Pre-conference Sessions
All pre-conference sessions take place on the 21 July 2011 and are optional full day professional development opportunities for conference attendees.
Please note that you must purchase a full conference registration in order to attend a pre-conference session and you may only register for and attend one pre-conference session. For fee and registration information, please click here.
Session Descriptions
Differentiation: Ways to Save Time While Increasing Achievement and the Joy of Learning in K-8 Classrooms
Through humor and practical applications, Dr. Kingore translates achievement research into realistic and effective strategies that participants select to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. The emphasis is on constructing effective learning experiences that work with multiple topics to expand targeted concepts and skills while promoting continuous learning for all students. Educators learn to integrate rigor into instruction, and then teach students how to apply these elements to their studies. You will exit with simple-to-implement strategies and tools you can apply every day to raise the level of engagement and achievement in the classroom.
The IB Continuum: Enhancing Articulation & Alignment to Improve Instruction
Maria Hersey and Lou Marchesano
This session will explore how schools may use IB programme frameworks (PYP, MYP, DP) as the driving forces of instruction to support local, state and national requirements. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how IB programmes align with current research and educational best practices related to curriculum design and collaboration that meet the demands of our ever-changing, complex world.
Significant concepts:
- How are educational systems responding to the improvement of instruction and what does this mean for teachers?
- How can IB programmes assist with issues related to articulation, curriculum alignment, collaboration and effective assessment?
- How can IB programmes enhance instruction related to the demands of local requirements such as state or national standards and assessments?
- How can IB programmes be used to develop a seamless continuum of education that incorporates continuing research?
Introducing the MYP: The Art and Science of Teaching
Stan Burgoyne and Sue Richards
This pre conference session gives educators, coordinators and administrators an insider’s view of the newly commissioned workshop, Introducing the MYP: the art and science of teaching. It is not our intention to present the basic tenets of the MYP but to explore with participants how this workshop is designed to create a consistent knowledge base across all staff in a school. Through an interactive set of activities participants will reflect on the strategic planning steps that may unfold as a result of this launch point for the candidate school’s long term MYP implementation.
Neuroscience Applied to Continued Education
Neuroscience offers educators a promising framework of reference to design a curriculum featuring relevant contents, innovative learning tools, scientific understanding on how children learn and likewise, a scientific basis on the affective factors involved in the teaching and learning process.
Today, teacher effectiveness relies on the neuroscientific understanding of the processes that enable the student to develop a sound learning and interact in a healthy and emotionally stable classroom environment that promotes their social development.
Significant concepts:
- The articulation of learning and teaching in the cognitive development process: correlation between neuroscience and cognitive science contributions
- Brain plasticity and cognitive empowerment
- The relationship between affective processes and learning: a neurotrophic classroom environment
- Neuroscience and the process of acquiring creative reading or meta-cognitive reading abilities
- Cognitive styles and learning
Transforming Community Service to Service Learning
Service learning—a powerful teaching strategy—creates a conducive environment for developing transferable skills, knowledge, high engagement, and relevance that gives meaning and purpose to classroom learning. During this highly experiential journey, see examples of service learning applicable to units of inquiry at all levels of IB. Let service learning be a continuum that gives evidence of how the attributes of the learner profile become internalized. Hear ideas being piloted that infuse service learning within the extended essay, group research, and see how service learning may increase youth initiative and outcomes for CAS.
During this comprehensive session, you will receive a copy of The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, & Social Action as the author Cathryn Berger Kaye leads you through a step-by-step process that includes:
- Making a Case for Service Learning
- Getting Started
- Entry Points
- Essential Elements
- Transdisciplinary Curricular Mapping
- Five Stages of Service Learning
- Research Method
- Literature Connections
Apple Education: Exploring Innovative Approaches to Learning
You are invited to participate in a one-day, hands-on exploration of the latest products for education, facilitated by distinguished Apple educators with IB experience.
