Fall 2023 Achievement Initiatives Events

Preparing Your Campus for Higher Newcomer Enrollment

Date: September 8, 2023 Time: 8:30am - 11:30am

Location: WISD - TLC Facilitator: Dr. Carol Salva

Target Audience: Administrators, EL/ML Program Leaders & Coaches, Counselors, Campus/District Instructional Leads

Dr. Carol Salva will provide an interactive 3-hour morning workshop where participants will hear practical ideas for supporting recent immigrants in comprehensive high school settings. She’ll share video testimonies by newcomer and SLIFE students as well as share resources to continue selfdirected learning. Participants receive a copy of "Boosting Achievement". We STRONGLY recommend that districts send a TEAM that includes a secondary administrator, EL coordinator/teacher and high school counselor.

Rapid Literacy: Strategies for Newcomers

Date: September 8, 2023 Time: 12:30pm - 3:30pm

Location: WISD - TLC Facilitator: Dr Carol Salva

Target Audience: EL/ML Program Leaders, Coaches, Teachers of Newcomers, Tutors, Reading/Intervention Teachers

Dr. Carol Salva will provide an interactive 3-hour afternoon workshop where participants will hear practical methods to help non-English readers accelerate their literacy in the target language. Secondary teachers of newcomer ELs will start their training in foundations of literacy that make sense for the secondary classroom. Participants receive a copy of "Boosting Achievement". Content and classroom teachers, and literacy interventionists will benefit from this training.

Book Study: Questioning for Formative Feedback

Date: September 21, October 19, November 16, 2023

(Optional December 13)

Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm

Location: Virtual Facilitator: Amy OlmsteadBrayton Target Audience: K-12 Educators SCECHs: Available

Are you looking for ways to engage students as partners in learning in classrooms in which everyone learns through intentional practice? Join us for this 3-part book study as we explore our guiding text, 'Questioning for Formative Feedback' (Walsh, 2022) and learn more about quality questioning, productive dialogue, and authentic use of feedback and how the skillful use of these three processes can fuel and accelerate the academic, social, and emotional learning of all students! This series will include 3 LIVE virtual sessions as well as an optional in-person application day. Books provided to all Washtenaw County educators.

Tri-County Culturally Responsive Leadership Conference: Leading to Liberate

Date: September 21 & September 27, 2023

Location: In Person (September 21) and Virtual (September 27)

Facilitator: Tri-County Culturally Responsive Mathematics Institute

Target Audience: Educators & Leaders

The leadership conference, established in 2021, supports leaders in enacting culturally responsive leadership within their building and/or district. This program assists leaders in understanding how to support their teachers as they engage in culturally responsive instruction. Leaders also learn how to create humanizing school environments. This conference features scholars in the field of culturally responsive education.

Trauma Informed Approaches to Mental Health Education

Date: September 28, 2023 Time: 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Location: Virtual Facilitator: Danielle Dros

Target Audience: Health Educators SCECHs: Available

Session participants will explore best practices for teaching mental health topics in a trauma informed way and will be exposed to two activities they can use to teach these topics in their classrooms. Participants will be connected with resources that can support them in their ongoing teaching of these topics.

Science Genius

Date: October 4 & 5, 2023 Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm

Location: WISD - TLC Facilitator: Edmund Adjapong

Target Audience: Science Educators

Grades 6 - 12 SCECHs: Available

Participants will have a deeper understanding of how to foster inclusive and equitable learning spaces that celebrate diversity and promote student success and be better equipped to engage in culturally responsive teaching practices that recognize and honor the unique strengths and challenges of each student. Participants will be equipped with practical strategies for using hip-hop culture to engage diverse learners in STEM education, and be part of a growing community of educators who are committed to promoting science literacy and creativity through innovative approaches.

Teachers as Facilitators

Date: October 5 & 6, 2023 Time: 8:30am - 3:30pm

Location: WISD - TLC Facilitator: Varies

Target Audience: Teacher Leaders SCECHs: Available

Our goal is to increase the quality of collaboration that produces benefits for students. You will gain an enhanced understanding of the importance of facilitation. Through a variety of learning formats, you will experience the effects of the Five Mindsets and recognize them in facilitation. You will increase your efficacy and repertoire of tools and processes to operationalize each Mindset. All in person and virtual workshops follow a framework tailored to fit your contextual needs.

SIOP Institute

Date: October 10 & 11, 2023 Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm

Location: WISD-TLC Facilitator: Alyssa Nicol

Target Audience: All Staff working the ELs SCECHs: Available

The SIOP® Institute I helps educators teach English learners both content knowledge and academic language skills. During the workshop, participants will gain practical skills to collaborate, share, and implement lesson plans. The structured approach lets all participants experience the 8 components and 30 features of SIOP®.

