From the list below, note the session number for a first and second preference for your single breakout session at the Tacoma location. Enter your preference on the registration form.
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General Presentations
Tac-01 Eighth Grade Algebra ArticulationSharing our work together! A description of a collaborative process with the deanery eighth grade math teachers sharing best practices and a common curriculum to ensure similar learning experiences for all algebra students. We will share common benchmarks for all the schools to ensure student progress.
Target Audience: 7-10th grade teachers
Star Grant Presenter(s): Chris Bernards, Bellarmine Preparatory School, Department chair and a panel of three teachers
Tac-02 Opportunity to Grow in our Understanding of Prayer
Opening our minds and hearts to God through our thoughts, words and emotions while growing in a prayer of silence. We experience God's presence in the ground of our being, the source from whom our life emerges at every moment. Outcomes: Deeper awareness of the power of God in our everyday lives.
Target Audience: principals and teachers
Presenter(s): Sr. Joyce Cox
Tac-03 Instruction Differentiation - Boys in a Box
What is the difference between the male-female brain and how do these differences impact student learning? The role of "purpose" in a boy's education is vital to understand for any effective teacher. Boys, by design, are physical learners who must be challenged in different ways. The role of support systems and how to use them when educating a young man will also be discussed. Practical classroom applications will be offered - strategies that can be used in your class room tomorrow!
Target Audience: K-12 teachers, emphasis on 8-12
Presenter(s): Frank Lazarek, O'Dea High School
Tac-04 Technology in the Upper Elementary Classroom
What are the various websites that support blended learning? How to reduce a teacher's paper footprint, and time spent correcting papers, especially in math.
Target Audience: 4-8th grade teachers
Presenter(s): Gina Berryessa, Visitation Catholic School
Tac-05 Cultivating Attention and Focus in the Digital Age
Strategies for cultivating and fostering student awareness of the importance of deep, sustained, disciplined attention.
1) Overview of the biological foundations of focus and attention
2) Impact of distraction on the learner
3) Importance of attention in the philosophical and historical academic traditions
4) Practical solutions to improve focus and attention.
Target Audience: 6-8th grade teachers
Presenter(s): Mark Modarelli and Matthew Ellis, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Tac-06 Integrating Catholic Music into History/Religion
Integrating songs during the Church Year: All Saints, Advent, and Lent. Ideas shared for masses and prayer services woven into a fast paced Kodaly-inspired music lesson teaching solfege, rhythm, music history, and musical forms.
Target Audience: 4-6th grade teachers
Presenter(s): Deanna Reitan, Holy Family School in Auburn
Tac-07 Handwriting - Handwriting is Integral!
Handwriting is an integral part of reading and language arts instruction. This research-based presentation will focus on the importance of making handwriting functional, and how to consider when a child is ready to transition from writing by hand to keyboarding.
Target Audience: Pre-K - 8 teachers and learning specialists
Presenter(s): Beverly Wolfe, Our Lady of the Lake
Tac-08 Catholic Education for Every Student
At Kennedy Catholic High School, we believe that every student should have the opportunity to pursue a Catholic education. The goal of the Blessed Mother Teresa Program at Kennedy Catholic is to serve a wide range of learners while at the same time offering a true and diverse high school experience.
This presentation is tailored to K-8 educators. We will be discussing the following:
• How does a student qualify for the Mother Teresa Program?
• What are the grade level expectations for entering students?
• Do these students receive a Kennedy Catholic diploma?
• How are lesson plans differentiated for this diverse population?
• Assessment
• Goal Setting
• Re-assessment
• Assistive Technology
• Parents
We will have an open question/discussion opportunity at the end of the presentation.
