Session 3 Descriptions

Community Investigators: Pre-K to College

Learning Strand: Empowering Student Voices

Description of Session: This workshop will provide a closer look at how hands-on, discovery-based approaches to learning in our preschool classrooms energize young children's learning as they become part of a community investigating and sharing the findings of their inquiry. It will also encourage discussion and sharing of ideas about how similar approaches can be utilized in all grade levels to ensure that students are prepared for the demands of college education in the 21st century.

Presenters: Lidia Eftimova, Teacher Coach, Office of Early Childhood and Maria C. Ortiz, Teacher Coach, Office of Early Childhood

Lidia Eftimova began her career in education as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language in Macedonia. In the US, she obtained a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, and continued her services as a preschool teacher and then director. Driven to create a greater impact, Lidia stepped into the role of a Teacher Coach with the Office of Early Childhood at the Newark Public Schools where she presently works. Lidia loves reading, swimming, yoga, and spending time with her family and friends.

Maria C. Ortiz studied Elementary Education at Kean University and graduated in 1991. Pursuing her love to work with young learners she continued her education in the early childhood field for the next two years. As an early childhood educator and part of the community she taught children as a lead teacher in the preschool classroom in Newark for 14 years and as a director for 2 years. After 16 years of service in the early childhood field she followed her path and love for teaching others the art to teach and became a teacher coach for the Office of Early Childhood at Newark Public Schools where she continues her work. Maria loves to listen to music, read and spend time with family and friends.

Relevant Audience: All Educators

Write Club

Learning Strand: From the Field

Description of Session: Write Club will inspire you and your students to write with passion and purpose. Write Club is a practice that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on your classroom culture and enhance student engagement, while chiseling and polishing essential literacy skills.

Rules of Write Club:

#1 You do not talk about Write Club. #2 You DO NOT talk about Write Club.

#3 If someone says STOP or goes limp, the write is over.

#4 One write at a time.

#5 No shirts, no shoes.

#6 Writes will go on as long as they have to.

#7 If this is your first night at WRITE CLUB, you HAVE to write.

Presenter: Meg Murray, Vice Principal, East Side High School

Bio: Meg Murray has served students and teachers in Newark Public Schools for the last 17 years at East Side High School. She is passionate about students graduating with a genuine love of learning, and confidence in speaking and writing. She is a Pisces and enjoys long walks on the beach.

Relevant Audience: 6-12 Literacy Teachers

Looking Beyond the Behavior: Behavior Management Strategies for the Elementary Classroom

Learning Strand: From the Field

Description of Session: Looking behind students' behaviors to figure out the "why" behind the behavior. Teachers will have the opportunity to brainstorm and share best practices around challenging behaviors and leave the workshop with ideas and strategies. Ultimately, working with children is about building a positive relationship with the child.

Presenter: Lisa Fischman, Harriet Tubman School

Bio: Lisa Fischman is in her seventh year at Newark Public Schools. She currently serves as an Academic Interventionist at Harriet Tubman School. Fischman will complete her second Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Montclair State University this summer. Recently, she just won the Outstanding Potential in Education Leadership from the College of Education and Human Services at MSU.

Relevant Audience: PK-8 Educators

Mindful Teachers

Learning Strand: From the Field

Description of Session: Learning how to develop a personal mindfulness practice that fits your already full schedule will lead to increased life satisfaction, improved productivity, problem solving and reduces classroom conflict. We will also discuss introducing mindfulness to children as part of your classroom routine, or as an extracurricular activity.

Presenters: Maria DeSousa, Teacher, Elliott Elementary School

Bio: Maria Desousa has been a Newark Public Schools teacher for more than 15 years teaching mostly middle school Language Arts. Maria has also founded a nonprofit, Guide to Peace, dedicated to alleviating depression and anxiety with mindfulness and self-care.

Relevant Audience: All Educators

Humanities Lab

Learning Strand: Giving Every Newark Student a Chance

Description of Session: During this Humanities Lab workshop we will address the tools we provide for the students that place them in the driver seat of their own education. While traditional teaching takes a step back and becomes strategic parallel teaching through the use of connecting interdisciplinary units. Our strategic plan includes a 4 pillar philosophy that is the driving force towards relevant project based learning experiences.

