching, especially when facing a classroom full of unfamiliar faces each day. Until teachers begin to see the same children repeatedly, engaging their attention and commanding their respect can be daunting. Join Michelle Dragalin for this time-saving, to-the-point session as she shares a variety of resources to help substitute teachers manage classroom culture and routines, facilitate instruction, and play an active role in the school community. Participants will also walk away with a toolkit of support tools that can increase substitute teacher confidence and effectiveness.

Learning Objectives:
Explore resources to help substitute teachers manage classroom culture and routines, facilitate instruction, and play an active role in the school community. Discover support tools that can increase substitute teacher confidence and effectiveness in the classroom.
Assessment:
Participants will join a collaborative backchannel chat and discuss substitute teacher resources to demonstrate their understanding of the session objectives and reflect on their learning.

Tools to Help Substitute Teachers Thrive

Session Description:
In the post-pandemic educational environment, substitute teachers are more in demand than ever before, with the surge of teachers exiting the classroom and high absenteeism due to demanding workloads or low morale. Join Reba Gordon Matthews for this time-saving, to-the-point session as she shares her favorite tools and resources to help you thrive as a substitute teacher. You will also learn how to quickly gain positive control of the classroom, foster teacher-student relationships, and effectively deliver instruction when there is no formal lesson plan available.

Learning Objectives:
Develop a substitute teacher toolkit with everyday educational tools and resources to help you thrive in the classroom. Explore techniques to quickly gain positive control of the classroom, foster teacher-student relationships, and effectively deliver instruction when there is no formal lesson plan available.
Assessment:
Participants will join a collaborative backchannel chat and discuss substitute teaching strategies to demonstrate their understanding of the session objectives and reflect on their learning.

Life After Teacher Burnout

Session Description:
As an educator, protecting your own mental health and well-being often feels like an obstacle that continues to be overlooked. You work with students, colleagues, and parents around the clock while juggling numerous tasks and making sure everyone is taken care of first before yourself. That is why it is no surprise that at some point in time many teachers will experience burnout due to this complex environment - exhaustion during the day or too much work on top of classroom duties. Join Dr. Courtney Teague for this time-saving, to the point session as she shares proven steps you can take to effectively cope with the symptoms of teacher burnout and get back on track! With the helpful strategies that you will learn in this session, you will be able to recover from burnout more quickly and efficiently - enabling you to carry on with the noble task of educating our future generations.

Learning Objectives:
Describe the symptoms of teacher burnout and identify steps you can take to effectively recover and get back on track.Reflect on your “why” for becoming an educator and identify strategies to help you reconnect daily with the reasons why you teach.
Assessment:
Participants will complete an exit ticket to demonstrate their understanding of the session objectives and reflect on their learning.

Get Student Behaviors Under Control or Get Eaten Alive!

Workshop Description:
Have you mastered your curriculum and content in vain? Since the pandemic, there has been a dramatic spike in challenging student behaviors, and these behaviors need to be under control for successful academic learning to take place.

Join Ryan Jeffery as he shares a variety of tools and strategies you can use to manage your classroom that may not have been taught in university or on most professional development days. You will also learn how to master these proven keys to classroom management so you can have the time, energy, and skills to navigate this new era of education.

Learning Objectives:
Apply relationship principles that are most effective with students that present challenging behaviors.Create 3-5 behavior expectations to be taught to students in their classrooms.Evaluate the hierarchy of behavior consequences to determine which consequences should be used for mild, moderate, or severe student behaviors.

Special Technology Instructions: Participants will need access to an internet device and a non-school, personal Google account. SimpleK12’s Google Classroom will be utilized for the interactive and hands-on components of this workshop.

Assessment:
Participants will complete an exit ticket to demonstrate their understanding of the workshop objectives and reflect on their learning.

The Perfect Recipe for Increasing Parent Engagement

Session Description:
We all know that parent engagement improves student achievement. However, the current pandemic and forced virtual learning pulled the blanket off and revealed the different various levels of parental involvement in our students' homes as well as some interesting views parents have about their part in their child's education. Join Reba Gordon Matthews as she shares a variety of strategies that can improve teacher-parent interactions and begin to experience a better level of parent engagement. You will also walk away with tools to design a communication plan that values diversity, equity, and inclusion and keeps parents/guardians abreast of their child’s progress and challenges.

Learning Objectives:
Identify the different methods and tools that can be used to communicate with parents/guardians.
Recognize the appropriate method(s) of communication based upon each child's parent/guardian level of engagement. (Ex: paper, email, text message, communication apps, phone calls, blog, etc.)
Design a communication plan that values diversity, equity, and inclusion and keeps parents/guardians abreast of their child’s progress and challenges.

Assessment: Participants will join a collaborative backchannel chat and discuss ways to increase parent engagement

What are Choice Boards and How Do They Benefit Student Learning?

Workshop Description:
Choice boards are effective tools for increasing student autonomy and engagement. Join Matt Bergman as he shares a framework for developing choice boards, an explanation of the various kinds of choice boards, and how they can be used to benefit student learning. Participants will also have an opportunity to create their own multi-column and multi-row task-based choice board that they can immediately use with their students.

Learning Objective:
Create a multi-column and multi-row task-based choice board to optimize student's voice, choice, and autonomy.
Special Technology Instructions: Participants will need access to an internet device and a non-school, personal Google account. SimpleK12’s Google Classroom will be utilized for the interactive and hands-on components of this workshop.

Assessment: Participants will complete an exit ticket at the end of the workshop to assess their understanding.

Staying Up to Date with Google Workspaces

Session Description:
Want to discover the latest features available for some of the Google tools that you use on a regular basis? Join Deb Norton as she shares the newest updates and features for Google Docs, Slides, Drawings, Gmail, and more! You will also walk away with a variety of tips and tricks for integrating the Google Tools for Education in creative and time-saving ways.

Learning Objective:
Plan innovative activities and lessons utilizing the various tools in Google Workspaces.

Assessment: Participants will respond to discussion prompts throughout the session to demonstrate their understanding of the session objective and reflect on their learning.

Getting Started with ChatGPT in the Classroom

Workshop Description:

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence-based tool that can help teachers generate automated responses to student queries and offer a variety of personalized learning experiences. Join Dr. Samantha Fecich for this hands-on, interactive workshop as she shares best practices for using ChatGPT in the classroom. Participants will also experience using ChatGPT for themselves and walk away with a handout of resources and prompts that can be used with their students the very next day.

Learning Objectives:

Explain the capabilities and limitations of using ChatGPT in the classroom.Discover best practices for using ChatGPT to generate automated responses to student queries and offer personalized learning experiences.
Special Technology Instructions:

Participants will need access to an internet device, a free ChatGPT account, and a non-school, personal Google account. SimpleK12’s Google Classroom will be utilized for the interactive and hands-on components of this workshop.

Assessment:

Participants will be assessed through their responses to discussion prompts to demonstrate their understanding of the workshop objectives and reflect on their learning.