Target Audience: K-8 teachers, all welcome
Presenter(s): Charlie Beall, Kennedy Catholic High School
Tac-09 Creative Art Lessons for the Elementary Student
Take home 2-3 art lessons to use in your classroom! During this breakout session, the presenter will:
1. Share a variety of art lessons, and student samples will be on display.
2. Demonstrate a lesson with group participation - materials provided.
3. Introduce several teacher art blogs and Pinterest resources.
4. Provide samples of art/religion integration ideas.
5. Offer handouts and an art booklet will be made available.
Target Audience: 1-8th grade teachers, art docents, art instructors, aides
Presenter(s): Tami Smith, St. Anthony School
Tac-10 All You Ever Need to Know About 1 to 1 Tablet Education
Demonstration of hardware/software used in 1 to 1 classroom to increase student engagement and performance.
Target Audience: middle and high school
Presenter(s): Ron Edwards, Principal, and Therese Allin, Pope John Paul II High School.
Tac-11 ITBS Analysis for Teachers: How to Use Results to Change Instruction
Together, we will explore how to use the provided reports from ITBS and the online tool (IRM) to understand both a class and student's test results. With this information, teachers can use these results to change instruction.
Target Audience: Any grade level that administers ITBS
Presenter(s): Vince McGovern, Principal, Our Lady of the Lake School, Seattle
Tac-12 Meeting the Standards through Innovative Field-Learning Experiences
Teachers will learn how to implement an innovative, cross-curricular, field-learning program that is used to meet the current educational standards (including Common Core).
Target Audience: Targeted to middle school, but ideal for 4th and up
Presenter(s): Katie Dempsey, 5/6 Teacher, HRRS/Juan Diego Academy, Tacoma
Tac-13 The Story of a School Garden
A school garden was created where none existed before. The journey from idea to finished "outdoor classroom" will be shared.
Target Audience: Pre-K to 8 teachers
Star Grant Presenter(s): Christine Scanlon, Pre-K Teacher, St. Paul School
Tac-14 STEM: A Powerful Learning Experience!
In this presentation, participants will take part in a powerful learning experience that will guide us into the conversation about STEM. What STEM is, why STEM is necessary in our schools, and how STEM can be a powerful learning experience for our students.
Target Audience: K-12 teachers and principals
Presenter(s): Meghan Hoyer, St. Philomena School
Tac-15 Teaching Standards through a Classroom Economy
A classroom economy that reflects many standards in mathematics, social studies, and even religion content areas. The economy teaches students to consider the impact of their choices when making decisions, understand the flow of money, negotiate, contribute to their church and community, and to be responsible stewards of their own incomes.
Target Audience: K-8 teachers
Star Grant Presenter(s): Stephanie Wright, St. Patrick School
Tac-16 Religion Curriculum Committee
A first meeting for the Religion Curriculum Committee. Moving the initiative forward as we look at the big picture and the revisions for individual grade levels.
Target Audience: All pre-assigned members of the Religion Curriculum Committee
Presenter(s): Kristin Dixon, Assistant Superintendent, Office for Catholic Schools
Tac-17 Implementing Two-Way Immersion
How a two-way immersion program was created and implemented at Holy Rosary School will be explored. The context for the purpose of the program and the logistics of meeting the challenges will be presented.
Target Audience: teachers and administrators
Presenter(s): Tim Uhl, Principal, HRRS/Juan Diego Academy
Tac-18 Empowering Your Students in Faith
Presenters will share and model examples of how to empower students in their own prayer life, faith formation, and through loving actions towards others.
Target Audience: Pre-K - 8 teachers
Presenter(s): Kathleen Buxell, Victoria McDonald, and Susie Kennedy, St. Nicholas School
Tac-19 Early Childhood Education Curriculum & Lesson Planning
Program will give knowledge and instruction regarding curriculum and lesson planning ideas as well as curriculum mapping information. I will give specific lesson ideas regarding religious education as well as academic and social activities.
Target Audience: Pre-K and K teachers
Presenter(s): Kari Hopper, Immaculate Conception/OLPH School
Program and Exhibitor Presentations
Tac-21 The Teacher as Mission Educator: Passing on the Mission to the Next GenerationToday we hear a lot about the need for evangelization and mission. But how do you, as an educator, ensure that Jesus’ mission is passed on to the next generation? This workshop explores: 1) practical ways you can develop a stronger sense of the joy of mission in your own spirituality and teaching and 2) strategies for you to fire up your students (and their parents) to become more engaged in their own baptismal call to participate in the mission of Jesus. Together we can create a school culture that:
• Forms students to participate in mission
• Engages students and families in the world around them
• Develops and implements mission education objectives in the curriculum
• Creates a lasting culture of mission that enlivens Catholic Identity.
