Session A
11:00- 12:20 P.M.

A4. The 411: Communicating with Families in the Urban Setting
One of the hardest parts of being a new teacher is learning how to communicate with urban families. Often times, teachers wrongly assume that urban families do not want to be involved but the reality is they do not know how to be involved. Often barriers including language, work schedules, and cultural differences keep parents and guardians at a distance from their child’s school. This session is designed to teach you how to overcome these barriers. This interactive presentation will include role-playing session on how to deal with guardians, resources on involving urban families in school, and tips of the trade on communicating.
Kaylene Stevens, Framingham Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 230

A5. Staying Alive: A Time-Management Survival Guide for New Teachers
All too often, new teachers become overwhelmed by the burdens of a new school, new classes, and new content material. Without effective strategies, you can cave under the weight of all those papers, meetings, extra-help sessions, and lesson plans. This session will focus on effective strategies for coping with the very real time responsibilities of new teachers. We will focus primarily on three areas: lesson planning, assessment practices, and realistic self-expectations. Aside from creating a list of strategies for dealing with all facets of time management, you will develop a “self contract” which will outline realistic, manageable expectations for the first three years of teaching.
Jay McGillen, Danvers Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 235

A6. Wild About Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom
Glogster? Voicethread? Wikis? It sounds like a foreign language, but it's not. These are just some of the many web tools that teachers across the country and around the world are using to motivate and engage their students in the learning process. In this session, you will learn how to incorporate various free (and some that have a small fee) web tools into your instruction. You will also leave with a list of resources that will help you on your journey to becoming a 21st Century teacher.Patricia McGonagle, Lincoln Public Schools
Location: Classroom G16, Educational Resource Library in Campion Hall

Session B
1:30 - 2:50 P.M.

B4. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Enjoying the First Weeks of School
There is a great deal that can be going through a teacher’s mind at the beginning of the school year and it can often be overwhelming. The first few weeks of school, however, should not be a time for stress but an exciting time full of energy and building relationships with new students. This session will focus on many of the issues that come up at the beginning of the year: putting together a syllabus, creating a classroom community and beginning icebreakers, how to establish classroom routines, as well as how to relay expectations to students. The beginning of the school year is most important for gathering information on students and using it to inform one’s teaching; tools to do this will be presented in this session. You will walk away with handouts and templates to use at the beginning of the school year.
Denny Conklin, Framingham Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 230

B5. Bloom's, Bell-Ringers and Blatant Thievery: Lesson Planning in a 21st Century Classroom
Teachers often find themselves with too much to do, and too little time to do it.  After teaching a full day, going to meetings, offering extra help to students, and (of course) grading papers, there is not even enough time to sleep, let alone plan a week’s worth of lessons. Moreover, formal lesson plans can be frustratingly burdensome. Is it really necessary to incorporate the school’s mission statement into my “Introduction to Special Right Triangles” lesson? Do I have to use differentiated instruction when I show the film version of To Kill A Mockingbird? For these and many other reasons, careful lesson planning is often pushed to the bottom of a teacher’s long list of duties. This truth is especially troubling when we consider that lesson planning unites three vital components of our profession: curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Thoughtful lesson planning can also help teachers deal with the very real concerns of attendance taking, homework assessment, and classroom management. Most importantly, careful lesson planning can be the most enjoyable challenge of our job. This session is designed with real teachers in mind.  As a class, we will take a new look at lesson plans, exploring what makes an effective lesson--how it can facilitate our instructional practices, and how it can improve student learning.
John McGillen, Danvers Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 235

B6. Wild About Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom
Glogster? Voicethread? Wikis? It sounds like a foreign language, but it's not. These are just some of the many web tools that teachers across the country and around the world are using to motivate and engage their students in the learning process. In this session, you will learn how to incorporate various free (and some that have a small fee) web tools into your instruction. You will also leave with a list of resources that will help you on your journey to becoming a 21st Century teacher.
Patricia McGonagle, Lincoln Public Schools
Location: Classroom G16, Educational Resource Library in Campion Hall

Session C
3:00 - 4:20 P.M.

