Target Audience for these Workshops: Campus & District Administrators

2024-2025 Administrative Leadership Training 

"Engage, Motivate, & Manage Hard to Reach & Disruptive Students"-Brian Mendler

September 5, 2024 - 9 AM - 12 PM @ Region 10

ALT Leadership Strand: Executive Leadership; School-Wide-Culture; Social-Emotional Well-Being; Strategic Operations

This seminar will explain mindsets and specific approaches to working successfully with challenging youth. Discover how to defuse any student, anywhere, at any time using our proven process and other defusing techniques. Discover ways to teach students self-management skills and to make responsible decisions. Learn the best strategies for connecting with difficult youth who put up walls and the most important gift we can give our students so they can be successful!

Brian Mendler has extensive experience working with challenging students in general ed, self-contained, and inclusion settings. He provides staff development training for K-12 educators worldwide, focusing on how to be successful with even the most difficult students. He trains tens of thousands of educators annually and is a highly regarded dynamic speaker. Educators love his seminars because he can provide strategies that work immediately for today’s youth.

Mr. Mendler has recently authored a book titled, Watch Your Mouth, Non Negotiables for Success with Toughest Kids. The book provides educators with easy-to-use strategies for preventing and responding to difficult, disruptive, defiant, and unmotivated behavior. He has also authored That One Kid, 2nd Edition and co-authored books, Turning Tough Parents into Strong Partners, Strategies for Successful Classroom Management, Power Struggles 2nd Edition, and the best seller Discipline With Dignity 4th Edition.

Register for Engage, Motivate... session HERE!

 

"Employee Documentation Training"-Meredith Walker of Walsh Gallegos Law Firm

October 2, 2024 - 9 AM - 12PM @ Region 10

ALT Leadership Strand: Human Capital; Executive Leadership; Strategic Operations

A highly effective campus is a result of an administrator who communicates the expectations staff members must meet, and who provides staff members with the tools and guidance to meet those expectations. Effective employee documentation assists administrators in achieving these goals. This session will review the different types of teacher contracts, review the documentation process, address the importance of progressive discipline plans, cover documentation strategies, and work through common scenarios for participants to apply the documentation process.

Meredith Walker represents public entities in all facets of litigation, including employment, student matters, and special education. Meredith is an experienced trial attorney whose practice also includes the defense of public entities in appellate matters in state and federal courts. Through a responsive and calculated approach, Meredith supports public entities daily, particularly concerning potential discrimination claims.

Register for Employee Documentation... session HERE!

"Strategies for Providing Better Feedback to Teachers"-Jorge Valenzuela

November 5, 2024 - 9AM - 129 AMPM @ Region 10

ALT Leadership Strand: Observation Feedback; Instructional Leadership; Strategic Leadership; School-Wide Culture

Are you a school leader looking for strategies to raise teachers’ confidence? Do you want to be more intentional about when and how to provide feedback? Discover how to structure conversations around what you observe in learning walks or formal observations using simple universal guidelines. A feedback tool will also be modeled and provided. In addition, culture-building activities, and the development of school-based norm-setting and shared agreements will be modeled in this session.

Note: This session reinforces the principles from the articles, How to Give Teachers Better Feedback and Shared Agreements for Working Together Benefit Teachers and Administrators.

Participant Outcomes Include:

1. Learn what makes a truly confident teacher.
2. Discover skills to provide feedback to teachers effectively.
3. Learn to foster a supportive school culture via strategies promoting positive interactions.
4. Implement a collaborative process to develop norms and shared agreements.
5. Apply an empathy-building tool to understand differing perspectives.

Jorge Valenzuela is a is a highly sought-after and well-regarded performance and education coach, author, and speaker at Lifelong Learning Defined. He got his start in education and has helped countless educators improve their leadership and instructional innovation skills. Jorge specializes in emphasizing core instruction and is a trusted deliverer of reputable professional training in team building, project-based learning, STEM pathways, and life skills integration across the curriculum. He partners with corporate executives, and superintendents and provides professional development on behalf of ASCD, Corwin, Premiere Speakers Bureau, and Solution Tree. He has authored several books and is the Lifelong Learning Defined podcast host. You can find him on Instagram and X at handle @JorgeDoesPBL.

Register for Strategies... session HERE!

