This seminar, followed by a three month virtual certificate program, is designed for educational leaders in private and parochial K12 schools. Participants will develop individualized action plans for their school on topics including special education law, educational evaluations, personal leadership, program development, student motivation, speech and language, ADHD, and student study teams. An additional three month virtual support component is provided for no additional fee.

Distinguished Lecturer

Ms. Julie Lane, ABD, is a doctoral candidate in educational leadership, administration, and policy at Pepperdine University, yet she is first and foremost a trained special educator who advocates for children with special needs. Ms. Lane is the Principal/Consultant with Alternative Designs for Special Education, LLC and she currently serves as a full-time faculty member for Fresno Pacific University. In both of these roles, Ms. Lane serves to educate public and private school communities in understanding families of children with special needs and how to educate classroom peers as to the unique differences we have all been given. She has worked in public schools as a special education teacher and a Head Start specialist, as well as serving as Director of Special Education for a public charter school. In Lutheran education, Ms. Lane has developed special needs programs at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Orange, CA and Lutheran High School of Orange County in Orange, CA. Most recently, she re-organized a private, non-profit special needs school while serving as Director of Education. She has consulted with and assisted in private and parochial school special education program development around the world.

Details

• Tuition is $495 (cost includes a 3-month virtual forum).
• Malibu Campus: July 25-29
• For more information, call 661-374-4530 or visit Alternative Designs for Special Education.

This widely-praised and rewarding seminar gives mathematics teachers tools that will help them make both immediate and long-term impact in their classrooms and in their professional lives. The seminar is part of research in next-generation professional development that both the US National Science Foundation and the US Department of Education support at Pepperdine University. Please note that teachers should be prepared to participate in data collection related to the project (such as interviews, surveys about professional development). We provide and take advantage of software that allow teachers to create digital video and animated explanations of mathematics concepts that link flexibly to student needs and to instructor strengths. Additionally, the videos are organized according to California state standards and topical area and to the recently adopted Common Core Standards in Mathematics (CCSM). Teachers, students, and parents have access to the videos at teacherscreate.org.

We will share examples of work that other mathematics teachers have created with this approach, and demonstrate the use of a combination of tools (primarily tablet computers, slates, and tablet input pads, along with imaging and screen video software) along with a discussion of an underlying theory of personalized learning communities in mathematics. For those continuing with the full week, participants will create and share a digital library of curriculum materials customized for their 2011-2012 classrooms. Participants will leave having completed a strategic curriculum planning process and will contribute to a library of digital materials of their own creation that they can use in their classes.

Participating teachers will have the opportunity to continue activities during the academic year, and will be invited to draw students into the process of creating media.  Pending funding, both teachers and students will be eligible for stipends during the academic portion of the project.

Comments by prior mathematics teacher participants in this seminar:

• I am having a blast. I am learning so much.
• POWERFUL!
• In most workshops you go to, you sit, and you just you come in one way and take in what you can. This one is a lot more give than take and I'm amazed at how much I'm learning in the process.
• I was like "Do I have to go to this training? Professional development (workshops) are never effective, they're just usually fluff, and a waste of time." But (now) I don't want to go home. I'm really enjoying this. I'm learning so much.
• This is perfect, so perfect for my classroom. I love everything, the whole setup.
• The program is a catalyst for effective, real teaching
• This program puts a band aid on math sores and bruises students experience in their math classes. They tend to get stuck on a problem, concept, or idea and their paralyzed from moving forward. Having the opportunity to jump on a computer and watch a video that answers all their questions is the key in preventing students from giving up.
• Watching the videos of other participants also focused my attention on other effective teachers allowing me to use their ideas to benefit my own presentations. The library creation is the best part of the institute. By watching many other videos my ideas started flowing. I began thinking about different teaching techniques and video production ideas.
• I'm more motivated to do my best work because the document (video) becomes part of a group of work. I know my creation will be in a shared library for others to view and I have a desire for it to be useful to other users, as well as myself, if applicable. In addition, after viewing other teachers' creations, I will often think of new and fresh ideas/variations of my own work and use other techniques that I like to improve my own work.

Distinguished Lecturer

Eric Hamilton, Ph.D., associate dean of education at GSEP and professor of education with joint appointment in mathematics, is an authority on the reform of mathematics education. He most recently served as director of the United States Air Force Academy Center for Research on Learning and Teaching and has held two directorship positions at the National Science Foundation.

External Links

• Media are stored at http://teacherscreate.org.  This site includes a link to the repository of videos teachers have already created.
• Wendy Chaves and Gina Chaves, mathematics teachers at College Ready Academic High School #5 in the Los Angeles Charter Alliance, join Eric Hamilton in giving a workshop at the 2011 International Conference on Computer Supported Collaboration in Hong Kong. They will report on their experiences in this project. http://teacherscreate.org/documents/Hamilton-HardingCSCLinPracticeShowcaseWorkshopProposal.pdf
• The first publication on this project is a chapter in a volume published in early 2011 by Purdue University Press.  Here is a preprint version of that chapter. http://teacherscreate.org/documents/HamiltonHardingWIPTE-NSDL.pdf

Details

• Tentative locations and dates:
  • West Los Angeles Graduate Campus: July 18-22
  • Malibu Campus: July 25-29
  • Cabrillo High School, Long Beach: August 1-5
  • Encino Graduate Campus: August 8-12
• Tuition is paid for participating teachers through research grant resources.
• Participants are also entitled to three Continuing Education Units, pending successful completion of the program. This is elective and requires an administrative payment of $200.
• For more information, call 310-568-2370 or e-mail summerinstitutes@pepperdine.edu.