2021 New PD !

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The focus of our professional developments is to reach reluctant and/or struggling staff member(s) and provide a basis for their interactions with all constituents who are proponents for a culture rich learning environment.

The focus of our presentations is to learn creative ways to remove emotional barriers for student achievement. Increase emotional Intelligence and awareness. Gain tools to help students process and cope with emotional trauma and develop creative ways to build relationships and trust with students.

Participants attending our workshops will be able to return to their schools/districts, review their school improvement plans with their leadership teams and begin to refine existing practices in teaching and reaching high risk youth. 

Educators must educate themselves about “cultural poverty.” Educators should help students & colleagues “unlearn” misperceptions about poverty. Educators should continue reaching out to low-income parents even when they appear unresponsive “(and without assuming, if they are unresponsive, that we know why).” “Stand up and respond” when your colleagues stereotype poor students and/or parents. “Fight” to keep low-income students from being assigned unjustly to special education or low academic tracks. Make your curriculum “relevant” to poor students. Most important, “consider how our own cultural biases affect our interactions” with and expectations of our students.  

Traumatized students are all too common in America’s schools. What's rare, is an opportunity for educators to sit an absorb first-hand from a former at-risk student. Craig’s mom abused drugs, his father wasn’t present, he overcame a learning disability as a special education student. Craig, repeated 3rd and 5th grade before dropping out in the 10th grade. Craig has a truly inspiring story, and his journey from GED to PhD is one that will have you motivated to go out and achieve greatness. In this engaging session participants will unlearn perceived fallacies about students who deal with trauma and come from poverty. The impact of childhood trauma and chronic stress is one of the most pressing issues facing educators and society at large. If you work with youth there’s a good chance you work with trauma. Trauma prevents students from being able to engage fully in the present moment. Craig’s trademark slogan, GED to PHD is a concrete paradigm that educators should never give up on any student. 

The school-to-prison pipeline is one of our nation’s most formidable challenges. It refers to the trend of directly referring students to law enforcement for committing certain offenses at school or creating conditions under which students are more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system, such as excluding them from school.  It is imperative that educators (1) educate themselves about the “school discipline gap.” (2) Help students and colleagues unlearn misperceptions about students from poverty. (3) Continue reaching out to low-income families even when they appear unresponsive (and without assuming, if they are unresponsive, that we know why). (4) Respond when colleagues stereotype poor students and/or parents. (5) Fight to keep low-income students from being assigned unjustly to special education or low academic tracks. (6) Make curriculum relevant to poor students, drawing on and validating their experiences and intelligences. Most important, we must consider how our own class biases affect our interactions with and expectations of our students. Craig’s trademark slogan, GED to PHD is a concrete paradigm that educators should never give up on any student.

Are you adapting to a host of exhausting new challenges as an educator?  Retaining high quality teachers has been a growing concern across the United States for some time now. You can’t have burnout unless there was once a fire. So, what happens when a teacher reaches the burnout stage? What has happened when the passion for teaching begins to fade and teachers no longer have the energy and enthusiasm they once had? During the session, participants will reflect on why they chose the field of education and brainstorm what they want for themselves, something many may not do enough. Educators will leave this workshop with a fresh perspective. 

Students put up walls, not to keep educators out but to see which educator cares enough to break them down. Teaching at-risk students with a wall up is such a challenge. In this engaging session participants will learn ways to break down wall’s students exhibit daily. Come learn from a former at-risk student who dropped out, mother was on drugs, absent father, and former special education student. With increased focus on curriculum development, meeting standards, and collecting data, sometimes it’s easy to forget that the best way to teach students is by building positive student-teacher relationships. A teacher who takes the time to engage with students reaps the benefits of increased cooperation in the classroom. Craig’s trademark slogan, GED to PHD is a concrete paradigm that educators should never give up on any student.

If you build it, they will come. Think again. Nationally, adult education and literacy providers are only serving approximately 10% of the population in need. So how can we do better? Each day, over 7,000 students drop out. Come hear what one of these dropouts has to say about his experience transitioning from K-12 to Adult Learning. Learn how to avoid common learning pitfalls like wasting the first 10 minutes of an adult learner’s first day. After this workshop, you will have useful tools to effortlessly engage your learners and increase retention. Make your training more fun, interesting and effective! Craig’s trademark slogan, GED to PHD is a concrete paradigm that adult educators should never give up on any adult student.

We live in a world surrounded by trauma. There’s no doubt about it.  The trauma comes from a myriad of sources including childhood adverse experiences, and natural disasters.  The fact is that trauma produces symptoms. While symptomology differs from person to person (even within the same family), it affects the capacity of individuals of all ages to learn and retain information.  When a person experiences trauma, it affects their bodies and their brains. The immediate response to trauma is autonomic and when our nervous system is activated, we cease using the cognitive portions of our brain. We use our primitive brain to survive.  And, as we all know, we need our cognition to be operational because that is where most learning is enabled.  Also, our memory is challenged by trauma and that involves not just the brain cortex but the amygdala and the hippocampus.  Long story short: trauma impacts the body and brain; it follows as night follows day that trauma affects our capacity to learn.

Making the decision to continue your education is the first step to furthering your academic and professional potential. To mark your path for college success, you might be wondering where to begin and how to make the most of your time in school. As the first in your family to attend college, you may have a lot of questions about campus life and where to turn for help. The course teaches students time management skills, learning styles and techniques to improve memory, reading, notes and test taking skills. Emphasis is placed on developing positive attitudes, setting personal learning goals and motivating students through life goals and career planning. The cultures of the University and campus resources are explored.