Frontline Education

1. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 11/7/2022

The second year of this free virtual series will delve deeper into some familiar topics like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity and Mental Health while introducing new topics for discussion like grading for equity. These one hour sessions will be structured to introduce participants to new and seminal research in the topic area, pose questions to initiate robust discussion and offer practical immediately applicable strategies.

2. Aspiring Leaders Seminar

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: all educators

Dates: 11/9/2022

Are you considering a school leadership role? Then please join the Greater Capital Region Principals' Center Board and CASDA for the Aspiring Leaders Seminar being held virtually on November 9, 2022 from 4-6 p.m. Hear from a panel of experts on best practices in preparing for leadership positions. Engage with colleagues in breakout sessions facilitated by Principals Policy Center Board members and explore topics of interest to you. Begin building your network of peers in leadership roles and start on your path to becoming a school leader.

3. School Counselors Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: school counselors

Dates: 11/10/2022 to 5/18/2023

School counselors serve an essential role in helping students maximize educational opportunities, develop and engage interests and plan for a future beyond graduation. Relationships and engagement with students and their families form the foundation of this work. The School Counselors Roundtable, a collaborative offering from CASDA and the Capital District Counselors Association (CDCA), is a professional learning community that will focus on strategies for developing and sustaining engagement with students and families. We will build upon themes identified in the initial meetings and continue to provide a space for counselors to share effective practices that meet the academic and social emotional needs of students, as well as seek to integrate the expertise and perspective of higher education counselors in order to build bridges to ensure support across the P-20 Continuum. Additionally, the roundtable will address the topic of coordination of support services for students in relation to the following needs: academic, social/emotional, risk/crisis, and mental health.

4. Communicating with Challenging Audiences

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: school leaders

Dates: 11/14/2022

This workshop will assist administrators with strategies to comfortably address difficult audiences. Participants will learn: -Effective ways to prepare for and present to difficult audiences. -How to disarm combative audience members. -Effective ways to get your points across.

5. Scheduling for Student Growth

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: school leaders

Dates: 12/1/2022

Time is perhaps a school's most valuable resource. The Master Schedule dictates how schools utilize the time of both educators and students throughout the school day and is a reflection of our values and institutional priorities. While developing a Master Schedule can be a frustrating, arduous and even scary process, it is also an opportunity to allocate vital resources towards educational equity, and academic growth. In this initial session we will ask the question: Do our scheduling practices reflect our school and district's mission and goals? We will offer and share strategies on how to organize the school day and week in order to schedule time for meaningful collaboration between teachers, strengthening instruction and providing appropriate interventions and supports for students across academic levels. Please join us to learn more about student-centered, growth-oriented scheduling practices!

6. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 12/5/2022

The second year of this free virtual series will delve deeper into some familiar topics like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity and Mental Health while introducing new topics for discussion like grading for equity. These one hour sessions will be structured to introduce participants to new and seminal research in the topic area, pose questions to initiate robust discussion and offer practical immediately applicable strategies.

7. How to Build and Maintain Effective Teams

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: school leaders

Dates: 12/12/2022

This workshop will assist leaders at all levels to build an effective team and develop team protocols. Learn how to use the talents of all team members, ensure all team members take responsibility for team success, address team conflict, build and sustain trust, construct a team "code of conduct,” and design effective team meeting structures.

8. Media Training for School Leaders

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: school leaders

Dates: 1/12/2023

Register today for "Media Training for School Leaders" and learn helpful interview tips from both a current news anchor and a director of media and community relations. Learn how to clearly communicate the messaging for your district, build a positive relationship with the media, and how to handle the tough questions that might be thrown your way.

9. Navigating Lagging Informational Literacy Skills

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: K-12 teachers

Dates: 1/18/2023 to 2/15/2023

Participants will target the lagging skills their students are exhibiting in reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and will come away with specific instructional strategies that they can use in order to build their students' skills up in those targeted areas. Participants will learn strategies for reading, writing about reading, and for discussion. This course will have a two-hour in-person kick off on 1/18, and then will be followed by four one-hour virtual sessions. This series is for any teacher K-12 who works with students in reading, writing, listening, or speaking about nonfiction and pertains to literacy skills in ELA, Math, Social Studies, Science, Language, Music, Art, PE, Health, Business, and more.

10. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 2/6/2023

The second year of this free virtual series will delve deeper into some familiar topics like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity and Mental Health while introducing new topics for discussion like grading for equity. These one hour sessions will be structured to introduce participants to new and seminal research in the topic area, pose questions to initiate robust discussion and offer practical immediately applicable strategies.

11. Collaborating for Dynamic Co-Teaching

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: ENL teachers, Special Education teachers

Dates: 2/10/2023

Effectively co-taught classrooms are places of dynamic learning in which students' needs and engagement are prioritized in a uniquely inclusive environment. However, there is no clear roadmap to developing a co-teaching practice in which both teachers and students thrive in robust partnerships. This workshop will explore the essentials of organizing and collaborating to build a co-teaching partnership that centers the strengths of each teaching partner to best meet the unique needs of the students in their classrooms. Practitioners in both Special Education and ENL co-taught classrooms are encouraged to attend together to develop their collective capacity and explore strategies to improve collaborative planning and instruction to best serve students. Participants will: - Start building the essential groundwork for collaboration. - Explore their own and their co-teachers needs and expectations for a strong partnership. - Brainstorm innovative ways to collaborate. - Explore different co-teaching models and when they can be applied. - Discuss different scenarios that co-teachers may face. - Have a chance to plan a co-taught lesson to implement in their classroom.

12. Meeting the Social Emotional Needs of Our Students and Ourselves

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: all educators

Dates: 3/6/2023 to 3/27/2023

The revolving door of SEL initiatives is exhausting, and it can be difficult to keep up with the new terminology and programs constantly hitting your inbox. This series will be rooted in the core research and strategies necessary to meet the SEL needs of our students and ourselves, while still teaching the content we joined this profession to teach. Participants will reflect on intersections of best practices for SEL, including trauma-informed care, lagging SEL skills, teaching students with poverty in mind, and being restorative through daily instructional delivery. Participants will also reflect on how students' behavior and SEL presentation impacts them as individuals and how this connects to their interactions with students.

13. Increasing the Power of Your Guided Reading Groups

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: K-2 teachers

Dates: 3/16/2023

Guided Reading Groups can be very powerful in helping students make shifts in their reading processing and skills. This workshop will focus on Kindergarten through Second Grade reading levels and will help participants learn how to maximize these 15-20 minute groups through targeting planning, time management, organization, effective assessment and decision-making, and powerful, focused teaching. Participants will view and analyze videos, and will receive ideas and resources to use immediately in their small group instruction. This workshop will include: Book/text selection to support students' instructional needs Book/text introductions to foster independent first reads Word work and decoding to support word-solving Teaching for fluency Teaching for strategies Managing small groups

14. Aspiring Leaders Seminar plus consultation

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: aspiring educational leaders

Dates: 3/27/2023

For educators (interns, new administrators, team leaders, department chairs) considering a career in administration, currently taking courses, or entering the field. Are you considering a school leadership role? Hear from a panel of experts on what it means to lead and how to close a school year strong. Engage with local college and university representatives about their administrative leadership programs. Join Principals' Center Board Members in mock interview breakout sessions. Hear from other aspiring leaders as the session wraps up. Begin building your network of peers in leadership roles and start on your path to becoming a school leader.

15. Aspiring Leaders Seminar

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: aspiring educational leaders

Dates: 3/27/2023

Are you considering a school leadership role? Then please join the Greater Capital Region Principals' Center Board and CASDA for our second Aspiring Leaders Seminar of the year being held on March 27, 2023 from 4-6 p.m. Hear from a panel of experts on what it means to lead and how to close a school year strong. Next, engage with local college and university representatives about their administrative programs. Join Principals' Center Board Members in mock interview breakout sessions. Finally, hear from other aspiring leaders in a share out session. Begin building your network of peers in leadership roles and start on your path to becoming a school leader.

16. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 4/24/2023

The second year of this free virtual series will delve deeper into some familiar topics like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity and Mental Health while introducing new topics for discussion like grading for equity. These one hour sessions will be structured to introduce participants to new and seminal research in the topic area, pose questions to initiate robust discussion and offer practical immediately applicable strategies.

17. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 5/8/2023

The second year of this free virtual series will delve deeper into some familiar topics like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity and Mental Health while introducing new topics for discussion like grading for equity. These one hour sessions will be structured to introduce participants to new and seminal research in the topic area, pose questions to initiate robust discussion and offer practical immediately applicable strategies.

18. Reimagining School Safety Through an SEL Lens

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: educators and administrators

Dates: 7/11/2023 to 7/13/2023

Why is it important for districts to assess SEL related programming and initiatives? Recent data shows that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic more of our students are experiencing poor mental health outcomes and exhibiting problematic behavior. When schoolwide, data driven SEL programs are utilized, students' sense of well-being, academic performance, and behavioral outcomes improve. Research shows us that SEL programming is more impactful if it is district wide, involves all school stakeholders, is well resourced, linked to district goals/mission, and regularly assessed. Participants will be provided with tools and supports to examine and assess current SEL related programming in their district. This workshop will include discussions and analysis related to: -Current trends in student and staff social and emotional health and safety -Data driven SEL related programming -The creation of a district level SEL-action plan Assessment of and reflection on SEL related programming is essential to ensure alignment with key district goals and research-supported best practices. This session would be most beneficial if districts send a team of educators and administrators who would have first hand knowledge of current SEL related programming.

19. Balancing Restorative and Traditional Approaches to Discipline and Culture

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: educators and administrators

Dates: 7/20/2023

Closed

What does it mean for disciplinary policies and practices to "work?" Who do they work for? What messages do they send to students, staff, and families? This workshop will explore the relationship between discipline and school culture and provide participants with restorative strategies that build community and encourage learning and accountability. -Explore essential concepts within the restorative practices continuum. -Understand the relationship between consequences and behavior. -Reflect on the role of disciplinary practices in school culture. What messages are we sending to kids? To educators?

20. Connecting ELA Data to Instruction

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: educators and administrators

Dates: 7/27/2023

The return of state testing presents an opportunity to rethink how we engage with data at both the classroom and systems level. This workshop will explore how assessment data can be used to highlight what is being taught successfully and what may need to be improved as you begin to develop priorities for the 2023-24 school year with a clear emphasis on implications for classroom instruction. The session will also provide strategies to ensure that data conversations are focused, productive, and avoid deficit driven narratives about both students and teachers. Learning Objectives: -Learn to analyze assessment data (state and local) to develop instructional priorities -Utilize data to evaluate current instructional strategies -Identify power standards and accompanying instructional methods -Supplement quantitative assessment data with qualitative data from multiple sources.

21. New Principals Seminar

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: new principals and assistant principals

Dates: 8/3/2023

This free seminar is an opportunity for new building leaders to interact with veteran leaders, receive advice and learn strategies for how to start their new role on a positive note. Additionally, this seminar will provide the opportunity to become part of a supportive peer network. Part of an ongoing effort to support school leaders, this seminar is the first of several learning/networking opportunities.

22. 2023-2024 Athletic Directors Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: Athletic Directors

Dates: 10/4/2023 to 5/15/2024

Join us to communicate, collaborate and share your practice with other Athletic Directors.

23. 2023-2024 Technology Supporting Diverse Learners Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: instructional and assistive technology educators

Dates: 10/13/2023 to 6/14/2024

Each month the Technology Supporting Diverse Learners Roundtable has an agenda that is driven by the ideas and needs of the members. This past year we discussed how technology can be used to support students of diverse needs and backgrounds such as reading and writing disabilities, communication needs, and executive function issues and more. This included demonstrations of tools and strategies including those that can be used by all students, and discussions for how to implement professional development. These presentations were led by members of the Roundtable as well as by outside vendors. We discussed how new technologies for hearing, vision, and artificial intelligence are changing the field. We covered process issues such as building up local capacity for assistive technology involving the students, families, support staff, teachers, and administrators. The Roundtable will continue to provide an opportunity to develop connections with peers in our area who are engaged in using technology to support students with diverse needs.