"Leading Innovative Teaching & Learning"-George Couros

November 21, 2024 - 9AM - 12PM @ Region 10

ALT Leadership Strand: Instructional Leadership; Strategic Leadership; School-Wide Culture

Initiating change is the best approach to managing the transformations we wish to see in our schools and classrooms. As we prompt our staff to create innovative learning opportunities for all students, we must identify the foundational elements required to foster and support teachers in their methodologies and understand their significance. We cannot be content with simply leading; we must also create innovative educational environments that are suited for today and tomorrow by focusing on evolving past forms of leadership.

How do we ensure that our educators, communities, and students receive support without feeling overwhelmed? Embracing the “Innovator’s Mindset” is essential when innovation becomes a necessity rather than an option for all learners, including ourselves. 

In this workshop, George will focus on four critical areas that demand deeper thought and discussion while encouraging us to broaden our perspectives in these areas. This will help us build connections with our community, model and learn alongside others, and embrace new opportunities in learning (such as AI for learning) without discarding what is currently working in our schools. It’s crucial that every learner in our schools achieves success in ways that are meaningful to them. Let’s engage in redefining our fundamental elements to aid those we serve in finding their unique paths to success.

George Couros is a worldwide leader in innovative teaching, learning, and leading, and he focuses on innovation as a human endeavor. Most importantly, he is a proud father and husband. His belief that meaningful change happens when you first connect to people’s hearts is modeled in his writing and speaking. In his 20-plus years in education, he has worked at all levels of school, from K-12 as a teacher, technology facilitator, and school and district administrator. He is currently an Adjunct Instructor with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. George is also the author of the books The Innovator’s Mindset; Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity, Innovate Inside the Box, the “Because of a Teacher” series as well as his latest book “What Makes a Great Principal.” George is also host of the popular education podcast “The Innovator’s Mindset.”

He has keynoted hundreds of conferences, including national conferences on five different continents. His work has been translated into multiple languages due to its worldwide impact.

You can learn more about George at his website georgecouros.com

Register for Leading Innovative Teaching... session HERE!

"Fostering Student Resilience"-Maureen Healy

December 11, 2024- 9 AM to 12 PM @ Region 10

Students today face many challenges whether it’s the bully on the bus to struggling how to read, as examples. Life isn’t always easy for them. Equipping our students with science-backed ideas and strategies to help them bounce back from everyday challenges to great adversity is fostering their resilience. Sharing the latest scientific research we identify what K-8 students need to improve their level of resilience and form a resilient mindset. Of course, we want our students to progress academically, but also socially and emotionally, which requires a hefty dose of resilience.

Participants will enjoy a lively discussion (no questions are off the table!), the clarity of the 3 R’s of Student Resilience, and a handout of science-backed strategies that can help bring resilience-building into the K-8 classroom, school and community.

Maureen Healy is an award-winning author, sought-after speaker, and expert in the world of children’s emotional health and education (K-8). Tal Ben-Shahar said, “Maureen has provided an important antidote to the difficult times that so many of our kids are going through these days” while describing Maureen’s new book: The Happiness Workbook for Kids (PESI, 2022). Prior books include: The Emotionally Healthy Child (New World Library, 2018) with a preface from the Dalai Lama, and Growing Happy Kids (HCI Books, 2012), along with a popular blog on Psychology Today’s website.

Unique to Maureen is her global experience working with parents and their children from the rural mountains of Mexico to upper Manhattan. Her work has been seen across all media platforms including The New York Times, Fortune, PBS, Scholastic magazine, and AOL’s streaming services, as well as NBC, ABC, and the CW. Her ability to distill complex ideas into simple, proven strategies to create more harmony and emotional health at home, as well as the classroom has been noticed. The Dalai Lama said, “I hope Maureen’s book, The Emotionally Healthy Child, can contribute to more wholesome education for future generations.”

With two decades of experience, Maureen has helped countless parents and children through teaching and school development. She’s taught from kindergarten to the college level, volunteered in Asia and worked with Tibetan refugee children in 2007. Her traditional educational credentials include a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Clark University and a PhD program in Clinical Psychology at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. Maureen has also studied with scholars and scientists globally on the science of childhood happiness, which has bolstered her joy immensely.

Invite Maureen to your school, organization, or conference to reinvigorate your community, and empower and inspire them to bounce back better with more resilience, clarity, and intelligence, no matter what life presents them with! (Virtual or in-person).

