2010 NAREN National Conference

February 16-18, 2010
Edgewater Beach Resort, Panama City, Florida

On this page...

• About the Conference
• Conference Location
• Pre-Conference Seminar
• Conference Schedule
• Post-Conference Seminar

About the Conference

The theme for our 2010 NAREN National Conference is SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS & PRACTICES: Differentiating Instruction and Personalizing Education.

We now know that if we are to be more effective at reaching students we must first assess "where they are" before we plan our programs, and then use practices so each student can relate to the subject matter. A large survey conducted with school dropouts in a major Midwestern metro area revealed that every student agreed with the statement "No one in authority in my school cares about me." This can be ameliorated without spending an extra dime. It is not about NEW programs perhaps as much as it is about re-orienting our thinking, then practices, to match student needs and learning styles.

All meetings and sessions will be held at the Conference Center at Edgewater Beach Resort.

Conference Location

The conference was held (as always!) at:

Edgewater Beach Resort

11212 Front Beach Road
Panama City Beach, FL 32407

The Hotel: On the beach, overlooking the emerald green Gulf of Mexico, the 12-story Edgewater Beach Resort (click for their site!) has been our national conference home for six years, and you will see why when you arrive! Even the basic rooms are suites fully equipped. Under $100 a night! If waking up to surf sounds is not your desire, the Edgewater also has marvelous townhouses on interior lakes on the premises. There is a fine restaurant on the premises at the beach (some of the finest deep-fried grouper fingers ever!).

Pre-Conference Seminar

Anthony Dallmann-Jones

Monday, February 15, 2010

• 8:30am - 4:00pm — Strategies for Differentiating Classrooms for All Learners, with Dr. Anthony Dallmann-Jones, PhD.

  Attendees will examine all the reasons for the widening achievement gap and what some programs are doing to narrow it. The NAREN Nine will also be discussed as a universal scaffolding for building, rebuilding or assessing a quality at-risk program.

  Each participant will receive a free copy ($30 value) of the Handbook for Effective Teaching and Assessment Strategies. Instructor of the course will be Dr. Anthony Dallmann-Jones, Professor of Educational Psychology at Marian University.

• 7:00pm - 8:30pm — Early Registration & Reception

  Early Registration: You may stop in and register if you have not before and/or pick up your conference materials.

  Reception: Informal mixer with cash bar, and snacks, including the famous Mystical Milk Chocolate Fountain with fondue goodies.

Conference Schedule

Dr. Humor

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

• 7:30am - 8:15am — Continental Breakfast will be provided. We start early the first day because our kickoff speaker begins at 8:15am. Dr. Humor is worth getting up early for! We will save opening remarks and announcements until after the first break.

• Registration: Signing up for the conference or picking up your conference materials.

• 8:15am - 9:45am — KEYNOTE: Dr. Stu Robertshaw, a.k.a. "Dr. Humor".

  "Dr. Humor" will share with you what he has learned about the power of humor in connecting and teaching at-risk students. One characteristic of many great teachers in our lives was a good sense of humor. One characteristic of many of the poor teachers we had in our lives was a missing sense of humor! Humor is important in a classroom filled with 25+ kids and one surrogate parent/teacher. It shows confidence and rapport, the two most important characteristics of any progressive classroom, next to academic content. Humor is often a way to encourage learning, to de-stress the classroom, and to let students know that hope is in laughter.

  Biographical Sketch: Dr. Stuart Robertshaw received his Bachelors degree in Education from MacMurray College, his Masters degree in Psychology from Illinois State University, his Doctorate in Special Education from the University of Kansas and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has been a teacher of at-risk students, an attorney whose practice primarily focused on children's rights, a special education hearing officer, and a Professor of Special Education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In 1998, he retired from the university to assume full time responsibilities as President and CEO of the National Association for the Humor Impaired.

  Dr. Humor, author of the book Dear Dr. Humor, has presented to over 500 educational, governmental, medical and business organizations, including (really) the FBI, the CIA, and the IRS!

"I have never had a keynote speaker who overwhelmingly connected with the audience in the manner you did ... your presentation was spectacular."
— Orange County Department of Education (CA)

"Montana may never recover!! Those of us who attended the Montana State Reading Conference and witnessed your presentation are still waking up in the middle of the night laughing uncontrollably!! Your keynote address was truly a highlight of the conference and many of us can't wait until we have the opportunity to see you in action again."
— Montana State Reading Conference (MT)

"Your message to over 1,300 employees has received phenomenal reviews. We laughed, we cried and we learned... Dr. Humor you have given us permission to become a healthier and more humorous staff, and our students will benefit greatly."
— School District of Janesville (WI)

• 9:45am - 10:00am — Booksigning, with Dr. Stu Robertshaw.