Pillar One - Interdisciplinary/Collaborative Focus

Pillar Two - Teacher Created, Personalized Content

Pillar Three - Cooperative & Fluid Spaces

Pillar Four - Student Leadership

In this humanities lab the teacher will rely on personalized resources to provide background knowledge while facilitating small group lessons tailored to the student needs. In this session prepare to empower students and learn how to conduct your own Humanities Lab.

Presenter:: Brian Klasner, Advisor/ Humanities Instructor at East Side High School and Liana Summey Big Picture Learning Academy at East Side

Bio:

Brian Klasner: Ten years ago I walked into a classroom and introduced myself to my soon to be teacher mentor. He was charismatic and funny however, through my previous observations I noticed he only lectured. I immediately started to share all my ideas and projects that I wanted to try out in the classroom. He looked at me smiled and stated, “that’s nice”. He was not afraid of innovation but wanted me to learn how to teach traditionally, master the material, and manage a classroom. I noticed one thing immediately that even though the students responded to my charisma not everyone was writing down notes or performing well on assessments. My mentor told me these students are lower learners and we simply give them different tests. This did not sit well with me and I wanted to teach to the learner.

Einstein stated, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". The next ten years have been an upward battle to innovate and no longer teach but initiate conversation with students based on interests. In the short version I no longer lecture and I create learning plans depending on the type of learner in the classroom. Standardized education is not the right way to go about learning because there is no standard student to use as an exemplar. This is not a business we are teachers and we invest in people not machines.

Liana Summey: Passionate about education, social justice, and equity, Liana Summey served as an English Teacher and Advisor with the Big Picture Learning Academy at East Side for six years before taking a leadership role with Big Picture and Talent Development Academy in 2017 as Program Director. Liana is committed to the philosophies of personalized and equitable learning, including student-centered, interest-based, project-based, and real-world learning, as well as emphasis on strong adult and peer relationships amongst students. In her free time, Liana enjoys reading, writing fiction, following politics, and spending time with her husband and son.

Relevant Audience: Educators, 6-12

Developing Authentic Elite Scientists

Learning Strand: From the Field

Description of Session: This presentation will allow science educators the opportunity to reignite their passion toward science instruction. Educators will gain meaningful ideas, practices, and strategies that will enable them to pass the passion and achieve progress as they develop authentic elite scientists within their classrooms.

Presenters: Joi Stepney, Lead Science Teacher, Thirteenth Avenue/ Dr. MLK Renew School

Bio: Joi Stepney is an alumni of Georgian Court University, earning her Bachelors in Natural Science, and also majoring in Education while additionally receiving her Special Education certification. She attended Relay Graduate School of Education and believes that students learn best by doing. The teaching philosophy she upholds simply put is “Science is life”. She believes life's questionable mysteries can be discovered and explained through asking questions, observing, thinking outside of the box, exploring curiosities, and sharing experiences in order to gain understanding and defined answers. She defines herself as a lifelong learner and a giver of love. She enjoys being a mother to her four year old daughter and an active member of Bethel Community Church Intl.

Relevant Audience: Middle School Science Teachers

Giving Every Newark Student a Chance to Learn Math: Identifying and Filling the Gaps in Opportunities to Learn

Learning Strand: Giving Every Newark Student a Chance

Description of Session: Do you have students who are struggling in math? In this session, you will explore tools to help tailor instruction to meet the needs of all students. We will dig into the progression of learning outlined in the standards to identify unfinished learning and misconceptions, and we will begin planning for future instruction.

Presenters: Denise Rawding, Math Coach, Roberto Clemente Elementary School

Bio: Denise Rawding, Ed.D. is currently a math coach at Roberto Clemente Elementary School. She is a 2016 state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, eagerly awaiting the national level announcement. In addition, Denise works as a math reviewer for EdReports and a design consultant for Leading Educators, and she developed an online kindergarten math unit for LearnZillion.