C4. Managing Mental Health in the Classroom
As if a room full of thirty students is not stressful enough, many of our students are now arriving to class with major mental health issues and emotional stress. What can you do as a teacher to identify a potential problem? Who can you turn to for help? How can you effectively manage a classroom that contains emotionally stressed students? We will discuss routes to finding assistance in these cases, learn tips to creating a less stressful classroom environment (helpful for all students), when to call for help in the classroom, and how to take care of yourself. It will be an informative but relaxing session where you can learn some fun and quick tips.
Erin Munroe, Whitman Hanson Regional School District
Location: Fulton Hall 230

C5. The Root of the Issue: Understanding Effective Classroom Management in the
Secondary Classroom
Strong classroom management is essential to a successful class. In  this workshop you will reflect on the rules, routines and procedures  that you can develop and implement in your own classroom. Using your experiences with students, and your ability to anticipate various needs, we will draft a set of routines that you will leave with today. You will also leave this worksop with the resources to develop a set of class rules that can be completely individualized.
Danielle Murray, Boston Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 235

C6. Communicating with Families: Strategies for Suburban Teachers
As an educator, you understand the importance of building a bridge between your classroom and students' home environment. Families are actively involved in the school community and concerned about their child's future. In recent years, the boundaries between students' home and school settings have been reduced by increased access to email and the Internet. Families can more easily and readily reach out to teachers and inquire about the learning process. While it is critical that you establish and cultivate a strong partnership with each family, you also need to set clear guidelines and expectations for both students and their parents. Come to this session and learn practical methods for managing communication in the digital age.
Kirstin McEachern, Boston College and St. John's Preparatory School
Location: Fulton Hall 250

Session D
9:00 - 10:20 A.M.

D4. The Emotional, Intellectual, and Physical Dimensions of Classroom Organization: How to Promote a Healthy Classroom Climate
Setting up a classroom for the first time is both one of the most exciting and most overwhelming tasks for the new teacher. You must consider not only what supplies to buy and how to organize the physical layout, but also how to develop rules, routines, and policies that define the classroom culture from day one. In this session, you will explore the physical, emotional, and intellectual dimensions of classroom organization. By the end of the session, you will have ideas on how to develop a classroom code of conduct with students as well as on how to identify rules and routines for smooth classroom operation.  You will also be given various samples of classroom management tools to use or adapt in your classroom.
Robert Rametti, Boston Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 230

D5. The Root of the Issue: Understanding Effective Classroom Management in the
Secondary Classroom
Strong classroom management is essential to a successful class. In  this workshop you will reflect on the rules, routines and procedures  that you can develop and implement in your own classroom. Using your experiences with students, and your ability to anticipate various needs, we will draft a set of routines that you will leave with today. You will also leave this worksop with the resources to develop a set of class rules that can be completely individualized.
Danielle Murray, Boston Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 235

D6. Integrating Social Emotional Skills in the High School History Classroom
In elementary schools, weeks are spent on the development of a nurturing classroom environment that empowers student learning. Students participate in the development of norms and in the creation of an inclusive classroom environment. At the high school level, this attention to detail is often sacrificed, in deference to delivering the curriculum. Despite many studies that demonstrate the opposite, it is assumed that adolescent students do not share the social and emotional needs of their younger counterparts. This session will demonstrate that by integrating a few simple techniques of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Theory, one can establish a fun, dynamic learning environment that fosters engaged learners while maintaining high standards. These techniques will help you to create a classroom environment in which students will feel respected, safe, and empowered to produce and to demonstrate higher levels of learning than they ever felt possible.
Brad Walker, Needham Public Schools
Location: Educational Resource Library, Campion Hall

Session E
10:30 - 11:50 P.M.

E4. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Enjoying the First Weeks of School
There is a great deal that can be going through a teacher’s mind at the beginning of the school year and it can often be overwhelming. The first few weeks of school, however, should not be a time for stress but an exciting time full of energy and building relationships with new students. This session will focus on many of the issues that come up at the beginning of the year: putting together a syllabus, creating a classroom community and beginning icebreakers, how to establish classroom routines, as well as how to relay expectations to students. The beginning of the school year is most important for gathering information on students and using it to inform one’s teaching; tools to do this will be presented in this session. You will get to participate in activities as well as walk away with handouts and templates to use at the beginning of the school year.
Denny Conklin, Framingham Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 230

E5. The Common Core Standards in Massachusetts and the Impact upon Teaching and Learning at the Middle and Secondary Levels
The adoption of the Common Core Standards by the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education call for standards for that are aligned with college and work expectations, are clear, understandable and consistent, include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills, build upon strengths of current state standards, and are informed by other top performing countries in order to ensure that all students are prepared to succeed in the global economy. This will be to provide guidance and support, identify sources of information, share information re the organization for the standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts and Literacy, and begin to think and reflect on the following questions as you start your journey: What are ways to get ready for the Common Core? What do I need to know about the standards, their organization and format? What are the key elements in the design and expectations of the new standards? How does the common core align with our current Frameworks? What are the transition expectations for assessment? These and other questions will guide our discussion as well as allow time to share and to collaborate as we review lessons from the past and making standards work.
Ronald Eydenberg, Lynch School of Education, Boston College
Location: Fulton Hall 235

E6. Crucifix In My Classroom: Tips for Teaching in a Catholic Junior/Senior
High School
You love teaching in a Catholic junior/senior high school but you are not quite sure if your class gives students a Catholic experience. You may even feel ill prepared to handle faith based questions from your students. Learn effective ways you can promote the Catholic identity of your students without having to get an advanced degree in Catholic Theology.
Kristin Barstow Melley, Roche Center for Catholic Education at Boston College
Location: Fulton Hall 250

Session F
1:00 - 2:20 P.M.