• 10:00am - 10:20am — Welcoming Speech by Anthony Dallmann-Jones PhD, NAREN Director.

• 10:30am - 11:40am — Kids These Days: Preparing At-risk Youth for the Workplace — A Special Workshop with Steve Parese.

  Troubled youth often have difficulty with peers and authority figures — difficulties sure to cause problems in the workplace. This highly interactive workshop explains why at-risk youth and young adults have trouble adjusting to the culture of the workplace, and offers strategies for teaching them how to work through workplace problems, rather than blowing them out of proportion.

  All Grade Levels

  Steve Parese, Danbury NC

  Dr. Parese has helped over 25,000 educators nationwide to improve their skills in reaching and teaching challenging students. As a former special educator and counselor of troubled teens, Dr. Parese brings his dynamic presentation style and keen insight to all his work.

• 11:40am - 1:00pm — Lunch on your own at nearby eateries, one being the Edgewater Resort's Ocean's Grill onsite and next to the ocean!

• 1:00pm - 2:10pm — Breakouts: Session I

  • Stop, Drop and Roll: Extinguish the Behavior Fires in Your Classroom

    STOP writing referrals, DROP bad behavior, and ROLL on with instruction! In one hour you will learn four simple diffusers as well as other research based techniques & strategies that will douse small behavior sparks so they don't escalate into "five alarm fires." We didn't start the fires — but you CAN put them out!

    Behavior can be changed, but not with punishment; that is only a temporary fix. Good behavior must be taught. By implementing a combination of research based strategies that change student behaviors such as diffusers, self-control, prompting techniques, Teach To's and REFOCUS teachers can...

    • Recover an additional 7-9 hours of instruction time per week.
    • Eliminate 80%-90% of low-level classroom behavior problems
    • Observe a significant rise in test score
    • Decrease office referrals by 50%
    • Acquire better connectivity with students
    • Reclaim your classroom integrity

    All Grade Levels

    Fran Mishler-Schneider, Pembroke Pines FL

  • Sing Me a Story, Tell Me a Song: The Universal Language of Music and At-Risk Youth (with David Dall, Recording Artist)

    Music is important to our youth, often more important to them than the content our schools insist upon — yet we continue to ignore this fact rather than learn to incorporate it into our schools. With four albums to his credit, singer, composer, and recording artist David Dall has taught Kindergarten for almost 25 years in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He has played the guitar a lot longer than that. He will share "Incorporating life's lessons and using music to manifest healthy functioning in children from dysfunctional families, I teach them much more with music and laughter. It turns some of the tedium of learning into candy," David states.

    All Grade Levels

    David Dall, Rhinelander WI

  • Great Kids Come Back — Re-Connecting Dropout Youth

    Learn how a large urban district reached out to students who had dropped out of school and re-connected them to school.

    Senior High

    Bianca Pilewski, Baltimore MD

• 2:15pm - 3:25pm — Breakouts: Session II

  • Beyond Poverty: Brain-Inspired Ways to Understand and Respond to Poverty

    Poverty has a synergistic and pervasive impact on children's brains. In this workshop, participants will learn the specific differences developing brains exposed to poverty have, the impact of those differences in the classroom and the unique interventions that can be used to overcome poverty's effects. Known as "neuroplasticity," the brain's ability to change and grow through exposure to environmental stimulus offers exciting new approaches and strategies for educators, parents and child-serving professionals working with children from impoverished backgrounds.

    All Grade Levels

    Heather Higgins, Baltimore MD

  • Adapting Effective Practices from Alternative Schools to Your Classroom

    Teachers in caring-based alternative schools utilize practices that are similar across schools because these are effective with the at risk students they serve. Learn which teacher behaviors are most effective and how to adjust instruction strategies for at risk students so they work within traditional classrooms. Instruction includes building on students' multiple intelligences strengths, group discussion with journaling and combining social and academic skills.

