The following list of workshop topics are available. Dr. Albert will also customize presentations to meet district needs.
Co-teaching workshop for general educators and specialized teachers (Gr. K-12)
This co-teaching foundations workshop provides background information about co-teaching with a focus on the following elements:
- Understanding how co-teaching as a student model came to be
- Articulate how the co-teaching model differs from the traditional model
- Identify key research findings and reasons for co-teaching
- Use common language for co-teaching
- Implement co-teaching strategies and co-planning strategies
- Identify roles of triad members
- Offer ideas to create a welcoming environment for co-teaching
This workshop is an in-depth workshop for teachers and it is HIGHLY recommended to have a coaching component of this workshop where Dr. Albert will visit classrooms and provide actually training during a classroom lesson.
Executive Functioning Strategies to Help All Students Get on Track, Get Things Done, and Achieve Success (Gr. K-12)
Today’s world of hectic schedules, information overload, and high expectations demands that our students be masters at time management, organization, planning, and flexibility. Despite the importance of these executive function skills to academic, career, and life success, many of our students demonstrate deficiencies in multiple skill areas. This workshop will present teachers with an overview of executive function skills and explore classroom practices that promote their development. Teachers will have opportunities to apply and adapt ideas to their subject and grade level and set attainable goals for implementation. The workshop will conclude with a discussion of interventions for students with executive skill deficits.
Intervention Models for Students with Weak Executive Function Skills (Gr. K-12)
This workshop is the perfect follow-up to the Brain Based Strategies workshop described above and is particularly useful to special education teachers and guidance counselors. We will delve deeper into an exploration of ways to help students demonstrating executive function skill deficits through targeted small group and individual strategy instruction. We will also explore ways to implement academic coaching and peer coaching models. Using a provided template, teachers will practice writing intervention plans for specific students that they can begin to implement immediately.
How to Teach Study Skills as a Part of Your Curriculum (Gr. K-12)
This workshop will provide teachers with a toolbox of study skills and learning strategies that they can then pass on to their students. Teachers will learn how to explicitly teach study skills within the context of their curriculum in order to create strategy rich classrooms. In turn, students will be empowered to independently select learning strategies and to then reflect on their effectiveness. Teachers will explore ideas for learning strategies portfolios and will have opportunities to plan how to implement study skills instruction in their curriculum.
Parental Involvement: The Key to Academic Success (Gr. K-12)
Research shows that children with involved parents are more likely to achieve academic success and do well in life. When parents are engaged in their child’s education, they send the message that the family values education. Learn ways to become involved in your child’s life at school and in the community. This workshop will help you develop a plan for ongoing parental involvement, including during your child’s education.
Parent Teacher Conferences: Preparing for a Successful Parent Teacher Conference (Gr. K-12)
Just in time for school conferences! Get the most out of your parent teacher conference. Learn how to communicate effectively during a parent-teacher conference. Ideas on how to plan for the conference and stay in communication with your child’s teacher, even after the conference.
Accommodations and Modifications to Curriculum: Ensuring Meaningful Participation in General Education Classrooms (Gr. K-12)
In this fun, hands-on workshop, educators will explore real examples of accommodations (changes in how a student learns and shows what he/she knows) and modifications (changes in what a student learns) for students with disabilities! Participants of this workshop will: learn about the role of accommodations and modifications and the differences between each, explore various tools and strategies that can assist teachers and parents, and will learn how to include individualized accommodations and modifications on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This session will also explore Universal Design for Learning as a strategy to design curriculum that is accessible to all students!
Administrators: Are you Ready to Observe a Classroom (Gr. K-12)
This session will give administrators variety ways to provide differentiated observations keep within the classroom and all your staff members of their buildings. Each participant will be given a differentiated professional development list of activities to be used with almost any staff members in the building. The session will comply with your statewide approved teacher observation model. The session will provide for you ways to manage your time so you can be more effective in completing the difficult task of teacher observations. Guiding questions will also be provided for administrators to ask during Pre and Post Conferences.