24. 2023-2024 Parent and Community Outreach Coordinator Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: parent and community outreach coordinators, school leaders, business officials

Dates: 10/16/2023 to 5/13/2024

Parent engagement is a key to student success. Many school districts have created positions to coordinate community outreach and parent engagement. A common platform used by districts for parent engagement is through "Parent University” Programs. This four session roundtable will serve as a space for district staff in various outreach roles to explore the research on successful outreach and to share local practices and resources that can benefit each school district's efforts to consistently and effectively connect with and engage parents and the community.

25. 2023-2024 Speech and Language Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: Speech and Language educators

Dates: 10/17/2023 to 5/21/2024

This virtual roundtable will provide speech and language educators with the opportunity to share, discuss and learn about issues of concern to them in the field; exchange resources; and explore our ever changing roles. Each session will focus on specific topics determined by the participants. This year, a portion of the roundtable will aim to reflect on ethics and social emotional learning in the school based SLP's practice. Topics may include: Returning to the roots of our practice SEL and the SLP Bilingual Service Delivery Using AI to our advantage Maintenance Requirements for Licensure and your Cs

26. 2023-2024 Principal Collaborative

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: principals, assistant principals

Dates: 10/20/2023 to 5/17/2024

The Principal Collaborative is a unique, responsive professional development opportunity for principals and assistant principals to develop their leadership practice with colleagues in a mutually beneficial space. Each of the six seminars will be facilitated by members of the Greater Capital Region Principals' Center in partnership with the Capital Area School Development Association. Topics for 2023-24 will be developed to meet participants' stated priorities with programs designed to help educators respond to emerging needs and bring research to practice. The first meeting in October will feature an interest survey and focus on the topics: "Reflections on the Opening of school” and "Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI)."

27. 2023-2024 MTSS Support Workshop and Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: all educators

Dates: 10/23/2023 to 5/20/2024

Effective MTSS programs are both complex and challenging. Instructional leaders must be able to work with teachers, interventionists, administrators, and support staff to ensure that MTSS systems are coherent, aligned and meeting the needs of all students. This requires deep knowledge of high leverage instructional practice, the ability to analyze multiple kinds of data to shape instruction and the ability to collaborate across multiple stakeholder groups. CASDA's MTSS Roundtable will provide participants with research, strategies, and a supportive community to share ideas, best practices, and reflections with colleagues from across the region. This yearlong learning collective will begin with a full day workshop to explore essential concepts and assess participant needs and then meet monthly (excluding December and April) to provide opportunities for continued reflection, learning, and growth. Possible Topics Include: -Effective Data Conversations and Practice -Classroom Differentiation and Scaffolding Strategies -Identifying Effective Interventions and Support -Formative Assessments and Effective Feedback

28. MTSS Support Full-Day Workshop

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: all educators

Dates: 10/23/2023

Effective MTSS programs are both complex and challenging. Instructional leaders must be able to work with teachers, interventionists, administrators, and support staff to ensure that MTSS systems are coherent, aligned and meeting the needs of all students. This requires deep knowledge of high leverage instructional practice, the ability to analyze multiple kinds of data to shape instruction and the ability to collaborate across multiple stakeholder groups. CASDA's MTSS Support Workshop and Roundtable Series will provide participants with research, strategies, and a supportive community to share ideas, best practices, and reflections with colleagues from across the region. This yearlong learning collective will begin with a full day workshop to explore essential concepts and assess participant needs and then meet monthly (excluding December and April) to provide opportunities for continued reflection, learning, and growth.

29. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 10/24/2023

The third year of this free virtual series will focus on the book, "Trauma-Responsive Schooling - Centering Student Voice and Healing” and supporting research as a guide. This five session workshop series will examine a case study involving a multi-year research project involving two elementary schools in rural Maine. Participants will explore how student-centered trauma-informed practices support individual healing and can lead to organizational transformation. Further, participants will reflect on how current trauma-focused practices in their schools can incorporate student-centered trauma-informed practices.

30. Fall 2023 Aspiring Leaders Seminar plus consultation

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: aspiring educational leaders

Dates: 10/26/2023

For educators (interns, new administrators, team leaders, department chairs) considering a career in administration, currently taking courses, or entering the field. Are you considering a school leadership role? Hear from a panel of experts on what it means to lead and how to close a school year strong. Engage with local college and university representatives about their administrative leadership programs. Join Principals' Center Board Members in mock interview breakout sessions. Hear from other aspiring leaders as the session wraps up. Begin building your network of peers in leadership roles and start on your path to becoming a school leader.

31. Fall 2023 Aspiring Leaders Seminar

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: aspiring educational leaders

Dates: 10/26/2023

For educators (interns, new administrators, team leaders, department chairs) considering a career in administration, currently taking courses, or entering the field. Are you considering a school leadership role? Hear from a panel of experts on what it means to lead and how to close a school year strong. Engage with local college and university representatives about their administrative leadership programs. Join Principals' Center Board Members in mock interview breakout sessions. Hear from other aspiring leaders as the session wraps up. Begin building your network of peers in leadership roles and start on your path to becoming a school leader.

32. Collaborating for Successful Co-Teaching

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: Special Education and ENL educators

Dates: 10/27/2023

Effectively co-taught classrooms are places of dynamic learning in which students' needs and engagement are prioritized in a uniquely inclusive environment. However, there is no clear roadmap to developing a co-teaching practice in which both teachers and students thrive in robust partnerships. This workshop will explore the essentials of organizing and collaborating to build a co-teaching partnership that centers the strengths of each teaching partner to best meet the unique needs of the students in their classrooms. We will also explore best practices for co-teaching to meet students' needs within MTSS structures. Practitioners in both Special Education and ENL co-taught classrooms are encouraged to attend together to develop their collective capacity and explore strategies to improve collaborative planning and instruction to best serve students. Participants will: - Build essential groundwork for collaboration. - Explore their own and their co-teachers needs and expectations for a strong partnership. - Brainstorm innovative ways to collaborate. - Explore different co-teaching models and when they can be applied. - Discuss strategies to meet different student needs in an MTSS context. - Discuss different scenarios that co-teachers may face. - Have a chance to plan a co-taught lesson to implement in their classroom.

33. SEL Through a Student Lens: Empowerment, Engagement and Agency Virtual Series

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: all educators

Dates: 11/6/2023 to 3/4/2024

Drawing from the latest research on student empowerment and the impact of caring, trauma-responsive adult relationships on student well-being and agency, this virtual series will explore with participants SEL through a student lens. This exploration into the organizational structures and mental models impeding authentic student empowerment, will provide participants the opportunity to reflect, share, question and plan for implementing changes to current models of SEL through student engagement and empowerment.

34. 2023-2024 School Counselors Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: school counselors

Dates: 11/9/2023 to 5/16/2024

School counselors serve an essential role in helping students maximize educational opportunities, develop and engage interests and plan for a future beyond graduation. Relationships and engagement with students and their families form the foundation of this work. The School Counselors Roundtable, a collaborative offering from CASDA and the Capital District Counselors Association (CDCA), is a professional learning community that will focus on strategies for developing and sustaining engagement with students and families. We will build upon themes identified in the initial meetings and continue to provide a space for counselors to share effective practices that meet the academic and social emotional needs of students, as well as seek to integrate the expertise and perspective of higher education counselors in order to build bridges to ensure support across the P-20 Continuum. Additionally, the roundtable will address the topic of coordination of support services for students in relation to the following needs: academic, social/emotional, risk/crisis, and mental health.