Topics:

• The Emotionally Healthy Child

• Elementary to Middle School with Success

• The Resilient Child

• Character Education in the Real-World

Register for Fostering Student Resilience session HERE!

"Ignite Your Leadership S.H.I.N.E & Create A Human-Focused Culture"-LaVonna Roth

January 9, 2025 -9 AM to 12 PM @ Region 10

How do you effectively and passionately lead during times of high demand, isolation, and overwhelm? Experience the answers as we connect and dive into the S.H.I.N.E. Framework that sets you up for success. S.H.I.N.E. (Self, Heart, Inspire, Navigate, Exceptional) represents the integration of multiple disciplines, including leadership skills, emotional intelligence, and psychology, all aimed at helping you create a Human-Focused Culture. Research demonstrates how these elements positively impact workplace attraction, satisfaction, and retention. Leave with impact-oriented strategies and asset-focused tips that you can immediately apply both for yourself and with your staff upon returning to your workplace.

As an engaging and interactive keynote speaker, consultant, educator, and mom, LaVonna bridges her passion for how the brain learns by identifying how every individual S.H.I.N.E.s with their mindset and social-emotional well-being. She leads a small business where she and her team boost schools in embodying a Human-Focused Culture. A culture where we put those doing the work at the heart of the impact desired. How? By supporting schools in harnessing the S.H.I.N.E. framework, increasing psychological safety, & building a foundation based on the brain sciences. S.H.I.N.E. is the secret to a work environment where all want to be! LaVonna has 3 degrees, is the author of 8 books, and has worked with organizations in the U.S./Canada, Europe, South America, and the Middle East. She is the creator and founder of the Ignite Your S.H.I.N.E.® framework and also Prime to S.H.I.N.E. where she coaches educators on how to make an impact through educational consulting –part-time or full-time. S.H.I.N.E. will leave you inspired. Help you find your power through ah-ha moments. Ignite the fire within you to have the confidence in who YOU are and what you do, because YOU are the difference maker!

Register for S.H.I.N.E. session HERE!

"The Neuroscience of Discipline"-Horacio Sanchez

January 29, 2025 -9 AM to 12 PM @ Region 10

The neuroscience of discipline is not just a concept but a powerful tool that can transform our schools. It equips us with the knowledge to respond to crises better and prevent them from occurring in the first place. Successful implementation of these strategies in schools has led to a significant improvement in academic performance, teacher/student morale, and teacher retention. This success story should inspire us to embrace the neuroscience of discipline and its potential benefits.

Objectives

§ Understanding student behavior

§ Establishing a school climate that promotes homeostasis

§ Reducing social conflict from occurring

§ Improving motivation for academic success

§ Designing interventions that will become intrinsically motivating

Register for Neuroscience of Discipline session HERE!

"Discipline of Students with Disabilities : Rules & Regulations"-David Hodgins

February 4, 2025 -9 AM to 12 PM @ Region 10

Discipline of Students with Disabilities: The Key Rules and Regulations from Removals to MDRs is a session that will outline and discuss the key discipline rules and regulations affecting the discipline of students with disabilities. From the "10-day rule" to manifestation determinations, experienced special education attorney, David Hodgins, will cover the most important legal requirements, plus practical advice and illustrations.

Attending this session will grant you a solid understanding of the dos and don'ts of disciplining students with disabilities.

David Hodgins, is a partner and an experienced school law attorney with the firm of Thompson & Horton, LLP. Mr. Hodgins has extensive experience working with school districts regarding special education law, section 504 law, student discipline, employment issues, school law litigation, and other school law matters. David Hodgins has represented school districts in several special education due process hearings, and federal court cases. Mr. Hodgins is also a frequent trainer/speaker regarding special education and Section 504 legal topics.

Register for Discipline... session HERE!

"The Power of Empowerment: How Great Leaders Grow Leaders"-Tyler Cook

February 13, 2025 -9 AM to 12 PM @ Region 10

Every school, business, and organization is full of “untapped” potential, and it is the privilege of leaders to discover and develop the greatness inside of every person on our team. As leaders, often it isn’t the desire to empower others that holds us back. Still, it is our perspective and understanding of how to create and sustain a culture where we are maximizing the potential inside of every person.