Target Audience: K-12 Teachers and administrators
Presenter(s): Kevin Foy and J.L. Drouhard, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
Tac-22 Morality in Religious Education; The How-to Approach
Morality in our religious education programs does not start with rules and regulations, it starts in our hearts. The love for God and church motivates us to live a moral life. This moral life needs to be deliberate, careful and well structured in our religious education programs. Many have called morality in our schools the “hidden” curriculum, but that sometimes places too many limits on it. The first place to start building a Religious Education program that is responding to morality is to focus on empathy. Empathy is the key to understanding the beauty of Catholic morality and the more we practice it the more moral we become.
Target Audience: K-12 teachers and administrators
Presenter(s): Victor Valenzuela, Sadlier
Tac-23 Holocaust, Genocide, Today
While traditionally considered a lesson in history, it is through the study of the Holocaust that we can learn about bystanders, the dangers of intolerance, and the difference one person can make. Participants of this session will receive practical tools to help them teach about this often sensitive and overwhelming subject. In this 75 minute session, participants will have the opportunity to view the short film, “With My Own Eyes: Holocaust Genocide Today” and will discuss best practices for teaching the Holocaust. Participants will receive free resources, including a copy of the film, from the Holocaust Center.
Target Audience: 6-12th grade teachers, librarians
Presenter(s): Laurie Warshal and Nick Coddington, The Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center
Tac-24 Teaching ALL Children to Read in the Common Core Era; Grades Pre-K - 2
The presentation will clarify for administrators the importance of Foundational Skills of the CCSS as they relate to the development of beginning reading skills. The current state of US literacy will be discussed. From there, the presentation will outline the shifts in education that are needed to align the primary classroom with the CCSS and how these shifts can be accomplished in an engaging, rigorous fashion.
Target Audience: Pre-K - 2 teachers
Presenter(s): Jane Vallin - Rowland Reading Foundation
Tac-25 The New American - Fourth Grade through Adult
The New American is a powerful multimedia performance created in collaboration with Ellis Island and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The story will follow a young immigrant, Bridget Fitzgerald, as she escapes poverty and Famine in Ireland in search of a better life in America. Living Voices is a nationally-recognized, educational theatre company that offers a creative and personal approach in understanding important periods in history and applying their significance for today’s audiences. Living Voices presents diverse performances uniquely combined with archival film that turn history into a moving personal journey. By focusing on one ordinary person living through an extraordinary time in history, Living Voices helps audiences to better understand and access the past.
Target Audience: 4-12th grade teachers
Presenter(s): Rachael McClinton, Living Voices
Tac-26 Common Core and English Language Arts
A discussion of the impact of the Common Core State Standards on English Language Arts education in the U.S. The presenter will provide an overview of the Common Core and explain how it can effectively be used to provide a rigorous ELA curriculum that meets the needs of our 21st century learners.
Target Audience: K-12 teachers and administrators
Presenter(s): Linda Wakefield, on behalf of Houghton Mifflin
Tac-27 Putting Art at the Center of the Curriculum
This workshop will describe recent research that argues for the importance of art in promoting academic success. The workshop will demonstrate how art can link to other areas of the curriculum and will include a sample art lesson based on a batik rooster from Russia; the art lesson will be linked to a language art lesson based on a Russian folk tale.
Target Audience: 1-8th grade teachers
Presenter(s): Stephanie Hofland, ArtAchieve
Tac-29 The Six Tasks of Catechesis: Tools for Engaging, Exciting and Energizing Students on the Road of Discipleship
A review of the six tasks of catechesis, exploring the teacher's role as a storyteller, facilitator, presenter. and leader of prayer. Practical creative ideas on implementing the six tasks in religion class; participants will explore strategies they can use with their students, next week, next month, and throughout the year. Linking the six tasks with the liturgical year, so teachers will have a variety of activities and strategies appropriate for the various liturgical seasons. No paper and pens required. Participants will learn by doing, with handouts listing additional ideas and strategies.