35. Fall 2023 Assistant Principals Seminar

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: assistant principals

Dates: 11/14/2023

Join CASDA and the Capital Region Principals' Center for the Assistant Principals Seminar. Assistant principals participating in this seminar will learn new strategies for effective leadership, student engagement, supervision, time management, school culture and equity. Principal Center Board members will address wellness for school leaders, dealing with student anxiety and teacher stress.

36. 2023-2024 MTSS Support Roundtable Only

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: all educators

Dates: 11/27/2023 to 5/20/2024

Effective MTSS programs are both complex and challenging. Instructional leaders must be able to work with teachers, interventionists, administrators, and support staff to ensure that MTSS systems are coherent, aligned and meeting the needs of all students. This requires deep knowledge of high leverage instructional practice, the ability to analyze multiple kinds of data to shape instruction and the ability to collaborate across multiple stakeholder groups. CASDA's MTSS Roundtable will provide participants with research, strategies, and a supportive community to share ideas, best practices, and reflections with colleagues from across the region. Following the one-day workshop held on 10/23, the remaining roundtable sessions will provide opportunities for continued reflection, learning, and growth. Possible Topics Include: -Effective Data Conversations and Practice -Classroom Differentiation and Scaffolding Strategies -Identifying Effective Interventions and Support -Formative Assessments and Effective Feedback

37. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 11/28/2023

The third year of this free virtual series will focus on the book, "Trauma-Responsive Schooling - Centering Student Voice and Healing” and supporting research as a guide. This five session workshop series will examine a case study involving a multi-year research project involving two elementary schools in rural Maine. Participants will explore how student-centered trauma-informed practices support individual healing and can lead to organizational transformation. Further, participants will reflect on how current trauma-focused practices in their schools can incorporate student-centered trauma-informed practices.

38. Focused Conversations about Connected, Caring and Safe Schools with Building Leaders and MTSS Coordinators

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: school leaders, mtss coordinators

Dates: 1/10/2024 to 5/15/2024

School safety assessments often focus on physical/building safety (i.e. security protocols, drills). However, solely looking at security as a measure of school safety overlooks the importance of discussing programming and personnel that focus on connection, caring, and social and emotional supports (i.e. SEL). Social and emotional health are critical components of safe, engaging and welcoming school environments and as a result, many schools have adopted a range of programming (i.e. social and emotional learning, restorative practices, trauma informed approaches, positive behavior supports). The challenge of such a broad spectrum of initiatives is looking holistically at programs and policies and exploring scope, consistency, embeddedness, overlap, staffing, resources, and whether programs are having an impact on the sense of safety and well-being of all students and staff. Using a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework, Dr. Heather Reynolds will lead monthly, focused, collaborative conversations about 1) your school-based programs and supports that are rooted in social and emotional safety, 2) strategies to improve program impact and long term outcomes for every student over time, and 3) an action plan to ensure alignment and improvement.

39. School Mental Health Provider Roundtable

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: school mental health providers, social workers, school psychologists, school counselors, school nurses and administrators.

Dates: 1/12/2024 to 5/10/2024

New

In the third year of this popular roundtable for Mental Health Providers we will explore the benefits and challenges of working collaboratively in a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). As a member of a collaborative team responsible for addressing the social-emotional and mental health needs of students you can benefit from collaborating with other mental health providers in the region learning about research-based strategies and sharing professional experiences working in a network of support. This roundtable will continue to bring together educators in various support roles in their districts including social workers, school psychologists, school counselors, MTSS Coordinators, building administrators, special education teachers and subject area teachers.

40. Supporting Students in Finding Their Unique Voice: An Activity for Any 7-12 Teacher

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: 7-12 grade educators

Dates: 1/23/2024

Young adults often struggle with finding their voice, discovering their why, choosing a future path. They may feel the need to "trade pieces of themselves" to fit in socially, to find success academically, to navigate systemic inequities. This workshop will provide participants with a sample lesson they can use to assist their students in recognizing their individual diversity as a strength to build on and the place to begin expressing their unique voice. Join CASDA Executive Director, Dr. Michael Piccirillo for a one-hour virtual workshop centered on an activity any teacher can use to support their young adult students. Dr. Piccirillo will share a model activity he developed for a workshop with high school students and lead a discussion about the importance of empowering our students to find voice and agency. Participants will have an opportunity to share activities they have used to amplify student voice through self-awareness and will walk away with an activity they can modify for their use.

