Professional Development Workshops
GiftED Professional Learning Community is a place for teachers to work together to share strategies, ideas, concerns, and practical experience in our current teaching environments. These sessions offer a more informal space to collaborate with one another as we serve our students and ensure they are learning in whatever learning situation they are engaged in..
Sessions are designed for discussion and collaboration both in whole group discussions, and grade band specific small groups with the goal of improving our practice. Please come with questions, considerations, strategies, or lessons you’ve found successful, or those for which you’d like additional input and/or ideas. GiftED Professional Learning Community is a space for teachers to work in partnership and learn from one another.
Sessions are appropriate for teachers of any gifted program model, and for those in the regular classroom with any number of gifted students in the class, whether formally identified or not. Sessions will be conducted on Zoom.
Session dates are Tuesdays, January 12, February 2, March 9, April 6, and April 27 from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m..
There is no cost for these sessions.
PBS LearningMedia has thousands of classroom-ready resources aligned to state and national standards in a broad range of subject areas. In this interactive course we will explore the various ways to utilize this multi-layered website. Participants will be given time to explore the site, with the goal of creating a portfolio of resources that can be used in the classroom. Other PBS educational resources will also be explored, as well as ideas for integrating technology into the classroom to motivate and empower students.
Session 1 will be an introduction to the PBS LearningMedia platform, how to quickly find resources and assign to students, and how to utilize available teacher tools. In addition, tips for integration will be discussed.
Session 2 will focus on utilizing specific teacher tools: Lesson Builder and QuizMaker, how to create these for students and classes, and how to review, edit and analyze the results of assigned quizzes and lessons.
Dates: Monday, February 1 and Monday, February 8
Time: 4:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
Cost: Free
Facilitator: Cheryl Gerken
Cheryl Gerken is a former bilingual 4th-grade teacher and K-5 Librarian with 11 years of experience. She currently works for Arizona Public Media as the Educational Outreach Coordinator, focused on sharing free, high-quality PBS resources with teachers, schools, districts and community members through workshops and information sessions. She has a passion for finding ways to inspire curiosity and student engagement in and out of the classroom and believes that critical literacy and critical thinking can be woven into every area of the curriculum at all grade levels.
Cheryl holds an Master’s Degree in Language, Reading and Culture from the University of Arizona with an emphasis on critical literacy and social justice. She also holds a K-8 Reading Endorsement. She is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Arizona and is proud to be part of the Knowledge River cohort, focused on the support and information needs of Latinos, Native Americans and other people of color in a library setting.
Question Persuade Refer (QPR) Gatekeeper Training
Date: Thursday, February 11th
Time: 3:30 to 5:00 pm
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, K-12 Teachers, Counselors, Parents, School Nurses, Teachers Aids, PTO Members
Summary: If someone you know was considering suicide, would you be able to recognize the warning signs and know how to help?
QPR Gatekeeper Training is an evidence-based suicide prevention training suitable for anyone and everyone. QPR is NOT intended to be a form of counseling or treatment. QPR is intended to offer hope through positive action. Just like CPR, QPR is an emergency intervention to someone in crisis and can save lives.
Following this training, you will:
According to the Surgeon General’s National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (2001), a gatekeeper is someone in a position to recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide. A gatekeeper can be anyone: parents, friends, neighbors, teachers, ministers, doctors, nurses, office supervisors, squad leaders, foremen, police officers, advisors, caseworkers, firefighters, and many others who are strategically positioned to recognize and refer someone at risk of suicide. Following this training, you will be certified as a QPR Gatekeeper for 2 years.
This training is brought to you by the Community Mental Health and Addiction Program with the Pima County Health Department FREE of charge (normally $30)! Seating is Limited.
Details: 90-minute training. Includes registration to a QPR Gatekeeper Student portal with access to resources and continuing practice and education.
Presenter: Mayra Jeffery
Mayra Jeffery, obtained a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S.H.S. in Physiology from the University of Arizona. Mayra has close to a decade of experience in health education and public speaking. She is a bilingual trained facilitator in the following programs: QPR Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention, Diabetes Prevention Program, and Strengthening Families Program. Mayra is also a Master Trainer in the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, Tomando Control de Su Salud, and Chronic Pain Self-Management Program. Mayra currently coordinates program implementation for the Community Mental Health and Addiction team.
This series of three workshops has been designed to build on the original concepts of The Depth and Complexity Model. Participants will be provided with opportunities to apply and integrate the set of prompts with other pedagogical strategies. We will discuss how the prompts of depth and complexity can be integrated into curriculum elements such as Thinking Like a Disciplinarian, Independent Study, and the art of questioning. Each workshop session will define a new pedagogical strategy and will demonstrate how the prompts of depth and complexity can be integrated into this strategy as the means of creating varied access points to the content. This series will focus on how the use of many and varied curricular opportunities can act as a form of differentiation to meet the needs, interests, and abilities of all learners.