15 Quick Differentiated Instruction Strategies to Help you with the Classroom (Gr. K-12)
In this workshop, Ed Albert will walk the talk with Differentiated Instruction. Ed will demonstrate his entire workshop with all participants by using DI practical approaches and strategies. Ed will also discuss how to implement DI in the classroom. This session will be applicable to all grade levels and participants will learn 15 quick strategies that they can be using immediately upon returning to the classroom. This session will have all participants engaged at all times. Ed will demonstrate and have you role play various situations to show that his strategies work.
Believing in Skippy (Gr. K-12)
In his popular keynote address, Ed shares his personal life learning experiences as they relate to today’s teachers and students. Ed’s experiences have allowed him to experience setbacks in life, while at the same time, the successes in life. Ed places an emphasis on “E” words during his keynote address: Encouragement, Energy, Enthusiasm, and Winning (“E” turned sideways). His practical approach, with documentation to prove his success, will take you on a roller coaster ride throughout his keynote, participants will cry, laugh, but most of all, believe in his powerful message for educators.
Building a School-Wide Discipline Approach to Developing Responsible Student Behavior (Gr. K-12)
Effective teaching doesn’t happen without an orderly environment. An orderly environment depends on students acting responsibly. In this workshop, you will learn how to develop an effective school-wide approach to help students learn social skills that can be applied to virtually every situation students encounter during their school day. By infusing high expectations and explicit social skill instruction into the school day, staff and students are able to spend more of the school day teaching and learning. Ed shares specific strategies for teaching students to act responsibly, to accept the consequences for their choices about their behavior, and to reach consensus with their peers. As a result of this approach students will have a better success in developing skills for the 21 st Century. Participants will leave this session with a clear understanding of the social skills you CAN teach your students and with remarkable strategies to minimize disruptions and behavior distractions in your school.
Character Education: It Does Take A Village to Implement Skills for the 21st Century (Gr. K-12)
“It takes an entire village to raise a child” is the expression. Today, the fabric of our society is being stretched to the limits and we see the results every day in America’s classrooms. The number of difficult children is on the rise and teachers have to use a variety of methods to keep education an important part of their students’ lives. This workshop will give participants proven strategies for teaching character-building skills, including Respect, Responsibility, Conflict Resolution, and Decision-Making. This session is powerful especially during the implementation of the common core curriculum era.
Cooperative Learning: Children Working Together To Maximize Learning Potential (Gr. K-12)
Cooperative learning is one of the most effective reform ideas in teaching today. Cooperative learning has been shown to increase all students’ learning, including those who may be “at risk” and those who may have been identified as “learning disabled.” Cooperative learning is compatible with a process-learning approach and has been helpful in improving students’ attitudes toward school and toward each other. Students need to grasp skills for the 21 st century and Cooperative Learning is a vehicle to ensure ALL students are successful. This session will help participants gain a clear understanding of what cooperative learning is and is not. Citing extensive research, Ed will share these findings regarding the positive effects of cooperative learning on student achievement, retention, heterogeneous relationships, motivation, self-esteem, behavior, and attitude toward teachers and school. Participants will learn how to apply cooperative learning strategies to specific content areas in their classroom.
Diagnosing and Addressing the Struggling Student in the Regular Classroom (Gr. K-12)
The classrooms of today challenge teachers to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. This session will focus on strategies and techniques that teachers can use to meet the needs of students demonstrating academic and learning difficulties. Ed will emphasize organizational strategies and study strategies, as well as techniques to individualize instruction and foster student growth. Those in the workshop will actively participate during the presentation and will engage in personal implementation planning.
Differentiated Observations Strategies (Gr. K-12)
This session will give administrators a variety ways to provide differentiated observations strategies with all your staff members of their buildings. Each participant will be given a differentiated professional development list of activities to be used with almost any staff members in the building. The session will comply with your statewide approved teacher observation model. The session will provide for you ways to manage your time so you can be more effective in completing the difficult task of teacher observations. Guiding questions will also be provided for administrators to ask during Pre and Post Conferences.