As educators, you will spend a day examining:
- how technology increases engagement, encourages creativity, and empowers learners at every level
- how technology can personalize learning and extend learning outside of the classroom
- a variety of models for incorporating mobile devices and digital content into your learning environment
- how using technology is one of the best ways to increase achievement in math, science, and language arts
As IT Leaders, you will experience firsthand:
- how to create and support a more collaborative learning environment
- how to deploy and manage mobile devices within your school’s infrastructure
- the compatibility of Apple products with your school’s current technologies
- the power and cost efficiencies of Apple products
Preconference Speaker Biographies
Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A., a former classroom teacher and author, is president of CBK Associates—International Education Consultants. She is known for program development and highly engaging workshops in addition to keynote addresses that inspire and promote student engagement. She has extensive experience in K-12 settings in the United States and across the globe. Cathryn is the author of The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, & Social Action Second Edition (Free Spirit Publishing, 2010), and Going Blue: A Kid’s Guide to Protecting Our Oceans and Waterways, with Philippe Cousteau of EarthEcho International (Free Spirit Publishing, 2010).
Stanley Burgoyne is the Global Head of MYP Professional Development the International Baccalaureate. He joined the IB in 2006 after many years as a teacher, coordinator, and administrator. He taught English and drama in the San Francisco Bay Area until 1996 when he moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. There he discovered the IB as part of a U.S. Education grant-funded magnet program in Wake County, North Carolina. He was an MYP and Diploma Programme teacher before becoming a coordinator at the school and then at the district level. He assumed the position of MYP manager in 2006 and later joined the global professional development team in October of 2009.
Dr. Amanda Céspedes Calderón is a physician at the Universidad de Chile with many years of professional experience in child and adolescent psychiatry. She has written numerous books and scientific articles on her area of expertise. She is assistant professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and principal at the Instituto de Neurociencias Aplicadas a la Educación y Salud Mental del Escolar (institute of neurosciences applied to student education and mental health). She has specialized in the early detection of borderline personality disorder in children and the application of psychopharmacological therapies.
Maria Hersey serves as Regional Development Specialist for the International Baccalaureate (IB). She previously worked as the Primary Years Programme (PYP) Regional Manager for the IB Americas. Ms. Hersey's prior experience includes roles as PYP coordinator and Assistant Principal at Westward Elementary IB Magnet School. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in education with a focus in international education.
Dr. Bertie Kingore is an international consultant and award-winning author of twenty-five books, seven interactive CDs, numerous articles, and instructional aids. Her motivational and informative sessions make her a respected and popular speaker at national and international conferences. Dr. Kingore helps educators translate research into effective instructional applications. Her humorous and practical presentations leave teachers revitalized and eager to implement her shared ideas and learning experiences in their own classroom.
Lou Marchesano has worked in education for over 30 years and has over 16 years of experience working with the International Baccalaureate. He was a DP Language A English teacher and IB Coordinator (DP and MYP) for Poudre High School from 1994-2003, as well as the IB District Coordinator. In Frisco, Colorado, he helped implement a full IB district plan spanning the full continuum. Additionally, Lou has served as an International Baccalaureate Trainer and Consultant for the Middle Years Programme, as Chair of the Regional Heads Representative Committee International Baccalaureate North America, as a Member of the IBNA Board of Directors, and as an assistant-examiner in the moderation of DP Language A-1 (English) oral assessments for the International Baccalaureate Organization. He also served as one of three Access Coaches for the IB federally funded grant to increase access to IB for Title schools. He recently retired, but he continues to work with schools as an educational consultant.
Sue Richards was hired to manage the Global Professional Development Teacher Education Services Department in January 2010. Sue brings a wealth of experience in the international education industry with a particular focus on Asia. Her educational leadership experience spans the three IB programs as a Deputy Principal in both public and private schools in Australia. She also has an educational background in higher education and as an MYP and Diploma teacher and workshop leader for Language B.
