January, 2017 | VT-HEC

Hold the Dates: Art Cernosia – Patty Prelock

Two of VT-HEC’s Favorites Scheduled for Next Year

Patricia A. Prelock – October 12, 2017 – Montpelier, VT – (Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-CL – UVM Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Professor of Pediatrics, Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences) Patty is a longtime friend and colleague of the VT-HEC and we are delighted that she has agreed to be with us again to speak on recent developments in ASD. Patty is a distinguished national scholar, researcher and presenter who has over 155 publications and 500 peer-reviewed and invited presentations in the areas of autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities, collaboration, language assessment and intervention, and language learning disabilities. Patty is always an enlightening presenter who comes armed with a multitude of resources, references and models and a passion for her fields of study.

Art Cernosia Esq. – November 2, 2017 – Montpelier, VT – Special Education Law Update – Art is well-known in Vermont and nationally as one of the foremost experts in special education law. Art has served as Assistant Attorney General in Vermont working at the DOE and has taught graduate courses in education and special education law. He provides training, consultation, and other technical assistance services to parent/advocacy organizations and to state and local education agencies throughout the nation pertaining to special education legal issues. Art is an engaging and immensely knowledgeable speaker who can communicate the intricacies of the law in a way that is understandable and applicable whether you are a special educator, sped administrator, principal, superintendent, related service provider, attorney or advocate.

Tina Newman: Reading Comprehension for Students w/ ASD #vted

Reading interventions that are specifically tailored to the student with ASD are critical

VT-HEC presents a workshop Reading Comprehension & Autism Spectrum Disorders on April 3, 2017 in Montpelier, VT. The day is designed to develop greater teacher competency in addressing the unique learning profiles of students with ASD; students who may have mastered the techniques of decoding text, but struggle with comprehension. This dynamic learning opportunity will include discussions of methodologies to improve student learning within the broad curriculum domain of reading comprehension skills.

The essential building blocks of successful reading comprehension will be reviewed including vocabulary, background information, literal comprehension, main idea, and the application of cognitive strategies to support reading comprehension. In addition, data collection procedures and the use of curriculum-based progress monitoring tools and standardized assessments to track student progress. will be addressed.

Dr. Tina Newman is a licensed clinical child psychologist who specializes in assessment and intervention with children who have individual learning needs. Dr. Newman received her Ph.D. in School/Applied Child Psychology from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and completed postdoctoral work at Yale University.

Dr. Newman held appointments as a Psychologist at the British Columbia Children’s Hospital, Sunny Hill Health Center for Children and as an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale University, Child Study Center. Her research pursuits included assessment and intervention with children who have individual learning needs, including multiple exceptionalities (e.g., areas of both strength and weakness) and circumscribed interests in autism spectrum disorders. Her clinical work included comprehensive assessments of children with complex learning profiles. She currently provides consultation and training for The Center for Children with Special Needs in Glastonbury, CT.

for more information: vthec.org

Moving Toward Gender Inclusive Environments – New VT-HEC Offerings Announced

Gender Diversity, Identification and Expression in Children & Youth

Gender diversity, identification and expression are raising many questions and challenges for those that work with children and youth. VT-HEC is pleased to announce our first offering on this topic to be held on March 28, 2017 in Montpelier, VT, titled: The Gender Spectrum: Gaining Understanding and Moving Toward Creating Gender Inclusive Environments.

This introductory workshop will be targeted to educators and other professionals who want to learn more about gender expression and/or identity differences; how to discuss the issues with parents, students and colleagues; and become more aware of how to support and nurture different gender identities and expressions.

The workshop will be led by Lisa Estivill from Washington County Mental Health. Lisa has been Director of Therapeutic Education in Barre, VT since 2010 and has many years experience in the field of mental health and gender diversity. Lisa will discuss how gender difference can manifest at different developmental stages and some distinct challenges for gender different/trans kids at different ages (i.e. boys playing dress up in kindergarten, middle school communal changing in lockers, sports teams, dating, etc.)

The emphasis will be on an introduction to the concept of gender diversity, being cognizant of the messages we are sending kids and families about gender diversity, engaging families with gender-different kids, and establishing an inclusive culture.

VT-HEC is planning a series of offerings on gender-related topics that will include a focus on challenges for leadership, additional supports for developing gender inclusive environments, and ways of supporting all students related to this topic.

Watch for more information and registration details on vthec.org

Tech Tools & Assessment – Rescheduled

Tools To Match Assessments to Content and Students; Develop & Manage Learning Scales & Performance Tasks; Assist With Proficiency-Based Assessment & Grading

“The most applicable course I have ever taken. I used what I learned immediately”

VT-HEC’s workshops and course Technology Tools to Improve Assessment have been rescheduled. The series will begin with the first workshop scheduled on February 3^rd, and the second workshop on March 17. During the two workshop days, Chris will explore with you over a dozen tools that will help you tailor assessments to your content and learners. If taken for credit, course meetings will be on February 11^th and April 8^th. Take the course to apply what you learn to your own setting, as well as get personalized support and feedback from Chris.

Join Chris CichoskiKelly in an exploration of how to use technology to:

design and organize assessments that meet the needs of you and your students
improve your current assessments and keep your data organized
make learning goals and progress clearer to students and parents
help teachers and students better focus their efforts and involve students in the assessment process

Among the tools Chris will be reviewing are: PlayPosit; Socrative; Quizlet; Plickers, Goobric, Flubaroo and Kahoot. You will learn how to make creative and tailored use of Google Forms and Sheets, better use Excel for graphing and help make more efficient use of checklists and rubrics.

Chris’s workshops and courses on these topics have gotten rave reviews from past participants:

This course was amazing!! The knowledge I gained has been so incredibly useful; we can see that it is clearly benefiting the students.
This class is my favorite one I’ve ever taken as an adult!
So many skills and tools; all kinds of useful shortcuts and ways I can assess my students and analyze assessment results.
I immediately began integrating the tools I learned about into my practice. I am so impressed by the breadth of this course.
I had knowledge of google tools before, but I would say my knowledge tripled or more, and that I have applied that knowledge daily.

for more information and to register go to: vthec.org