41. Cultural Brokers: A Tool for Authentic Family and Community Engagement

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: educators

Dates: 1/24/2024

Authentic family and community engagement is essential to student success, however, it remains a conundrum for schools and districts. Researchers in multiple contexts (Ishimaru, Lawson et. al.) have demonstrated that educational institutions utilizing cultural brokers to engage students, family, and community members produced positive outcomes for student and family engagement, and school climate. This session will help participants identify areas where they can improve family and community engagement and empowerment in their context and provide research-supported examples of how districts have utilized cultural brokers to bring students, families, and community members into closer and more equitable collaboration.

42. Structures Shaping Our Schools

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: K-12 educators, school leaders

Dates: 1/25/2024 to 3/14/2024

New

Have you ever wondered how education wound up here? Have you asked why the interests of students and families are often cast in opposition to educators? Over the course of 4 free sessions, we will explore key Supreme Court decisions, legislation and educational research to help us unpack how educators' teaching conditions and the living and working conditions of our students and families are shaped by similar power structures. We will explore the consequences of landmark judicial decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education, San Antonio v. Rodriguez and Parents Involved v. Seattle. We will also explore key explanatory research from Gintis and Bowles, Michael Apple, Jean Anyon, and Gloria Ladson Billings. Each session will be based on questions derived from key excerpts of judicial opinions, legislative text, and research articles (all texts will be shared before each session). Our goal is to provide a space for authentic discussion of how educators' teaching and working conditions were shaped by a deep and complex history that is often ignored in teacher preparation and admin certification programs. Examining this complexity can help educators engage in more informed and nuanced conversations about educational equity and school improvement while challenging our conceptions of what it means for schools to be "successful.” Learning Objectives -Understand how key judicial and policy decisions shape our educational environment. -Develop an awareness of how the living conditions of students and families impact our work in schools. -Sharpen our critical lens so we can participate more actively and effectively in policy decision making going forward.

43. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 1/30/2024

The third year of this free virtual series will focus on the book, "Trauma-Responsive Schooling - Centering Student Voice and Healing” and supporting research as a guide. This five session workshop series will examine a case study involving a multi-year research project involving two elementary schools in rural Maine. Participants will explore how student-centered trauma-informed practices support individual healing and can lead to organizational transformation. Further, participants will reflect on how current trauma-focused practices in their schools can incorporate student-centered trauma-informed practices.

44. Reclaiming Concentration in the Classroom: A Book Study Series on "Stolen Focus" for K-12 Educators

Program: CASDA Roundtable

Audience: K-12 educators, school leaders

Dates: 1/31/2024 to 5/22/2024

In this five-session book study, participants will explore Johann Hari's book, "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention - and How to Think Deeply Again," and discuss its implications for K-12 education. In the book, Hari writes, "In the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time.” The implications of this in the classroom are staggering. But how did we get here, and what do we do next? Over five one-hour sessions, participants will delve into specific chapters of the book to develop a comprehensive understanding of the challenges of attention and distraction in the classroom and uncover practical strategies to nurture deep thinking and focused learning among K-12 students. *Registrants will be mailed a copy of the book as part of the cost of registration. We will discuss: The relevance of Johann Hari's "Stolen Focus" to K-12 education. The critical importance of attention and deep thinking for student success in the modern classroom. The challenges of distraction and the impact of technology on student attention. The science and psychology of attention and its application in teaching. Strategies to address distraction and cultivate focused learning in the K-12 environment. How to develop practical, age-appropriate classroom strategies to promote deep thinking. Potential challenges and solutions within K-12 educational settings. How to create action plans for implementing the insights and techniques from the book in the K-12 classroom. Resources, lesson plans, and teaching materials aligned with the strategies discussed in "Stolen Focus."

