Make it the BEST Summer!
JUNE 22-25, 2020
In appreciation of your hard work, ESD 112 is offering courses to help you grow and reflect for next year!

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BEST Week is held annually at the end of the school year featuring a variety of Professional Developments sponsored by the BEST Program.
Due to COVID-19 we have moved our class dates to no longer conflict with the extension of the school year. Additionally all professional developments will be conducted entirely on Zoom. Access to the Zoom link will be posted on the attendee page, viewable after registration is complete. For more information about Zoom, visit https://zoom.us/
This year we are excited to offer a total of 18 unique professional developments during the week. As a BEST participant, you are able to access courses for free by using The BEST Coupon code. There is a limit to the number of coupons available for each course, so act fast! More codes maybe issued as the event approaches, please fill out The Coupon Code Waitlist should you like to be added to a course if more coupons become available.
All professional developments are open to the public at cost.
Location
All professional developments will be conducted entirely on Zoom. Access to the Zoom link will be posted on the attendee page, viewable after registration is complete. For more information about Zoom, visit https://zoom.us/
BEST Week Classes
Click on a class to learn more and enroll!
Monday June 22nd
9:00am-12:00pm
How can I support multilingual students with acquisition and application of STEM language and vocabulary? How can I support English Language Learners in engaging in classroom discourse in STEM subjects? This session will provide teachers with an overview of the research base and an opportunity to practice with key instructional strategies to support students in expressing STEM understandings by leveraging the NGSS and CCSS ELA standards. Participants will experience a language focused STEM activity and apply strategies for language acquisition. There will be a focus on science based vocabulary, classroom discourse and written responses to STEM learning.
8:00am-12:00pm
This training will model effective teaching practices as participants interact in-depth with current educational research regarding learning targets, establishing inquiry in the classroom, motivation, and effective lesson design techniques that align and support Criterion 1: Centering Instruction on HIGH Expectations for Student Achievement.
Relationship Builders & Classroom Culture
9:00am-12:00pm
This course is currently being created by the instructor, Krista Grinder-Dettloff. Course Description to come.
Registration coming soon!
9:00am-12:00pm
Replace “thumbs up” and “red cards” with highly motivating, interactive tech tools that will guide your instruction, as well as increase student engagement. Learn to use online survey tools, student work demonstration applications and screen sharing to gain insight into what students really understand. Participants will explore web-based and mobile device resources.
Classroom Systems
1:00pm-4:00pm
This course is currently being created by the instructor, Krista Grinder-Dettloff. Course Description to come.
Registration coming soon!
1:00pm-4:00pm
No matter what or where you teach, your students are diverse. Technology can help you meet different needs in all areas, whether you serve students with behavioral needs, physical or sensory disabilities, learning disabilities or autism spectrum disorders–and TPEP emphasizes use of differentiation strategies. Come and learn strategies for easily differentiating your instruction using free or low-cost online tools. Save time and effort while better serving your students!
1:00pm-4:00pm
This session will explore the why and how of mathematical play. Learn to use this simple, but powerful strategy in your classroom and beyond to transform relationships with math and strengthen math identities. Ideas from this session are appropriate for learners of any age.
Tuesday June 23rd
Learning Styles
9:00am-12:00pm
This course is currently being created by the instructor, Krista Grinder-Dettloff. Course Description to come.
Registration coming soon!
8:00am-12:00pm
This interactive workshop models effective teaching practices for teachers to take back to their classrooms for immediate implementation. Through intentional choice of diverse strategies, teachers will increase student engagement in learning, provide necessary differentiation for all learners in the classroom, and create viable evidence of learning aligned with their instructional framework. These strategies encourage students’ independence, hold them accountable for their own work, and allow them opportunities to take ownership of not only their own learning, but also the learning of others.
Supervising and Collaborating with Para Pros
1:00pm-4:00pm
This course is currently being created by the instructor, Mike Esping. Course Description to come.
Registration coming soon!
Deescalation and Trauma
1:00pm-4:00pm
This course is currently being created by the instructor, Krista Grinder-Dettloff. Course Description to come.
Registration coming soon!
9:00am-4:00pm
The demands of math instruction are greater than they have been before. This workshop will help participants re-calibrate their math instruction using a growth mindset approach combined with various differentiation strategies helps address the needs of a range of learners. Often absent in our instructional practice is the sense of play and joy which is foundational to the mathematics discipline. This workshop seeks to discover the role fun has in helping students make sense of mathematics and meet the standards.
