CONVERSATIONS…A Professional Development Experience
Life is about relationships and conversations. Research has shown that educators are given the least amount of time for collaboration and professional dialogue. This time essential in order to develop best practices, professional competencies and improved pedagogy. “CONVERSATIONS” is a Professional Development Experience that allows educators to grow personally as they improve professionally. The “CONVERSATIONS” have proven to be essential elements in creating the types of teachers and schools that positively impact the lives of students.
“Cognitive Conversations” is a professional development workshop that addresses the need to recognize and develop the individual talents and abilities in every student. This workshop integrates cooperative activity, group dialogue and independent reflection. It is an excellent complement to new teacher training and is designed based on the work of Lev Vgotsky, Carol Ann Tomlinson, and Howard Gardner. Concepts covered are “Zone of Proximal Development”, “Instructional Differentiation”, “Multiple Intelligences” and assessing student achievement.
“Cultural Conversations” is a multi-day professional development workshop that addresses the intensely significant issues of race, class, culture and campus climate. This workshop series is designed to equip faculty and staff to address the multi-faceted cultural needs of students and colleagues from diverse backgrounds via professional dialogue, personal reflection and genuine interaction. Session one addresses the areas that surround cultural bias, individual perception and cultural awareness. Subsequent workshops explore stereotyping; discrimination; authentic dialogue and helping students become culturally competent, socially sensitive and academically successful.
“Social Conversations” focuses on the essential components of developing staff cohesion via healthy relationships, authentic understanding and genuine interaction. This workshop is designed for participants to consider their role as members of an organization while recognizing the value of the contributions of their colleagues. Components of this professional development are self disclosure, small group strategizing, teambuilding, conflict resolution and consensus building.
“Community Conversations” is a two-part professional development workshop that addresses the questions; “What is the vision of our organization? What are the culture and climate of our organization? How do we align the vision with the culture and climate? This series challenges participants to understand the need and contribute to establishing a healthy, focused and productive environment. The emphasis of part-two is action planning and development of a timeline for implementation of strategies that support the vision.
“Reflective Leadership Conversations” is specifically designed to address faculty and staff leadership needs. T his workshop addresses topics which include meta-cognitive skills, personal reflection, defining organizational roles, problem solving and strategy-based skill development, developing healthy group dynamics and cultivating leadership skills at your site. Fast-paced and differentiated, this experience will be interactive, engaging and challenge all participants to recognize their leadership strengths and growth areas while being able to help their peers and colleagues do the same.
More CONVERSATIONS Coming Soon!