Sex-Ed Advisory Board (SEAB) Training

Date: October 11, 2023

Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Location: Virtual Facilitator: Danielle Dros

Target Audience: Sex-Ed Advisory Board cochairs and members

SCECHs: Available

In this session, Sex-Ed Advisory Board (SEAB) chairs and members will learn about the legal requirements related to sex education in Michigan and best practices for SEAB's to utilize to ensure their district is in compliance with the law. Session participants will explore tools and templates for fulfilling SEAB requirements and responsibilities in an organized, effective, and transparent way. This session is highly encouraged for SEAB chairs.

Deep Dive and Share Fair: Culturally & Historically Responsive Instructional Coaching for Lesson/Unit Planning

Date: August 9, August 16, October 12, November 16, & December 7, 2023; January 18 & February 15, 2024

Location: Virtual

Target Audience: New Educators

SCECHs: Available

Time: 4:30pm - 6:00pm

Facilitator: Melissa Brooks-Yip

FOR EDUCATORS IN THEIR 1st/2nd YEAR OF TEACHING. In these sessions, participants will have time to collaborate and practice drafting lessons or unit plans using the understandings from the previous sessions. They will learn ways to refine and revise their curriculum to make it more responsive to the identities and needs of their students through instructional coaching. Foundational Course 1 and 2 is required, asynchronous Cultivating Genius book study is recommended

Implementing Disciplinary Literacy Practices for Secondary Classrooms

Dates: October 12, 2023, January 18, & March 14, 2024

Time: 9:00am - 3:00pm

Facilitator: Melissa Brooks-Yip

Target Audience: Curriculum Leaders, teacher leaders, Secondary instructional Coaches

SCECHs: Available

In this three-session in-person series, we will: (1) familiarize you with GELN’s Essential School-Wide Practices in Disciplinary Literacy Grades 6 - 12; (2) discover approaches to help teachers understand and use the essentials to improve teaching and learning for all students; and (3) join other coaches and leaders in creating a district-wide repository of instructional approaches (i.e., lessons, units, strategies) that can be shared widely.

Numeracy Development

Date: October 17, 2023

Time: 8:30am - 3:30pm

Location: WISD-TLC Facilitators: Shannon McCartney

Target Audience: K-5 Math Educators SCECHs: Available

Once your students have memorized the 10 frame and can subitize like rockstars in one modality, what happens when you show 10 in a scatter or on the top row of a Rekenrek? If they go back to one-to-one counting, this workshop is for you! Join Shannon as she helps you change the way you think about numeracy development with young children. This foundational workshop will equip you to support your students as they learn to understand and explain their own thought processes, implement numeracy chats in the classroom, and discover fun numeracy games and activities that can be implemented tomorrow!

Book Study: The Standards-Based Classroom

Date: October 17, November, 14, & December 12, 2023 (Optional December 13)

Facilitator: Amy Olmstead-Brayton

Target Audience: K-12 Educators

Time: 4:15pm - 5:30pm

Location: Virtual

SCECHs: Yes

Are you an educator who believes all students are capable of academic mastery but are feeling frustrated by your efforts to get them there? This work is HARD but there are strategies that can help! Join us for this 3-part book study as we explore our guiding text, 'The Standards-Based Classroom' (Rinkema &Williams, 2019) and learn more about which practices related to curriculum, instruction and assessment are essential to make learning the goal for every student! This series will include 3 LIVE virtual sessions as well as an optional in-person application day on December 12, 9:00am - 3:00pm

Newsela Certified Educator Program

Date: October 25, 2023

Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Location: WISD-TLC Facilitators: Melissa Brooks-Yip

Target Audience: Educators grades 3-12, instructional coaches

SCECHs: Available

Take this certification course to deepen your understanding of how Newsela works and how to use the instructional content platform to practice literacy skills, build background knowledge, and include diverse perspectives in your classroom. Walk away with 5 hours of professional learning credit and access to our community of educators. All educators who are Newsela Lite users will be eligible to claim free premium access for one full year to our full suite of products: Newsela ELA, Newsela Social Studies, and Newsela Science.

Michigan Model for Health Training (K-6)

Date: October 25, 2023 Time: 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Location: Virtual Facilitator: Danielle Dros

Target Audience: Health Educators/PE

Teachers/Family Consumer Science Educators

SCECHs: Available

The evidence-based Michigan Model for Health™ has been the curriculum of choice in Michigan schools for teaching K-12 health education since 1984. This session for any elementary (or K-6) teacher will provide teachers with an understanding of how to implement the Michigan Model for Health curriculum in their classroom. This training session is part of a hybrid training that includes a self-paced online training module along with a synchronous session. Participants must first complete the online training module prior to the live training session.