Specifics include establishing a student-centered classroom culture, student engagement, incorporating the Math Practice standards, and lesson structure. This is an overview of the components that support the transition from a traditional classroom to a Common Core classroom.
Wednesday June 24th
8:00am-12:00pm
While there is no quick and easy formula to completely address the complex issues of learner variance in the classroom, an in-depth analysis of proactive differentiation strategies will support educators who strive to provide varied approaches in content, process, and product while anticipating and responding to student differences in readiness, interest, and learning needs.
This workshop models interactive teaching strategies as participants actively engage with Carol Ann Tomlinson’s newest edition of How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms that clarifies differentiation, provides rationale for proactive choices, and offers concrete examples for educators that will expand their professional skill set. Through collaborative, engaged targeted learning strategies, participants will cultivate relationships with colleagues.
Through alignment of Principles of Effective Teaching to the State Frameworks, participants will increase their ability to demonstrate professional growth in New Teacher Evaluation and increase all their students’ abilities to produce viable evidence of learning.
9:00am-12:00pm
In this session, participants will investigate how oral language development influences student learning for their English Language Learners. This will include learning about language acquisition stages, how figurative language impacts learning and how to support learners with English language development.
1:00pm-4:00pm
Leading “PD” for teachers demands the same kind of mindful design that we expect of high quality classroom instruction. Too often, however, “meetings” and “trainings” and “workshops” would not cut it if examined through the TPEP lens. If you are an instructional coach, teacher leader, administrator, or in any other role that results in you standing in front of a captive audience of teachers, understanding quality learning designs is critical to the success and transference of whatever you intend to communicate. This experience will acquaint you with core principles of adult learning design and offer you the opportunity to plan for potentially applying your learning to the experiences you might lead in the coming school year.
1:00pm-4:00pm
We should expect students to make sense of word problems in the same ways we expect them to comprehend other types of text. This session will explore strategies for delaying problem solving and encouraging sense-making as students engage with word problems in mathematics.
Wednesday June 25th
9:00am-4:00pm
The Math Practice standards are an important complement to the Common Core content standards and target how to think about mathematics. The Math Practices serve as a vehicle to the math content and provide the strategies for doing mathematics. This workshop will focus on making sense of these practices as well as on the practical use of them in supporting other components of the math classroom. Mathematical discussions are an important aspect of the Math Practices and strategies for facilitating math conversations using rich tasks will be emphasized throughout the session.
9:00am-12:00pm
Participants will actively engage with current educational research that is focused on tapping into student wonder and their ability to work together. Through implementation of effective learning targets, authentic student-driven discussions, and the power of self-directed learning, classrooms can increase the empowerment of self-regulated, highly motivated and intentional learners. This interactive workshop models effective teaching practices for teachers to take back to their classrooms for immediate implementation. While it is aligned with Criterion 1 and Criterion 2, it is not a repeat of previous trainings.
Rescheduling
Due to the extension of the school year because of COVID-19 we have changed the dates of BEST Week. The below classes are in the process of being rescheduled. You may continue to register and your registration will move to the new date.
Surviving Your First Years: Taking care of yourself
1:00pm-4:00pm
This course is currently being created by the instructor, Krista Grinder-Dettloff. Course Description to come.
Registration coming soon!
1:00pm-4:00pm
Learn how to create your own bank of Smarter Balanced interim assessment questions to keep for classroom use and improve student achievement. This will support classroom-based assessments and build students’ familiarity with the assessment.
1:00pm-4:00pm
Course will be an introduction the the 9 Essential Skills for the Love and Logic® Classroom described below. Full course will be 9 weeks with 2 hours per week of class time. Dates will be announced in Fall 2020.
This course follows the educator training program titled 9 Essential Skills for the Love and Logic Classroom developed by Jim Fay and Charles Fay, Ph.D.
Low Stress Strategies for Highly Successful Educators
Get solutions that work right now to:
- Create low stress classrooms
- Help end student arguing and back talk
- Guide kids to own and solve their problems
- Build positive relationships with challenging students
- Raise test scores
- Prevent problems and save teaching time
In A Cat in the Doghouse he uses the analogy of our beloved household pets — cats and dogs — so that we can easily understand what motivates all of our students. The techniques and tools Michael shares will transform your classroom into a more humane society.
Years ago as a classroom teacher, Michael discovered our “dog” students love the routine of a traditional classroom, while our “cat” students who love tension and risk tend to be disruptive when they are bored.
Management by power just doesn’t work with our hard-to-reach (cat) students — with A Cat in the Doghouse you will learn what does work to create a happier, safer classroom.
