Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: 5^th-12^th Grade Teachers, Librarians and Curriculum Developers

Film is a powerful form of literacy, one with which students are very familiar. Film Pittsburgh’s Teen Screen program aims to harness the cinematic medium by curating educational film programs and delivering them to classrooms for FREE. With global films covering a range of multi-disciplinary topics in the humanities, social sciences, and STEM, Teen Screen offers unique and differentiated ways for students to engage with the content they’re studying. At this session, learn how to bring Teen Screen’s films and resources into your classroom. Through an informational presentation, a film sample, and discussion, find out how the purposeful implementation of these movies into your curriculum helps satisfy academic standards, spark curiosity, promote empathy, and create lasting learning experiences.

Presenter: Andrew McGowan

Mr. Andrew McGowan is the Program Manager for Film Pittsburgh’s Teen Screen. He joined Film Pittsburgh after earning his Language Arts teaching certification in Maine and completing work for the Austin Film Festival and the Rhode Island International Film Festival. He has written about film and media for a variety of publications and has worked in children’s entertainment development for Walden Media and Arkansas PBS. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Education from Bowdoin College and a certificate in Creative Producing from the UCLA Film & Television Summer Institute.

Tuesday, October 20, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: PK-12^th Grade Teachers

This session will assist you in building a packet of information for each book to be used within your classroom and will address the information you share with parents, guardians and other individuals and what you keep for your own records. The place of literature in education is shifting and this session is designed to give you encouragement and support as this happens. A variety of resources will be made available to the session participants.

Presenter: Katy Zane

Ms. Katy Zane is Head of Learning Resources and Copyright Consultant for the Elbin Library at West Liberty University.

Tuesday, October 25, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: All

Cardboard is one of the most versatile materials to have readily available in your classroom. This session will focus on project ideas, design and construction techniques, and suggestions for materials and tools for student use. Examples of a wide variety of activities and projects will be shared. Participants are invited to bring their examples and ideas to share with us.

Presenter: Lou Karas

Ms. Lou Karas is the Director of the Center for Arts and Education in the College of Education and Human Performance at West Liberty University. She has extensive experience in the administration, design, evaluation and implementation of arts and education programs for children, adults and families in community and school settings.

Thursday, October 27, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: All

Collaborations and partnerships can bring much needed resources and new opportunities to schools and organizations. This session will focus on how to create and sustain authentic and effective relationships between and among a wide variety of potential collaborators and partners. We’ll also discuss when to say yes, no or not yet when opportunities arise.

Presenter: Lou Karas

Ms. Lou Karas is the Director of the Center for Arts and Education in the College of Education and Human Performance at West Liberty University. She has extensive experience in the administration, design, evaluation and implementation of arts and education programs for children, adults and families in community and school settings.

Tuesday, November 1, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: All

Nothing inspires creativity like ownership and agency. Participants will start this session with a hands-on bookmaking activity. We will then examine the importance of zines and bookmaking in several social and cultural movements as well as examples of projects that can easily be replicated in the classroom and ideas for how to use self-made books in the classroom and beyond. Participants should have some 8x11 or 11x17 paper and some basic art supplies available.

Presenter: Debbie Coppula

Ms. Debbie Coppula is the Professional Development Specialist at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the Museum staff in January 2022, she was an Instructional Coach and Professional Learning Director. Previously, she taught middle school at a science magnet for ten years in Washington, DC. Ms. Coppula is passionate about creating learning opportunities that inspire curiosity, creativity and joy.

Thursday, November 3, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: All

Please join us for a conversation with author and educator, Melissa A. Butler, about ways to nurture slowness, wonder, play, and depth of being for children (and adults).

Presenter: Melissa A. Butler

Ms. Butler specializes in the art of noticing and holistic learning design. Her most recent books include How to Notice: Expand Your Experience of Everyday Life and IN A BUTTON, a picture book with illustrator Nicholas Hohman. Butler merges her academic background in curriculum, poetics, and pedagogy with her daily practices of noticing and appreciation to inform her work and expressions. She is guided by questions of slowness, silence, not knowing, boredom, intrinsic curiosity, play, freedom, trust, and love.

Tuesday, November 8, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: All

There are many ways students can collect and analyze day-to-day and personal data and create visual representations of the data points. Their data “postcards”, “self portraits” and other visualizations can then be used to tell their “stories” and analyze individual and group statistics. These activities can be adapted for use across the curriculum and be done by students PreK through 12^th grade as well as with adults.

Presenter: Lou Karas

Ms. Lou Karas is the Director of the Center for Arts and Education in the College of Education and Human Performance at West Liberty University. She has extensive experience in the administration, design, evaluation and implementation of arts and education programs for children, adults and families in community and school settings.

Thursday, November 10, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: All

Writing can be one of the most difficult tasks in which to spark interest or sustain engagement, but for some students this difficulty can feel almost impossible to overcome. This session will look deeply at “the reluctant writer” and their reasons for avoiding the task in order to better appreciate the valuable lessons they can teach us about teaching. We will then share some strategies that have worked for the presenter’s toughest cases – and encourage participants to brainstorm and share their own ideas. Leave inspired!

Presenter: Debbie Coppula

Ms. Debbie Coppula is the Professional Development Specialist at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the Museum staff in January 2022, she was an Instructional Coach and Professional Learning Director. Previously, she taught middle school at a science magnet for ten years in Washington, DC. Ms. Coppula is passionate about creating learning opportunities that inspire curiosity, creativity and joy.

Tuesday, November 15, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: Teachers of All Content Areas and School Administrators

This session will provide nine motivational truths to increase student motivation in the classroom. Teachers will gain insight into how their curriculum attitude and assessment techniques have a direct impact on their students' motivation which directly impacts their future potential.

Presenter: Jeffrey Grubbs

Dr. Jeffrey Grubbs is Professor of Art Education and Art History at West Liberty University. He completed his Ph.D. in Art Education in 2010 from The Ohio State University and a M.A. in Principal Leadership in 2020 from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Grubbs is currently President-Elect of the West Virginia Art Education Association and is on the editorial board of the journal, Visual Inquiry: Learning & Teaching. His current research interests focus on student self-efficacy, administration and teacher belief systems analysis, assessing creativity and self-regulated learning.

Thursday, November 17, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: All

Strategies and tips for submitting your professional work for presentation at conferences, for review for inclusion in periodicals, and developing a prospectus for a book will be presented in this session.

Presenter: Stephen Richards

Dr. Stephen Richards is Associate Professor of Teacher Education in the College of Education and Human Performance. Dr. Richards has co-authored 7 textbooks and presented at national, state, and regional conferences for educators.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: 1^st -8^th Grade Teachers

From traditional paper maps to virtual mapping tools, this session will focus on creative ways to not only use but also make maps in the classroom. Examples of a wide variety of activities and projects, for all grade levels, will be shared. Participants are also invited to bring their examples and ideas to share with us.

Presenter: Lou Karas

Ms. Lou Karas is the Director of the Center for Arts and Education in the College of Education and Human Performance at West Liberty University. She has extensive experience in the administration, design, evaluation and implementation of arts and education programs for children, adults and families in community and school settings.

Thursday, December 1, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. | Intended Audience: PK-12^th Grade Teachers

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have challenges related to social interactions, behavior, emotional understanding and emotion regulation. This session will explore typical traits of ASD and social and emotional interventions for children with ASD in the P-12 educational setting.

Presenter: Hilary Bougher-Muckian

Dr. Hilary Bougher-Muckian is Assistant Professor of Preschool Special Needs Education in the College of Education and Human Performance at West Liberty University.