Target Audience: K-8 teachers
Presenter(s): Sue Schuttinger, RCL Benziger
Tac-30 Applying Brain Research to Religious Formation
Description: How does brain research impact religious education and the role of the teacher? The journey in faith heightens the awareness in and the need for meaning and relevance in the world as part of the student's formation. Brain-based learning and its impact in religious education will be explored. Review of the research on the digital learner including the characteristics of the way digital learners learn. Discussion of this in the light of religious formation for a balanced approach to catechesis which invites, teaches, and challenges students to discipleship.
Target Audience: K-8 teachers
Presenter(s): Anne Battes, RCL Benziger
Tac-31 Bringing Students into Appropriate Digital Research with the World Book Web
Training for librarians and teachers that already have access to the World Book Web and it's wide range of databases. Also an introduction to those schools seeking appropriate websites for their students. Many of the Catholic Schools in Washington have access but need additional training on all the new features of the programs. Free classroom material will also be given to attendees to assist their students in research.
Target Audience: K-12 teachers and librarians
Presenter(s): Judy Thompson, World Book
Tac-32 The LearnPad Tablet: Purpose Built for Education & SAFARI: Digital Curriculum Management
The LearnPad features a very simple, easy-to-use Android operating system designed around both the teacher and student. The unique, secure and customizable student interface allows the teacher to control which activities, applications, websites, and even assessments a student can use. Best of all, curriculum management is included and is available through a browser so you can edit lessons from anywhere. Come explore and see how the LearnPad can make integrating tablet technology easy and purposeful.
With SAFARI Montage CreationStation, school districts have the ability to easily upload and manage their own digital video and other content and to disseminate it to all classrooms throughout the district. The Pathways SM module is a powerful new addition to the SAFARI Montage suite of products, which forms a total enterprise solution that provides System Administrators the tools to manage all of their digital media intelligently throughout the district while improving teaching, learning and achievement for 21st- century students.
Target Audience: Pre-K - 12 teachers and administrators
Presenter(s): Ramon Ascue, ACT
Tac-33 Ten Essential Principles of Human Dignity Every Student Should Know
Learn ten of the most important principles of reason, ethics, and justice, and how you can use them to guide students in everything from pro-life values, to social justice, to good character formation. Explore topics such as inalienable rights, the intrinsic dignity of the person, do no harm, the ends versus the means, and the four levels of happiness. Includes an interactive introduction to the nationally-acclaimed new supplemental learning program, "Principles and Choices" for high school classrooms. Plus, hands-on demonstrations of text, drama, audio-visual, media, internet, and social media resources.
Target Audience: 8-12th grade teachers
Presenter(s): Lisa Ann Oliver, Healing the Culture
Tac-34 STEM Learning Labs on the Golf Course (Science)
The learning labs for teachers will provide an overview of First Green's program including sample lesson plans on our website. It will have two brief professionally developed videos for a total time of about 10 minutes with time for questions and answers. We will describe how STEM learning takes place on golf courses, and then involve the teachers in two or three of the actual learning labs where they are participants and our First Green team will teach the labs just as we do on golf courses. Teachers will do the labs and talk with the presenters about how this fits with their grade level curriculum. Each lab takes about 20 minutes.
Target Audience: 2-12th grade teachers and administrators
Presenter(s): Josh Cheney, Assistant Superintendent, Glendale Country Club and Karen Armstead, Executive Director on behalf of the First Green Foundation
Tac-35 Five Strategies for Reading Content Area
This seminar will discuss 5 practical strategies that content area teachers can use to increase student comprehension. Participants will discuss:
• Choosing vocabulary
• Including primary sources
• Introducing 21st century sources
• Asking thought provoking questions
• Emphasizing writing arguments.
Target Audience: K-8 teachers
Presenter(s): Andrea Stojanov, Catapult Learning
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