Dates:
Audience: Certified Teachers, Instructional Coaches and Administrators
Cost: $60
Location: Remote Learning through the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office; 200 N. Stone Avenue Tucson, Arizona 85701
Facilitator:
Jessica Manzone has worked at USC in various capacities for the last 13 years. Jessica is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Masters of the Art in Teaching Program at the Rossier School of Education. Jessica currently works as a Research Assistant on two U.S. Department of Education grants with Dr. Sandra Kaplan in the field of curriculum development and gifted education. Jessica has been a primary teacher and instructional coach in Baltimore City, Maryland and currently works with districts across the country on creating integrated units of study.
Date: Thursday, February 18th
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, K-12 Teachers, Counselors, Parents, School Nurses, Teachers Aids, PTO Members. This session is open to all school districts across Pima County.
This course will review introductory concepts of gifted education, including national gifted standards, Arizona Department of Education requirements, identification measures, and program and service models. Participants will gain a greater understanding of the field of gifted education, terminology and best practices for instruction. This course is suitable for teachers who work with gifted students and/or advanced learners, or who are interested in working with gifted and advanced learners, as well as counselors, administrators and school leaders.
This course will include 15 hours of synchronous instruction plus 15 hours of asynchronous participation.
This course can be taken in conjunction with Social and Emotional Support for Gifted Learners and Curriculum and Instruction for Gifted Learners to provide the required 90 hours for the provisional gifted endorsement in Arizona.
Friday, February 19, 2021 from 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, February 20 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Friday, March 5 from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, March 6 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Cost: $120
Location: Remote Learning through the Pima County School Superintendent's Office 200 N. Stone Avenue Tucson, AZ 85701
Facilitators:
Marianne Landrith is the Program Director of Frameworks & Foundations and GiftED for the Pima County School Superintendent's Office. Marianne has taught for 35 years in regular and gifted education. She has coordinated a Jacob K. Javits Grant in Pima County, worked as a Teacher Trainer/Mentor, Peer Coach Trainer and Program Facilitator. Marianne also coordinates the Southern Arizona Gifted Network, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented (AAGT).
Louise Till is the Senior Coordinator of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program in the Tucson Unified School District. Louise has taught kindergarten through college, and has worked as a librarian, mentor, coach and professional development facilitator. Louise has her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and an MFA in Creative Writing. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented (AAGT).
Date: Thursday, March 4th
Audience: This training is UHS faculty & staff only. Please register for a future session if you are employed at a different school site.
Date: Thursday, March 11th
Audience: Marana Unified School District faculty & staff only. Please register for a future open session if you are not employed by MUSD.
Date: Wednesday, March 24th
Are you interested in developing your media literacy expertise in your classroom or building as you focus on digital media, critical literacy, and developing practical skills to support student content creation?
Media Literacy in the Time of COVID: Access, Analyze, Create and Act will provide the opportunity for teachers to work toward Media Literacy Certification through KQED Teach. In a series of 5 sessions, teachers will asynchronously work on their choice of 8 different learning modules (2 per each two weeks). At the end of each two week session we will meet virtually to collaborate, to troubleshoot, and to provide additional assistance. Each virtual session’s content will be guided by the needs of the participants.
Each module requires an average of 6 hours to complete. The modules consist of short reading assignments and explorations, lesson plan development and implementation, and feedback from media literacy experts at KQED. The end goal is to become Media Literacy Certified after the five sessions, but participants determine their own pace and goals on an individual basis.
Dates: March 30, April 13, 27, May 11, 27, 2021
Time: 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
This course will review the social and emotional characteristics of gifted students, differences between high achievers, gifted learners and creative thinkers and the full range of diverse learners who identify as gifted including culturally, linguistically and economically diverse students. We will review twice exceptional learners, overexcitabilities, asynchronous development, perfectionism, and underachievement. Instructional strategies for support will include trauma informed pedagogy, and self-regulation.
This course can be taken in conjunction with Gifted Education 101 and Curriculum and Instruction for Gifted Learners to provide the required 90 hours for the provisional gifted endorsement in Arizona.
Friday, April 9, 2021 from 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, April 10, 2021from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Friday, April 30, 2021 from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 1, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
In this course, participants will explore curriculum modifications for gifted learners, including differentiating by content, process and product as well as readiness, interest, learning preferences, flexible groupings, and acceleration. Instructional methods for gifted learners such in critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, high level questioning, and problem based learning will be explored. Participants will leave class with specific strategies and modifications to use in order to follow best practices in instruction for both synchronous and asynchronous environments.
This course can be taken in conjunction with Gifted Education 101 and Social and Emotional Support for Gifted Learners to provide the required 90 hours for the provisional gifted endorsement in Arizona.
Friday, June 4, 2021 from 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, June 5, 2021from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Friday, June 11, 2021 from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, June 12, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
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