Effective Principal Makes an Effective School to Lead the Charge for Effective Schools (Gr. K-12)
Administrators are face with a myriad of problems in today’s schools and they are pulled in so many directions with little time to get the job done. This workshop will give you specific strategies for you to be an EFFECTIVE Instructional leader in your school setting. The topics include how to be more effective with teacher observations, time management, consensus building, raising test scores, team building and most of all how to create an environment which will foster mutual respect for all employees. Participants will receive specific action plans to help them be successful in any settings. This session will give the administrators knowledge in producing effective approaches to the common core standards.
Enhancing Your Instructional Leadership Skills (Gr. K-12)
This workshop for principals, department heads, and central office supervisors focuses on leadership behaviors that will enhance their roles as instructional leaders. Participants will examine several leadership styles on route to discovering their own unique style of leadership. They will be shown techniques to enhance their role as leaders and, at the same time, learn situational leadership skills/strategies.
How to Increase Test Scores (Gr. K-12)
If you must raise your school-wide test scores, this is the workshop your staff is looking for! Ed will give you concrete ways of making your test scores rise. Strategies such as working with students, parents, teachers, and paraprofessionals will be demonstrated for you. Actual hands-on materials will be available for you to use the next day in your school .
How to Utilize Test Score Data to Improve Curriculum and Instructional Delivery (Gr. K-12)
This session allows participants to bring data from their own school and have it examined by them. This will be followed with a 10 step strategy that enables staff to make decisions on how to improve curriculum and instructional delivery based on the data. The three rules of data will also be discussed. These rules are: making data easily accessible, purposefully arranging data, and holding public discussions on the data. Dr. Albert and his school have been published in the Pennsylvania Administrator Educational Leadership February 201 O. This session will make a significant difference to teachers, and will result in more success for students.
Improving Various Techniques for Teacher Aides and Bus Drivers (Gr. K-12)
Many times, teacher aides and bus drivers do not have the support group that teachers do. Therefore, they do not have the opportunity to brainstorm new ideas and strategies to deal with the students whom they work with daily. This workshop provides effective strategies to help aides and bus driver’s deal with disruptive students, find ways to catch students being good, and have the communication skills to interact effectively with students and parents.
Peer Coaching/Mentor Training for Teachers (Gr. K-12)
In this workshop, Ed will help participants acquire the teaching and observation skills necessary for successful peer coaching and mentor teaching. Analyzing similarities and differences, participants will examine a variety of mentor teaching and peer coaching models. After this training session, participants will be better able to identify and use those effective teaching elements that may be most useful in their role as a peer coach or mentor.
Strengthen the Achievement Motivation and Responsibility of At-Risk Students (Gr. K-12)
Today, more than ever before, an increasing number of students exhibit many of the commonly associated at-risk behaviors of chronic discouragement, low self-esteem and a minimal motivation for learning. These behaviors frequently become sources of irritation, frustration, fatigue, and eventually failure for both students and teachers. In this workshop, Ed will share a wealth of proven techniques and valuable insights for increasing the achievement, responsibility, and motivation of your at-risk learners. You’ll leave with a wealth of practical techniques and proven strategies for helping your at-risk students experience greater success. Topics discussed include:
- Reading accountability
- Setting goals
- Testing standards
- Getting parents involved
- Community participation
- Your roles as teachers administrators, and school
Team Building (Gr. K-12)
This workshop is designed to demonstrate various techniques to ensure successful team building. Ed’s hands-on presentation style will engage participants. He will use activities such as role-playing to ensure the effectiveness of working together as a team. Components of team building such as consensus building, leadership, trust, and decision-making will be addressed during this session. At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have the tools that are necessary for effective team building.
Using Assessment to Teach All Children Effectively (Gr. K-12)
Join Ed for a practical and purposeful look at how you can turn the potential pitfalls of your assessment program into a payoff for teachers and students. Ed will show participants how to help students who ”freeze up” on a test and how to give all students a chance to pass any test. He will also provide alternative ways of assessing students without using pencil and paper tests and specific ideas for creating flexibility within your current grading or report card system.