Workshops

Building Sustainability by Building Expertise – for “Teacher Leaders”

Designed & Taught by Sally Grimes, M.Ed.
Dates: July 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 2010
To download a brochure click here
To download a registration form click here

Course Description
This is a five day course designed to deepen the knowledge of key teachers and assist principals by providing a school district with “building experts” to serve as resource people, coach-like people, and “go to people”
in the area of reading instruction K-5. The goal is to help build expertise and consistency in a building with participation by Title 1, Special Education, ELL, and General Education teachers as well as paraprofessionals. Pep’s and/or credit are provided.

The Focus Is On Practical Applications:
• Setting up Learning Centers and small flexible groups to help differentiate instruction

• RtI-friendly practices

• Infrastructure that supports “collective responsibility” school-wide (such as using grade level & data meetings to determine area of need & interventions with given children, providing tiered instruction, “walk to read” models, etc.)

• Curriculum suggestions of evidence-based instruction

• Review of assessment & progress monitoring practices to inform instruction ~ “monitor and adjust” (M. Hunter)

• General problem solving and information sharing regarding “best practices” in current, state-of-the-art instruction

• Video examples of successful schools and practices

The course begins with a condensed overview of evidence-based reading instruction in oral language, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, fluency, phonics
and phonemic awareness, and quickly moves to the application of these practices and “make and take” ideas for immediate use.

The goal is to help leaders and teachers “drill down” to where the gaps exist in struggling readers’ backgrounds and present profiles and then prescribe flexible small group instruction, progress-monitoring systems,
curriculum supplements, learning center activities, technology assistance, and scaffolding that can address those areas.

A Desired Outcome – To Build A Corps of Teachers Who Can Help Administrators
This course would build a common language and a collection of agreed upon practices and strategies to extend to other teachers. They would increase their knowledge of
the following:

1. Practical applications of what we now know about reading instruction that is targeted to specific needs of specific children and is based on research-based
assessments, observation and progress monitoring. These applications are mainly ones that “can be used tomorrow.”

2. Knowledge of resources (webcasts, “free” lessons and materials, parent information, supplemental curriculum materials, home-made manipulatives, etc.)

The ARRA requires that new Federal funds be spent in a manner that “builds capacity.” Since there is a shortage of Reading Specialists who are knowledgeable and skilled in evidence-based reading instruction, there is an even greater need now to develop “teacher leaders” who are trained in specific content areas, such as evidence-based
reading instruction. Classroom teachers often need coaching, modeling, and training in current evidence-based practices to deal with the many details of assessment driven instruction.

The Presenter: Sally Grimes, M.Ed.
• Speaker, Educational Consultant, Provider of Professional Development in the area of Reading Development for over 15 years for administrators, teachers, parents, community groups, state initiatives and private entities

• Served on development team - MA Licensure Test, Foundations of Reading

• Served as one of three Lead Trainers for the Massachusetts Reading First and Bay State Readers grants & designer of the professional development plan

• Public school special educator, adjunct university professor and author of course work for literacy, as well as articles on reading and differentiated curriculum

• First Admissions Director – Landmark School, Prides Crossing, MA

• Ed.M. Reading and Human Development – Harvard Graduate School of Education