45. Case Studies in Educational Equity

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: all educators and school leaders

Dates: 2/5/2024

Case studies are a powerful tool for developing the ability to apply DEI concepts. This session will help educators recognize nuanced issues covering multiple areas of diversity that emerge in schools and communities. We will focus on how we can ask the right questions to understand diverse perspectives and motivations in complex scenarios while ensuring we arrive at humanizing, equitable solutions for students. Participants will: -Explore case studies that address multiple areas of equity such as issues facing LGBTQ+ students and staff, socioeconomic and poverty inequities, disability, special education and racial equity. -Learn to utilize a general question protocol to sharpen our equity lens and bring more specific to the surface. -Explore and discuss strategies that are directly applicable to different areas of equity in schools.

46. A Practical Guide for Reviewing Policy With An Equity Focus

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: educators

Dates: 2/6/2024

Many districts have adopted policies to support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in their schools and worked to ensure more equitable opportunities, experiences and outcomes for all students they serve. However, many educators have wondered "what does this look like in practice?” In this virtual workshop CASDA facilitators will model the use of a protocol to ensure the language in your policies is aligned to the equitable outcomes desired. Each participant will bring one District policy to examine, review and revise to align to equity outcomes. Participants will engage in discussion about the process by which they selected their policy, the data that supported their choice, and begin the work of evaluating and revising the policy based on equity outcomes data.

47. A Practical Guide for Aligning Policy to Equitable Outcomes

Program: CASDA Conference

Audience: educators

Dates: 3/5/2024

If you attended CASDA's workshop, A Practical Guide for Reviewing Policy With An Equity Focus, then you will want to continue the work of modifying policies by aligning them to the intended equitable outcomes. If you did not attend the previous workshop, you will still benefit from examining a policy of your choice through developing hypotheses for causation and engaging in a root cause analysis lens. During this workshop, CASDA facilitators will assist participants to identify perspectives or data points that would be necessary in the construction of an updated, more equitable policy. Facilitators will model collaboration, inquiry and reflection throughout to provide the tools for individuals or teams to own the process going forward. Additionally, we will share strategies for engaging the community in the policy review process.

48. Practical Instructional Strategies for Amplifying Student Voice

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: 6-12 grade educators

Dates: 3/12/2024

Looking for a practical instructional strategy to give students more voice and choice in your classroom? Want to engage students to dig deeper into the content while learning valuable collaboration and communication skills? Do you have a lesson you would like to modify by adding a student voice and choice component? Socratic Seminars have been used for thousands of years, and as a strategy are applicable in your classroom today. This timely and practical workshop will provide you with a framework for applying Socratic Seminar to your content area. Join CASDA facilitators who model how to use Socratic Seminar as an instructional strategy to engage students in classroom content. Join peers from around the region in working to modify a lesson and to collaborate on applying different approaches. Leave with a modified lesson and a framework for continuing to assess other lessons for infusing student voice and choice.

49. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 3/26/2024

The third year of this free virtual series will focus on the book, "Trauma-Responsive Schooling - Centering Student Voice and Healing” and supporting research as a guide. This five session workshop series will examine a case study involving a multi-year research project involving two elementary schools in rural Maine. Participants will explore how student-centered trauma-informed practices support individual healing and can lead to organizational transformation. Further, participants will reflect on how current trauma-focused practices in their schools can incorporate student-centered trauma-informed practices.

50. What's On Our Minds?: A Space for Every Educator

Program: CASDA Webinar

Audience: all educators

Dates: 5/21/2024

The third year of this free virtual series will focus on the book, "Trauma-Responsive Schooling - Centering Student Voice and Healing” and supporting research as a guide. This five session workshop series will examine a case study involving a multi-year research project involving two elementary schools in rural Maine. Participants will explore how student-centered trauma-informed practices support individual healing and can lead to organizational transformation. Further, participants will reflect on how current trauma-focused practices in their schools can incorporate student-centered trauma-informed practices.

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