Relevant Audience: K-5 Math Educators

“Listen Up I have Something To Say”, The Benefits of Teaching Self-Advocacy

Learning Strand: Giving Every Newark Student a Chance

Description of Session: The content of our presentation will include findings from previously conducted research that will provide teachers with creative strategies and resources to increase critical thinking, self-awareness and self-advocacy skills for struggling learners. The participants will be afforded the opportunity to engage in activities that may be used to enhance student growth. Such growth will transfer throughout all content areas. Special emphasis will be placed on conceptualizing, applying, synthesizing, and evaluating information that can be gathered from students’ unique observations and experiences.

Presenters: Lenya Morgan-Banner, Special Education Teacher, John F. Kennedy School and Shari M. Pritchett, Special Education Teacher, John F. Kennedy School

Bio: Lenya Morgan-Banner is a servant of God, wife, mother, teacher, chaplain and advocate for children with special needs. She resides in Newark New Jersey. She is a graduate of Kean University with a B.A. in Special Education and Grand Canyon University with a M.A. in Educational Administration. Lenya is a lifelong learner and holds a standard New Jersey Teacher of the Handicapped certification along with an Elementary Education K- 5 certification. Her son Farad was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder which lead her to establish YANA-PGRS. YANA is a grassroots organization providing cost free aid to parents and guardians that have children with special needs. The acronym Y.A.N.A. stands for You Are Not Alone.

Shari M. Pritchett is a dedicated teacher to all students and believe that with patiences, love and guidance all children can develop a yearning for knowledge. She graduated from NJCU with a B.A. and holds a New Jersey Teacher of the Handicapped certification along with an Elementary Education K- 5 certification. In addition to teaching the students of Newark Public Schools, Shari provides developmental intervention services to children from birth to 3 years old. One of Shari’s greatest teaching rewards is seeing students achieve a skill that most people thought they would never achieve.

Relevant Audience: All Educators

Developing Trauma-Sensitive Systems in Schools

Learning Strand: Research to Practice

Description: Addressing Mindfulness in the classroom, which is achieved by focusing one's awareness on actions in the present moment, has the potential to reduce emotional distress while promoting emotional balance, improving attention, and contributing to motivated learning. Emotion regulation processes may be defined as those strategies used to moderate affective experiences in order to meet the demands of different situations or to achieve certain goals. Difficulties in emotion regulation are at the root of many student disorders, including depression, deliberate self-injury, injury and threats to others, substance-abuse disorders, and generally greater reactivity to stress. As practitioners, we intuitively understand that well-designed and well-implemented prevention programs offer a much needed means of reducing problem incidence while building those critical non-cognitive competencies for mental health and improving behavior in the classroom, and ultimately contributing to improved student outcomes. This session will discuss ways in which educators can bring mindfulness and other prevention type programs to develop trauma-sensitive systems within a school.

Bio: Larry Ramkissoon is currently the principal of West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Ramkissoon began his teaching career, as a math teacher, in Jersey City before coming to Newark, where he has served the Newark community as a math teacher, project coordinator, teacher coach, vice principal, and principal. Most recently, Mr. Ramkissoon has worked diligently to successfully combine three different populations, Newark Early College, Newark Vocational and West Side to form what is currently known as West Side High School. In this very important work, Mr. Ramkissoon has served and continues to serve the citizens of this great city through his consistent advocacy for equity and by developing challenging programs aligned to preparing them for college and career success.

Mr. Ramkissoon comes from a family of educators. His father was an educator for 34 years, both as a teacher and principal and instilled in him values consistent with service, empowerment, and developing human potential. As a classroom teacher, Larry was dynamic and engaging and modeled high academic expectations for all of his students. Larry is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Rutgers University, St Peters College, and Relay Graduate School of Education and uses his background in Economics, mathematics, History, and Educational Leadership to consider non-traditional approaches to reimagining current educational practices. He seeks to continue this legacy through his work as a principal, ensuring that his schools are staffed with teachers that are well prepared to deliver rigorous content in an environment that is engaging, safe, challenging, and where students can take greater ownership for their learning.

Relevant Audience: Educators, 6-12