    All Grade Levels

    Meryl Domina, DeKalb IL

  • The Singapore Story

    Up to 1980, Singapore had a 40% dropout rate, double the current rate of dropouts in the United States. Today, Singapore is being held up internationally as a country that has turned it around and dramatically reduced their dropout problem. In 2009, Singapore's dropout rate was 1.5%! HOW did they do it??? Dr. John Tan and Adelyn Poh are flying in from Singapore to share Singapore's journey of success. He will also relate how their organization, Children-At-Risk Empowerment Association (CARE Singapore), as one of many agencies, is helping to keep students in school.

    All grade levels

    Dr. John Tan & Adelyn Poh, Singapore

• 3:30pm - 4:40pm — Breakouts: Session III

  • Curricular Practices from Hamilton Alternative High School

    Hamilton Alternative High School created an innovative program combining academics, adventure education, and advisory assisted students who were failing and truant from their traditional schools. Brain-based instruction, multiple intelligences, social skills training and a sense of community through service together provided the support students "at promise" needed to thrive.

    Middle/Junior High & Senior High

    Meryl Domina, DeKalb IL

  • Get it? Got it! Good! — The 3Gs Comprehension Model

    Synonymous with understanding, comprehension is usually associated with reading, but in reality comprehension is connected with every subject and every activity. YALP's 3Gs is a systematic comprehension model applicable to any context in the classroom and beyond. This demonstration shows how the 3Gs can be easily integrated into every teacher's classroom routine.

    All Grade Levels

    Judy Yaron, Melbourne Australia

  • Forget the Rainforest — SAVE THE CLASSROOM!!!

    Educators lose 5-9 precious instructional hours a week on lower-level misbehaviors. You can be the best content instructor, but without the ability to control the classroom, the best lessons remain undelivered. Learn how to avoid the "debate bait;" to eliminate warnings and multiple requests; increase academics, decrease discipline challenges, gain parent support and empower all educators.

    Classroom management was rated as the most important variable to building and sustaining a high achieving classroom. "Time To Teach" provides techniques and strategies for success!

    All Grade Levels

    Ayala Linder Baum, Miami FL

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Dr. Stephen Sroka

• 8:15am - 9:00am — Continental Breakfast will be provided. We start later on Wednesday and Thursday with announcements at 9:00, first sessions beginning at 9:15am.

• 9:00am - 9:15am — Morning Greeting & Announcements

• 9:15am - 10:15am — KEYNOTE: Dr. Stephen Sroka will present Getting to the Heart of Education-Listening to the Whole Child

  Many students in schools are crying for help with their real life issues, such as sex, drugs and violence and yet many educators respond with an emphasis on academic proficiency skills. Many educators and researchers believe that listening to the whole child, not just the academic child, is the most effective way to reach and teach all students, especially reluctant learners who at risk for dropping out or who need alternative approaches to help them learn more and live better. With No Child Left Behind and its stress on academic achievement at all costs with little regard for the mental, social, physical, emotional or spiritual aspects of the whole child, many teachers teach tests and not students. Many students react and vote with their feet as nearly 1 out 3 students drop out of school because they are not motivated and are bored with the "drill and kill" approach of many educators. If kids are not learning the way we are teaching them, we must change the way we are teaching them. It is a time for a change.

  This is a high-energy, motivational, multimedia, prevention education presentation that is research-driven and reality-based. It integrates cutting-edge research (including social and emotional learning, social intelligence, stress management, communication strategies, motivational interviewing, brain based learning, media and cultural literacy, character education, connective factors, protective factors, resiliency, and youth and asset development programs) and humor and inspiring real-life stories to facilitate learning about the whole child and the students' mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical health needs and their relationship to academic and life success. The program is filled with real life strategies and "tips from the trenches" for everyone who works with youth.

• 10:15am - 10:30am — Break

• 10:30am - 11:45am — Workshop (Whole Assembly): Dr. Stephen Sroka will present Keeping Youth Safe and Healthy in a Toxic Society: Using Brain Based Learning to Reach and Teach the Whole Child — 25 Free Strategies to Help You Today.

  This workshop will offer the opportunity to "share and care" with a conversation to discuss the ideas addressed in the keynote. "Tips from the trenches" will include 25 free brain based learning strategies to help reach, teach and protect the whole child- socially, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This workshop will deal with the barriers that hamper safe and effective education, and offer suggestions, based on research and reality, to help you make your schools, homes and communities safe and healthy where students can learn more and live better.

• 11:45am - 1:15pm — Lunch provided by NAREN onsite with entertainment by David Dall, recording artist!