Michigan Model for Health Training (7 - 12)

Date: October 26, 2023

Time: 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Location: Virtual Facilitator: Danielle Dros

Target Audience: Health Educators/PE

Teachers/Family Consumer Science Educators

SCECHs: Available

The evidence-based Michigan Model for Health™ has been the curriculum of choice in Michigan schools for teaching K-12 health education since 1984. This session for any secondary (or 7-12) teacher will provide teachers with an understanding of how to implement the Michigan Model for Health curriculum in their classroom. This training session is part of a hybrid training that includes a self-paced online training module along with a synchronous session. Participants must first complete the online training module prior to the live training session.

Discover, Connect, Respond: Trauma-Informed Pedagogy to Support Newcomers

Date: November 9 & 30, 2023

Time: 8:30am - 11:30am

Location: Virtual Facilitator: Dr. Elise W. Diaz

Target Audience: EL/ML Program Leaders & Coaches, Teachers of Newcomers, Counselors

SCECHs: Available

This is an interactive 2-part virtual session facilitated by Dr. Elise W. Diaz, where participants will learn about Discover Connect Respond, a culturallyinformed, research-based system of intervention found effective with children who have experienced trauma. This session with Dr. Diaz will unpack strategies to build trust across language and cultural barriers, especially with students new to the country that have come from hard places, resulting in greater language and academic performance.

Participants receive a copy of “Boosting Achievement”. Administrators and content/classroom teachers will benefit from this training.

HIV Certification

Date: November 15, 2023 Time: 8:30am - 3:30pm

Location: WISD - TLC Facilitator: Danielle Dros

Target Audience: Teachers responsible for teaching HIV & reproductive health education

SCECHs: Available

This training is open to teachers responsible for teaching HIV and reproductive health education. This training will focus on understanding the standards of best practice teaching in HIV and reproductive health education, understanding current trends in youth behaviors and how HIV and reproductive health education can impact those trends, understanding Michigan School Code requirements, expectations in your Reproductive Health program, and reviewing and understanding the laws in Michigan related to HIV and Reproductive Health education in schools

Sex-Ed Prep

Date: November 16, 2023

Time: 8:30am - 3:30pm

Location: WISD - TLC Facilitator: Danielle Dros

Target Audience: Teachers responsible for teaching sex-ed/reproductive health

SCECHs: Available

This session is designed for teachers responsible for teaching sex education and/or reproductive health. This training will cover approaches and basic content for teaching puberty, anatomy, pregnancy & STI prevention, and consent/relationships. This training will address strategies for inclusive and trauma-informed education throughout the session, and will give educators skills, knowledge, and a renewed passion for the importance of comprehensive sex ed that meets the needs of all students. Elementary and Secondary teachers are welcome to attend, and will do breakout work to focus on age-appropriate material for their students. If you know what curricula/ materials are approved in your district, please come prepared with that knowledge!

Foundations of Number Sense

Date: November 16, 2023

Location: WISD-TLC

Time: 8:30am - 3:30pm

Facilitators: Shannon McCartney

Target Audience: K-5 Math Educators

SCECHs: Available

Feeling overwhelmed with all of the different ways to solve addition and subtraction problems in the 21st century? Why can’t we just do it the way we learned, with one answer and only one way to find it? Join Shannon to transform the way you think about solving addition and subtraction problems and helps you enable your students to explain their thinking in multiple ways. Participants will create a toolkit of strategies to help implement various means of solving addition and subtraction problems (3 ways plus the traditional, with concrete-pictorial-abstract means) in your classroom tomorrow.

LGBTQ+ Inclusivity Teacher Training

Date: November 29, 2023 Time: 8:30am - 12:30pm

Location: WISD - TLC Facilitator: Danielle Dros

Target Audience: Any school professional who works with K-12 students

SCECHs: Available

In this training, teachers from all disciplines and levels will learn concepts of LGBTQ+ allyship and how to apply them in their classroom to ensure that all students have the opportunity to express themselves and live authentically. Teachers will learn to differentiate between gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Participants will learn to apply these concepts to understanding youth’s lived experiences, integrate inclusive practices into existent classroom practices, create and contribute to an LGBTQ+ inclusive and affirming school and classroom, and foster an educational environment for all students that is safe, welcoming, and free from stigma and discrimination, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Teachers will walk away with an understanding of unique challenges for LGBTQ+ students and a renewed commitment to creating equitable classrooms.

Justice Leaders Sessions

Dates Coming Soon!

Core Course for Educators: An Introduction to Social Justice Advanced Course

Healing the Pain of Teaching for Social Justice

Socially Just Holidays, Celebrations, and Hearitage Months

EJATT in Action

Interrupting Bias & Apologizing: Skill Practice

Introduction to Implicit Bias

Anti-Bullying: Cultivating Compassionate Classrooms

Check our Digital Catalog for Updated Information!