Kentucky Teacher

Registration is now underway for Let’s TALK: Conversations about Effective Teaching, a conference for, by and about Kentucky teachers.

The conference will be held Wednesday, June 19-21 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Louisville

The conference will focus on teaching the Kentucky Core Academic Standards (KCAS) and will provide good information and opportunities for feedback on the new Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PGES). We are encouraging teams of teachers and their principals to attend, but all educators are welcome.

Keynote speakers include:

• Vicki Phillips, Director, Education, College Ready in the US, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Heidi Hayes Jacobs, author and internationally recognized educator known for work on mapping, curriculum integration, and 21st-century teaching and learning
• Maddie Fennell, former Nebraska teacher of the year and chair of NEA’s Commission for Effective Teachers and Teaching

Breakout sessions will be conducted by classroom teachers.

Click here to register.

Bridges to Readiness for College and Careers, a professional development conference related to college readiness and success, core academic standards, and multi-disciplinary literacies will be held June 12 at the Adron Doran University Center at Morehead State University.

Although it is designed to be multi-disciplinary, the conference should be of particular interest to those in literacy and writing.

In addition to three nationally recognized writers and literacy specialists, there will be 14 breakout sessions covering many issues in English/language arts. Register by June 1 at http://engedmsu.blogspot.com/

The 20th annual Gateways to Independence, a summer institute for service providers of students with visual impairments, will be presented by the Kentucky School for the Blind Outreach Department.

It will be held on the campus of the Kentucky School for the Blind in Louisville July 23-24. “Learning Knows No Bounds” is the theme. Early registration deadline is June 15. Registration form and information are available at http://www.ksb.kyschools.us/content_page.aspx?cid=34.

Early bird registration ends May 31 for Meeting the Challenge: Standards, Differentiation and Assessment, the 3rd annual conference presented by PIMSER – the Partnership Institute for Math and Science Education Reform at the University of Kentucky. The conference will be held July 22-24 in Lexington.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see nationally and internationally recognized experts as they offer their perspective on understanding the curricular implications of the Next Generation Science Standards, advancing the implementation of the Common Core Standards for Mathematics, integrating assessment and standards-based grading, and leadership skills for supporting the changing classroom. Local practitioners including classroom teachers and leaders will present a variety of curricular, instructional, and leadership strategies that have been effectively applied in schools and classrooms, and will share their successes with examples.

Visit the conference website at http://www.uky.edu/P12MathScience/MTC2013/home.htmlfor complete details and registration.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is offering free training for up to 500 high school science teachers in July 2013. The training will be conducted fully online over the first three weeks of July. Teacher may work at their own time and pace, supplemented by optional live events to earn a NOAA teacher badge.

When finished, teachers then can bring students into the platform to earn more than 15 NOAA Career Pathway badges, all aligned to NGSS standards. Up to two professional development credits will be made available through Boise State University for an extra fee of $60 per credit, includes transcript.

Click here to sign up.

The 2013 Academically Proficient High School Junior and Senior Diversity Conference, sponsored by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, will be June 28-29 at Eastern Kentucky University.

The conference programs will:

• inform and expose juniors and seniors of the various educational opportunities available at colleges throughout the state
• provide information to assist juniors and seniors to make the adjustments necessary for a successful college experience
• provide information to assist students to become effective leaders in school and in their communities after graduation
• provide information regarding scholarships, grants, internships and financial aid programs available through the KHEAA and institutions
• provide a forum for Kentucky colleges and universities to present information to many of the brightest college-bound students, in a single location, for purposes of acquainting the students with the academic programs and scholarship opportunities available on Continue Reading

The Kentucky Department of Education is excited to offer professional learning opportunities for Kentucky K-8 mathematics teachers.

Join math teachers from across the state in an interactive learning experience focusing on Number Sense and Algebraic Thinking in grades K-2, Conceptual Understanding of Fractions in Grades 3-6 and Understanding Ratios and Proportional Relationships in grades 6-8. During this six-hour online learning experience, teachers will be engaged with research-based strategies and rich mathematical tasks. Dates, times and registration information for each session are available through the links above.

If you have further questions related to these professional learning opportunities, please e-mail Krista Hall at Krista.hall2@education.ky.gov.

The Regional Prevention Centers and the Kentucky Department of Behavioral Health are sponsoring a series of two-day trainings this summer to equip schools to provide the mandated two hours of suicide prevention trainings for their staffs.

The trainings are free, are appropriate for guidance counselors or teachers who will coordinate suicide prevention efforts in their schools, FRYSC staff, prevention specialists and health educators, and will provide EILA hours. After attending, participants will be equipped to provide the two-hour mandated staff training required each school year for all administrators, guidance counselors and teachers as well as provide assistance on the coordination of delivery of mandated suicide prevention information to all middle and high school students in the state by the Sept. 1 deadline. These trainings will replace, except in rare situations, the delivery of the school trainings by state Division of Behavioral Health staff.

There are currently 10 trainings scheduled across the state. Additional trainings are being added in the Maysville, London, Hazard, and Bowling Green regions. Staff can attend their regional trainings or may opt for a training in a different region if the date is more Continue Reading

The Learning Disabilities Association of Kentucky is hosting its annual seminar in Shepherdsville on June 21 at Paroquet Springs Conference Center.

This year’s speaker is Gayle Gregory, a former teacher who now consults internationally with teachers, administrators and staff developers in the areas of brain-compatible learning, block scheduling, emotional intelligence, instructional and assessment practices, collaborative learning, presentation skills, renewal of secondary schools, enhancing teacher quality, coaching and mentoring and managing change.

The regular cost of admission is $85 per person. Groups receive a discount. The registration form is available here. To sign up online using a credit card follow this link.

The University of Kentucky and the Partnership Institute for Math and Science Education Reform (PIMSER) will host several workshops this summer.

Get Ready! Introduction to the Next Generation Science Standards – two sessions this summer to assist teachers with implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the fall.

• Infusing the Practices into Units of Study
• Integrating Engineering into Units of Study

Participants will leave sessions with an understanding of the progressions for each practice, how to develop scientific explanations and engineering design solutions, an understanding of the two engineering core ideas, and methods for effectively integrating the practices and engineering into science units of study.

Action Research Project: Understanding Formative Assessment will be presented by author and assessment expert Shirley Clarke, University of London, as a limited time opportunity. Continue Reading