• 1:15pm - 2:25pm — Breakouts: Session IV

  • Social Emotional Learning: Neuroscience & At Risk Students

    The brain is plastic and educators and others can positively change it and reshape it using social emotional learning (SEL). SEL is proven to increase self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-motivation. Join us to discover ways to integrate social emotional learning into all classroom activities to enrich learning and invite relationships that promise success.

    All Grade Levels

    Patty O'Grady, Tampa FL

  • Developing a Successful At-Risk Program

    A successful at-risk learning environment is an environment where learning takes place for everyone. This session will present strategies to assist you in offering students opportunities to explore the world beyond school, investigate pre and post high school opportunities, careers, and community involvement that will foster developmental habits and values that enhance the quality of their lives.

    The curriculum component of the session includes opportunities for students to develop in-depth skills in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, science, the fine and applied arts and other areas of interest. Innovation and creativity are at the core of the learning. Using the thematic approach you will be given the strategies to offer students the opportunity to learn for the sake of application which enables them to apply meaning.

    All Grade Levels

    Alyce Sherman & Glenna Lurten, Blue Springs MO

  • Stay in School: Reclaiming and Reconnecting

    Using a self-directed study approach, the stay-in-school program offers at-risk students the opportunity to re-enter the high school environment. By incorporating effective schools research, the bar for both attendance and academic rigor is raised. Students determine their own timeline for module completion. This session offers participants a "no-fail" option.

    Middle/Junior High & Senior High

    Sharlene McGowan, Regina Saskatchewan

• 2:25pm - 2:40pm — Break

• 2:40pm - 3:50pm — Breakouts: Session V

  • Child Abuse and the Brain: How Trauma in Childhood Shows-Up in the Classroom

    Key discoveries in neuroscience have revealed a more comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of the impact of child abuse on the developing brain. With incredible specificity, scientists have mapped how the experience of abuse in childhood changes the growing brain and predisposes it to cognitive, behavioral and psychiatric disorders. In particular, childhood trauma can greatly influence a child's learning and behavior in the classroom resulting in a student who appears unmotivated, disinterested, hostile or aggressive. Understanding the specific consequences of abuse on the growing brain can significantly inform teacher interventions and instructional techniques.

    Elementary/Middle/Junior High & Senior High

    Frank J. Kros, MSW, JD — President, The Upside Down Organization (Baltimore, MD)

  • Acting Out, or Just Acting Up? Understanding and Managing Youth Misbehavior

    WEducators and youth workers are often called upon to manage immature problem behaviors, issues which distract or disrupt others in a classroom or office setting. Handling these youth can be extremely challenging, especially when the adult isn't clear about the source of the problem. This workshop explores two psychological sources of problem behaviors, one deliberate and the other emotional, then offers strategies for both preventing and managing each.

    All Grade Levels

    Steve Parese, Danbury NC

  • Using Pure/Complete Phonics (P/C-Phs) to Obviate Total Illiteracy in the United States

    The Pure/Complete - Phonics - Literacy remediation program is guaranteed to be effective with all illiterate children and adults, including at-risk students. This program teaches the use of 100 phonemes without any reference to traditional reading and spelling rules.

    Teaching P/C-Phs is both inexpensive and effective in teaching children and adults to read and spell words.

    All Grade Levels

    Robert T. Nash, Ed.D., Pueblo West CO

• 4:00pm - 6:00pm — Those interested in being part of ICARE International Council of At-Risk Education meet in the main room.

  This the second meeting of this committee. The first ICARE International Conference will be in Singapore on November 15-17, 2010, and is being coordinated by Adelyn Poh. The second ICARE conference will be in the Panama Canal Zone, and is being coordinated by Dr. Alyce Sherman. A fall date in November, 2011, is anticipated. ICARE is the ninth and final goal of NAREN to be accomplished. We are so proud of all that have helped make this happen. A huge debt of thanks goes out to Adelyn Poh for just grabbing hold of this first conference and making great leaps of progress for us all!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

• 8:15am - 9:00am — Continental Breakfast will be provided. We start later on Wednesday and Thursday with announcements at 9:00, first sessions beginning at 9:15am.