F4. Blocking “Writers’ Block” Before It Happens: A Step-by-Step Approach to Teaching the Expository Essay
Guiding students through the essay writing process can be just as daunting for teachers as it is for students.  Many students hear the word “essay” and panic. Crafting thesis statements, overcoming writers’ block, and anxiety over how to organize paragraphs plague students and teachers in classrooms of all grade levels. In this session, you will participate in the essay writing process, utilizing techniques such as power writing, question floods, and color-coding to create two drafts of a response to literature. By the end of the workshop, you will have a collection of essay writing techniques to use or adapt in your classrooms this fall!
Robert Rametti, Boston Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 230

F5. Staying Alive: A Time-Management Survival Guide for New Teachers
All too often, new teachers become overwhelmed by the burdens of a new school, new classes, and new content material. Without effective strategies, teachers can cave under the weight of all those papers, meetings, extra-help sessions, and lesson plans. This session will focus on effective strategies for coping with the very real time responsibilities of new teachers. We will focus primarily on three areas: lesson planning, assessment practices, and realistic self-expectations. Aside from creating a list of strategies for dealing with all facets of time management, new teachers will develop a “self contract” which will outline realistic, manageable expectations for their first three years of teaching.
John McGillen, Danvers Public SchoolsLocation: Fulton Hall 235

F6. Assessment: It’s More Than Just Keeping Score!
Are you getting tired of the same old assessment techniques? Here are some classroom-tested practical tips for alternative assessment - different ways you can informally assess student progress and achievement throughout the day.  In addition if time permits, we’ll investigate: rubric vs. scoring guide – their differences, usage, value, and great resources to create them.
Julie Warsinskey, Danvers Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 250

Session G
2:30 - 3:50 P.M.

G4. The Emotional, Intellectual, and Physical Dimensions of Classroom Organization: How to Promote a Healthy Classroom Climate
Setting up a classroom for the first time is both one of the most exciting and most overwhelming tasks for the new teacher. You must consider not only what supplies to buy and how to organize the physical layout, but also how to develop rules, routines, and policies that define the classroom culture from day one. In this session, you will explore the physical, emotional, and intellectual dimensions of classroom organization. By the end of the session, you will have ideas on how to develop a classroom code of conduct with students as well as on how to identify rules and routines for smooth classroom operation.  You will also be given various samples of classroom management tools to use or adapt in your classroom.
Robert Rametti, Boston Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 230

G5. Bloom's, Bell-Ringers and Blatant Thievery: Lesson Planning in a 21st Century Classroom
Teachers often find themselves with too much to do, and too little time to do it.  After teaching a full day, going to meetings, offering extra help to students, and (of course) grading papers, there is not even enough time to sleep, let alone plan a week’s worth of lessons. Moreover, formal lesson plans can be frustratingly burdensome. Is it really necessary to incorporate the school’s mission statement into my “Introduction to Special Right Triangles” lesson? Do I have to use differentiated instruction when I show the film version of To Kill A Mockingbird? For these and many other reasons, careful lesson planning is often pushed to the bottom of a teacher’s long list of duties. This truth is especially troubling when we consider that lesson planning unites three vital components of our profession: curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Thoughtful lesson planning can also help teachers deal with the very real concerns of attendance taking, homework assessment, and classroom management. Most importantly, careful lesson planning can be the most enjoyable challenge of our job. This session is designed with real teachers in mind. As a class, we will take a new look at lesson plans, exploring what makes an effective lesson--how it can facilitate our instructional practices, and how it can improve student learning.
John McGillen, Danvers Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 235

G6. Assessment: It’s More Than Just Keeping Score!
Are you getting tired of the same old assessment techniques? Here are some classroom-tested practical tips for alternative assessment - different ways you can informally assess student progress and achievement throughout the day.  In addition if time permits, we’ll investigate: rubric vs. scoring guide – their differences, usage, value, and great resources to create them.
Julie Warsinskey, Danvers Public Schools
Location: Fulton Hall 250