Establishing Peer Learning Communities Presenter: Dr. Michelle Parker-Katz
This session will focus on developing and sustaining a peer-mentoring observation program in a school. What could be the purposes, outcomes and structures to make it happen? How could teachers build investment and commitment to it? In what ways could such activities be a form of professional development and inquiry?This workshop is for Education Directors.
Classroom and Behavior Management Presenter: Dr. Michelle Parker-Katz
This session will focus on ways to find students’ strengths, interests and learning styles to build classroom settings in which teacher/student and student/student relationships are productive for learning. What are the many ways we can do that, and enhance both academic and social outcomes? Additionally, what are school-wide supports (e.g., research-based “positive behavior intervention supports, PBIS) that can learning for all? How can those structures help us ease challenges and build strengths? Participants are encouraged to use examples from teaching as small “cases” to explore.This workshop is designed for teachers of all grades.
Dr. Michelle Parker-Katz is Clinical Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she also coordinates the masters programs and clinical experiences. She teaches doctoral and masters courses that include supervision of clinical internships and student teaching in Chicago Public Schools. Her courses focus on teacher learning in urban geographic spaces, which also align with her three major research areas about teacher learning. One focuses on the structures, nature, and possibilities of collaborative learning amongst teachers with special attention to special educators and early career educators. A related second focus is how personnel preparation could enhance post high-school transition outcomes for students with disabilities through collaborative networks. A third related issue is how teachers develop knowledge for teaching and a deep understanding of subject-specific content knowledge and literacies. She is or has been co-PI on several federal grants funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, Office of Special Education Programs, and National Science Foundation as well as many foundation-supported grants. Those projects help anchor her overall scholarship on teacher knowledge and collaboration with an extensive network of educators in Chicagoland public schools. She publishes widely in general and special education refereed journals as well as in books and online venues. She provides professional support to several non-profit community groups and is active in state and national organizations. In addition to teaching awards, Parker-Katz most recently earned the INSPIRE! award for her tireless efforts to recruit, sustain and nurture students at the University of Illinois as they learn and continuously develop their teacher practices.