• 9:15am - 10:25am — Breakouts: Session VI

  • Culturally Responsive Discipline

    Dr. Bireda, author of Cultures in Conflict: Eliminating Racial Profiling In School Discipline, will discuss how "school related" factors, i.e. the lack of cultural knowledge, understanding and sensitivity, as well as faulty assumptions and negative expectations are catalysts for discipline events and the escalation of discipline incidents.

    All Grade Levels

    Martha Bireda, Punta Gorda FL

  • Understanding Compassion Fatigue & Burnout: Exploring Creative Solutions

    This workshop will explore the following questions:

    • What are Compassion Fatigue & Burnout?
    • Why do they occur?
    • What can be done about them?
    • How can you take stock regularly?
    • What are some self-care strategies?

    All Grade Levels

    Peter Ferguson, London Ontario

• 10:25am - 10:35am — Break

• 10:35am - 11:45am — Breakouts: Session VII

  • TLC: Much More than just Tender Loving Care!

    TLC provides a way for teachers to: teach expectations, look for performance (monitor), and consequent behavior. Learn how to teach all of your students the skills they need to be successful learners... before instruction starts... then let the learning begin.

    1) Caring is key. 2) Conflict is an essential part of growing up. 3) Good behavior must be systematically taught. 4) Behavior can be changed. 5) Good discipline is only a matter of good timing — punishment alone will not change behavior.

    All Grade Levels

    Richard A Guthridge, Lecanto FL

  • Critical Thinking and Student Choice: Improving One... Impacting Another!

    Analytic process is modeled using SCAN a web-based tool. Poor decision making is a common descriptor of at-risk children; SCAN teaches a rational process, using robust theory, to integrate critical thinking with content-specific learning scenarios. Application of SCAN provides students with a model for evaluating their life situations and potential courses of action - within the context of responsible decision making.

    All Grade Levels

    Carol W. Rubel, Clarks Summit, PA

• 11:45am - 12:00pm — Conference Closing

Post-Conference Seminar

Frank Kros

Friday, February 19, 2010

• 9:00am - 4:00pm (lunch on your own) — Giving a Fish a Bath: The Untold Story of the Adolescent Mind, with Frank Kros, President of the Upside Down Organization.

  I. Description of Course

  Recent discoveries in neuroscience offer exciting insights into how the brains of our teens really work and the special "brain-based" challenges facing adolescents as they mature. This workshop reveals why teens are especially vulnerable to drug use, high-risk peer influences and depression as well as the proactive measures adults can take to minimize a teen's exposure to these dangers. This seminar also addresses the often mystifying role of hormones on adolescent development and focuses on the key roles that stress and sleep have on teen learning processes. In addition, the workshop offers strategies compatible with the many strengths and opportunities available during this miraculous developmental period, including helping teens to develop positive character traits. If you've ever thought that the adolescent mind could not be understood, this workshop will arm you with the latest insights and information on knowing and empowering the teenage brain.

  II. Course Objectives

  • To introduce participants to the rapidly emerging research on how the adolescent brain is built and how it works. Participants will identify how the adolescent brain is significantly different than the adult brain and the child brain.
  • To acquaint participants with the practical application of this research to behavioral and emotional interventions provided to teens by caretakers and educators, with specific focus on helping adolescents avoid high risk activities such as drug use, alcohol abuse and sexual activity. Participants will learn and practice 6 techniques for helping teens avoid high risk behavior.
  • To illustrate for participants the key brain areas involved in forming character traits and how education, experiences and reflection can be integrated to create effective character development programs.
  • To expose participants to the growing body of resources on brain-compatible counseling, guidance, mentoring and parenting techniques including books, newsletters, websites, conferences and workshops. Participants will be able to locate brain-based resources in their community and via the web.
  • To share with caretakers and educators tools to help their teens overcome adversity, depression, anxiety and stress and to expose participants to the scientific research on happiness and how they can nurture the childhood roots of adult happiness in their foster homes, group homes and schools. Participants will be able to articulate the five most important parenting/relationship characteristics that are predictive of happiness and identify specific practices for nurturing these characteristics.

  III. Teaching Methods

  "Giving a Fish a Bath" is an interactive, hands-on workshop that will engage participants in a variety of activities designed to enhance the learning experience. Some of these activities include: 1) building an anatomically-correct brain; 2) viewing and diagnosing brain scans; 3) changing brain chemistry through movement; and 4) creating an individualized brain improvement plan. This multimedia presentation will incorporate the modalities of music, video, small and large manipulatives, PowerPoint, drama, and movement to fully involve participants in learning.

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