Learning & Leading 2020: Supporting Educators and Students in a Time of Crisis
The Maine Education Association, in response to the impact of COVID-19, is offering a webinar series designed to provide the support you need on your return to school this fall. Covering a range of topics including trauma, technology, equity, and special education, these sessions are focused on your current reality as educators who must find new ways to engage and support students. Sessions are appropriate for all categories of educators.
Register for as many sessions as you would like by clicking on the links below. Each workshop requires a separate registration.
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Creating an Engaging (Online) Classroom Community – Rachel Buck – Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2pm
Research shows that one caring adult can make the difference in improving the lives of students. School connectedness research also shows that when students feel like they belong at school they want to be at school. In this session, participants will learn both what the research says about connectedness as well as some strategies to use to build a strong sense of community in their classrooms, be they online or in-person.
Rachel Buck, M.Ed, LMSW-CC, is entering her 16th year as the alternative education teacher at Dirigo High School in Dixfield. She has spent her career living in the intersection of academics, behavior, and ACEs. She and her husband, a middle school science teacher, have raised 2 children to adulthood. As teachers and coaches, they have been blessed to interact with hundreds of young people in their community.
COVID-19 and Special Education – Atlee Reilly, Disability Rights Maine – Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2pmThis session will help you understand federal and state guidance around the implementation of special education during the disruptions caused by COVID-19. The presentation will be organized around a series of questions and answers related to the COVID-19 educational disruptions and the rights of students eligible for special education. We will look at potential problem areas and you will get information you can use to advocate for your students.
Attorney Atlee Reilly manages the education law practice at Disability Rights Maine. Prior to joining DRM, Atlee worked in private practice at the School Law Center and at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, representing children and their families on a wide range of education related issues. Prior to becoming an attorney, Atlee was an elementary school teacher.
Identity and Difference: Working on Our Blind Spots – Stephanie Hendrix – Thursday, Aug. 27, 7pm
This interactive workshop will provide you with tips and strategies for teaching in a multicultural world. Together, we’ll explore our blind spots and hidden biases so that we can embrace pedagogies that advance our school communities toward a more just society. We’ll investigate our own identities and implicit biases, reflecting on the ways these may be present in the classroom and school environment. Participants will come away from this workshop with concrete steps they can take in their school communities during the coming year.
Stephanie Hendrix has been teaching English & Humanities for 17 years, the last 16 of which at Bangor High School. Stephanie has undergraduate degrees in English, History, and Education, as well as a master’s in Literacy and a C.A.S. in Writing and the Teaching of Writing. Since she is in the “collect ’em all” diploma club, she has also started work on a Ph.D. in Secondary Literacy. She loves being in the classroom both as a teacher and as a student, but her true loves are her husband and two children, Xander (6) and Eila (9).
Equity Audits for Schools and Districts – Prof. Flynn Ross – Tuesday, Sept. 15, 6pm
This session will lead you through creating an equity audit for your school or district so you can look at racial and gender discrepancies in access to programming, discipline, and funding that lead to achievement gaps. Every participant will be able to use publicly accessible data bases to identify their local data and collectively examine possible reasons for those discrepancies using both deficit and structural explanations. You’ll leave this workshop with a new understanding of the barriers faced by some of your students.
Flynn Ross is associate professor and Chair of Teacher Education at the University of Southern Maine. She has worked in schools in New York City, Los Angeles, rural Arkansas, Houston, and currently Portland and Westbrook. She is fascinated by the possibilities of various educational settings having attended Montessori school, a public magnet high school now recognized as an Expeditionary Learning School and taught with Outward Bound, The Boston Children’s Museum, and summer camps.
How to Create Your Google Classroom, Beginner Level – Dawn Staples-Knox – Wednesday, Sept. 16, 4pm
If you have little or no experience with Google Classroom, this workshop is for you. Support staff and teachers who need to know how to use this platform to manage their classes will gain the confidence to set up a Google Classroom. You’ll learn how to assign student work and communicate with students through this useful platform.
Dawn Staples-Knox loves teaching kids science. For over 34 years, she has taught environmental, earth science, space science, biology, marine science, forensics, physical science, and middle school math, social studies, and science. She loves active learning and a hands-on approach to learning process skills and using technology like Google Classroom. Take this workshop to learn some practical skills.
Implementing Student (Teen) Wellness in the Virtual Classroom – Ami Amero – Tuesday, Sept. 22, 7pm
Are you concerned about the well-being of your students during the current health crisis? This workshop will give high school educators the tools they need to support their students. Whether you are returning to in-person instruction or your district has chosen to continue remote learning, this session will cover tips, strategies, and techniques that teachers can implement in their lessons to support Teen Wellness. *PLEASE BE ADVISED: the content presented in this session will be exclusively targeted to High School level (grades 9-12).
Ami Amero has been a Social Studies teacher at Forest Hills High School in Jackman, Maine for the past 23 years. As a six-time Maine Teacher of the Year nominee, Ami serves in a variety of capacities within the school community including Debate Club advisor, Math Team advisor, MSAD #12 District Wellness Coordinator, Student Book Club Facilitator and she runs a student Yoga Club. In addition, she received WSCH6’s Inspiring Educator (2017) and 2015’s Maine Jump$tart Coalition Educator of the Year Award and has been working with Rep. Pouliot to pass legislation (LD 1297/LD 60) for Financial Literacy to become a graduation requirement in all Maine high schools. Also, she has presented at MSMA Conferences to Maine School Boards and Administrators on integrating Habits of Mind and Complex Reasoning processes into curriculum content. She is currently enrolled in a Master’s program and will be earning her degree in Mindfulness in Education.
