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special workshops

MORNING PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
FRIDAY, MAY 4
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM Cost: $185 per person
(By advance registration only. Select one of six. Add $25 fee if you are not attending the conference.)
willis 1. Using Neuroscience in the Classroom for Improving Memory, Motivation, Mindsets and Student Preparation in the Digital Age


You will learn about the impacts of multitasking on memory and the brain and impacts of the digital age on social and emotional aspects of learning. Dr. Willis will discuss how to use the computer game "model" for engaged students with increased motivation and memory and how digital offerings can be used to promote and sustain attention. She will also show how to create homework using digital technology that students want to do and that promotes understanding and long-term memory.


Judy Willis, MD, EdM, Board-Certified Neurologist; Former Teacher; Adjunct Lecturer, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara; Author, Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning (2006)
wood 2. Managing the 21st Century Classroom: How Technology's Hidden Perils Can Lead to Reduced Academic Success


Perhaps the biggest challenge presented by the use of technology in the classroom is not instructional at all, but rather a management challenge. Looking at the addition of smartboards, iPads, and laptops to the classroom through the lens of research on attention and memory, this workshop will alert you to the hidden management challenges presented by technology and give you common sense guidelines you can start applying right away in your classroom to improve the use and management of this technology.


William Wood, MA, President, Open Mind Technologies; Former Teacher; National speaker on brain-based teaching
mccloskey 3. Executive Functions, Technology and Classroom Performance


Dr. McCloskey will describe executive functions and how they impact learning and performance in the classroom. He will address ways to recognize executive function difficulties and methods for helping children with these difficulties to improve their behavior and academic performance either through teacher assistance or through increasing their capacity for self-regulation. You will learn ways to enhance the use of executive functions or compensate for executive function difficulties using new technology.


George McCloskey PhD, Professor and Director, School Psychology Research, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Author, Essentials of Executive Function Assessment (2010); Co-Author, Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties (2009)
4. Integrating RTI and Cognitive Neuropsychology: Using Technology to Develop
Reading Interventions for Children


You will examine reading from a brain-based educational perspective and classify reading disorders into four distinct subtypes. Dr. Feifer will discuss matching each reading disorders' subtype with evidence-based and computerized interventions and software recommendations for the classroom. He will also explain the use of neuropsychological assessment within a 4-tiered response to intervention (RTI) system as the primary means to pinpoint specific reading disorders in children. Lastly, he will introduce a 90-minute dyslexia evaluation to provide practitioners with a multi-method approach to reading assessment.


Steven G. Feifer, EdD, NCSP, Neuropsychologist; Adjunct Professor, George Washington University and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Director of Assessment and Neurofeedback, Monocacy Neurodevelopmental Center; Co-Author, The Neuropsychology of Mathematics (2005), The Neuropsychology of Written Language Disorders (2001) and The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders (2000)
5. Meeting the Challenges of Individual Differences in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning


Modern technologies are radically changing the learning and teaching sciences. On the one hand, new technologies allow us to examine and better understand the roots of individual differences in the learning brain. On the other, new technologies provide powerful tools for teaching and learning that are flexible enough to meet the challenges posed by individual differences. In this workshop, you will review the intersection of these two advances in the new field that is called Universal Design for Learning.


David H. Rose, PhD, Developmental Neuropyschologist; Founder and CEO, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST); Faculty, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Co-Author, Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning (2002)

6. Learning in 2020: The Power of Learning Networks to Transform Education


Personal learning networks have become the most powerful, efficient and engaging way to learn. This workshop will describe the transformative power of this new social learning landscape and a framework on which schools can build 21st Century learning environments.

Rob Mancabelli, MBA, Consultant on 21st Century Schools; Speaker; Writer; Former CIO, Trinity School, NYC; Co-Author, Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Tranform Education (2011)