When we are willing to look inward, invest relationally, and empower our people with authority, our team, culture, and impact will grow exponentially!

Tyler Cook is a speaker, author, and coach who develops high-impact leaders who will grow their schools, organizations, or teams to their fullest potential. Tyler is also the co-author of “Building Authenticity: A Blueprint for the Leader Inside You,” an Elementary Principal, and Church Executive Director.

Tyler works with schools, leadership teams, and organizations to equip and mobilize others through his engaging keynotes and hands-on workshops to live and lead with authenticity, no matter their role. From developing mindsets to fostering healthy cultures, Tyler is committed to seeing every person grow into their greatest potential so they can impact the world around them.

Register for Power of Empowerment... session HERE!

From A.I. to Z: Artificial Intelligence, the Law,& Our Schools-Kelly Kalchthaler

February 27, 2025 -9 AM to 12 PM @ Region 10

This session will explore the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) advancements and the legal frameworks governing our schools. We will delve into how A.I. technologies are being integrated into educational settings and precautions to consider, as well as the resulting benefits and challenges. The talk highlights key legal considerations, including privacy issues, data protection, intellectual property rights, and possible criminal issues with “Deepfakes” that schools must navigate as we move into this new world.

Kelley L. Kalchthaler has devoted her legal practice to the representation of public schools and other public entities. Her practice covers a broad array of legal issues ranging from construction law to contractual/transactional matters, and litigation. Kelley has also worked on intellectual property matters and in IP litigation, which led to her work in the legal framework surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and schools. Kelley also brings an in-depth understanding to her work with a background as an educator for the Plano Independent School District before going to law school, teaching both math and English as a second or other language. She is a shareholder at the law firm of Walsh Gallegos Kyle Robinson & Roalson, P.C. with 14 years at the firm. Kelley works in the Austin office and can be reached at (512) 454-6864 or by email at kkalchthaler@wabsa.com. Link to firm bio: https://walshgallegos.com/people-with-purpose/kelley-kalchthaler.

Register for From A.I. to Z... session HERE!

"Leading for Differentiation"-Eric M. Carbaugh

March 25, 2025 -9 AM to 12 PM @ Region 10

A Differentiated classroom provides responsive and invitational learning experiences to all students. In this engaging and interactive session, school leaders will explore important topics and strategies related to differentiated instruction. Specifically, we will discuss the key principles and non-negotiables that underpin the philosophy of differentiation. In addition, practical examples will be provided to help illustrate these principles in action.

By the end of this session, participants will:

•  Understand what differentiation is and is not

•  Analyze key principles that support a differentiated classroom – a positive classroom environment, invitational curriculum, ongoing assessment, flexible grouping and management, and responsive instruction.

•  Assess the readiness levels of teachers for “entry points” to learning about differentiation

•  Explore practical curricular, assessment, and instructional strategies

Eric Carbaugh is a skilled educator with primary and secondary teaching experience; an award-winning, tenured university professor; and an effective and seasoned member of ASCD’s Differentiated Instruction Cadre and Understanding by Design® (UbD®). He is currently a Full Professor at James Madison University in the Department of Middle, Secondary, and Math Education where he teaches a variety of education classes across all content areas. A common thread among all of his work is the relationship between the learning environment, curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and how educators can leverage each to meet diverse learners' needs better.

Carbaugh began his career in education as a high school social studies teacher before moving to an elementary school to teach 6th-grade language arts and social studies. He served as a classroom differentiation and curriculum coach, where he worked with middle and high school teachers to help them implement best educational practices in their classrooms.

Recently, Carbaugh’s work with schools has focused on the design of high-quality, differentiated performance-based assessments as part of a meaningful curriculum. He has also written and presented extensively on the synergy between differentiation and flipped/blended learning. On behalf of ASCD, he spent three-plus years working with Moffat County Schools in Colorado helping them to transform their entire curriculum. What began as a three-day workshop grew to the point of realizing the vision of powerful learning experiences for all students in the district. Carbaugh also regularly presents at international and national conferences on school improvement and professional development topics related to assessment, differentiated instruction, UbD, and other educational best practices.

Carbaugh holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia, a Master’s degree in Education from Mary Washington College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Economics from the University of Virginia.

Register for Differentiated Instruction session HERE!