Katelyn Provo

Making Content Comprehensible For English Learners

Farmington, MI, 2015

 

This was a three-day seminar designed to help classroom teachers better support their English Language Learners. We learned techniques and strategies to help build student engagement. We discussed the importance of student accountability.  We talked about accommodations that can be made within the classroom to support all learners. We discussed the importance of home school relationships. As part of this seminar we read and discussed Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model By: Jana J. Echevarria, MaryEllen Vogt and Deborah J. Short. The information I learned in this seminar has been very helpful for all of my students not just my English Language learners.

 

 

 

 

Close and Critical Reading

Livonia, MI, 2014, 2015

 

This was a number of professional development sessions provided during some of our weekly staff meetings. We were given an introduction to Close and Critical Reading (CCR) and worked through a close reading lesson that could be used in a fifth grade classroom. We were introduced to guided highlighting, which is a technique that can be used to help students read closely. We discussed the Close and Critical Reading/Writing assessment that we would be giving to our students. We discussed the rubric that would be used for grading. We also preformed triad grading with our grade level partners. We received the book Interacting with Informational Text for Close and Critical Reading by: Jill Erfourth, Theresa Hasenauer and Lorri Zieleniewski. I continue to use the information I have learned form these professional development meetings. I try to incorporate aspects of Critical reading daily in my classroom. I am also required to administer three close and critical assessments a year with my students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NWEA Training

Livonia, MI, 2013

 

This professional development meeting introduced us to the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) program. We learned that NWEA is a computer based individualized self-adjusting assessment. This means that if students are answering questions correctly they will be given progressively harder questions or if students are continuing to answer questions incorrectly they will be given less difficult questions. We were taught how to set up a testing session and how to test our class. We discussed how to print out student results and class data reports. I still utilize the skills I learned during the seminar because I give the NWEA assessment to my class three times a year.

 

 

 

 

MIStar Zangle Training

Livonia, MI, 2013

 

This professional Development seminar introduced MIStar. In this seminar we learned how to take attendance,  access student profiles including parent contact information, address, previous teachers and various other important student information. We learned how to make a seating chart. We learned how to access our student's report cards. MIStar is the program my school uses for both daily attendance and for student report cards. This professional development has been very useful because I use this program everyday while I am at school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Understanding the Common Core Standards for Mathematics

Waterford, MI, 2012, 2013

 

This professional development seminar introduced and focused on the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. We went over eight math practices that can be used in the classroom. Make sense of problems and preserve in solving them, reason abstractly and quantitatively, construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, model with mathematics, use appropriate tools strategically, attend to precision, look for and make use of structure and look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. We also discussed various talk moves that we can use to facilitate math discussion. I use techniques I learned in this seminar daily in my classroom. I also use lesson plans aligned with the Common Core.