This session will discuss how we help educate Regional Alternative Education Services (RAES) students on various career pathways and how we transition them into the workforce or college.
Often a stimulus is followed immediately by a response. If we can learn to create a pause, we will have better control over our emotions and behaviors. This workshop will explore how to begin your own personal mindfulness practice and how to use mindfulness in your classroom to enhance SEL strategies.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
People learn and retain information better when not just sitting and listening to a presenter. You will leave this session with activities you can use for completing your trainings. Come prepared to move and interact.
All district staff need to be trained and made aware of McKinney-Vento students. We have to be creative in our outreach to these persons. We need to do this for better serving the needs of our students.
Thursday March 3, 2022 9:00am - 10:00am CST
Fell B
This session will cover the basics of McKinney-Vento by answering questions, working through scenarios and helping to guide district liaisons who are newly appointed. Some of the topics will include: 1) the 3 basic questions every liaison should ask themselves, 2) how to determine if a student qualifies as homeless, and 3) finding and reaching out to local agencies.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
In this session we will briefly explore the history of funding of the Regional Safe Schools Program (RSSP) in Illinois as well as the inadequacy of current funding. We will share rationale for increasing the RSSP grant and provide attendees with materials to use when advocating for this increase with legislators. Finally, we will explore the next steps in refining the Evidence Based Funding Formula to better define adequacy targets for these programs.
Illinois State Board of Education - Truants' Alternative and Optional Education Program (TAOEP) grant information and discussion for interested applicants in FY2023.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Social Worker
Social Emotional Learning techniques such as Restorative Practices and Trauma-Sensitive approaches have the capacity to foster stronger, more equitable school communities by supporting authentic communication and providing specific tools for conflict resolution and compassionate spaces. These tools empower students to establish their own voices of advocacy and build resiliency around their education and relationships, and adult social emotional practices create positive learning spaces for practitioners. The presenter will speak to how these approaches were successfully implemented in small-urban and suburban schools prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will provide stories and reflections on building-wide implementation of Social Emotional learning practices in response to return-to-learn.
This session explores the basis for many of the challenging behaviors that we see, particularly when it comes to those who have experienced past trauma. The primary goal of this training is to give providers strategies to help co-regulate the student’s emotions and get them back to a place where they can manage themselves as well as help build their self-regulation skills.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
This session is designed to educate educators/social service workers on the LGBTQ Community so we can be more understanding when working with LBGTQ youth in our schools/professional settings.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
This session dives into how to create and promote equity in your program or workspace through the lens of culturally responsive practices. We will explore our opportunities to implement culturally responsive practices, and roadblocks standing in the way of reaching all students with equity. Our activities will include self-reflection, resource sharing and exploration, and actionable ways to implement culturally reflective practices.
Audience: Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
Lindsay Douglas, TAOEP Statewide Edgenuity Coordinator, two seasoned teachers, and a first-year co-worker, share how to maneuver through the Edgenuity platform to meet the needs of all of their students. From time-saving tips to coursework modification, this presentation is sure to enhance your knowledge of what Edgenuity has to offer.
SEL is a foundational need that has been shown to improve academic outcomes and behaviors. Teachers and advocates play an integral role in developing at-risk youth and it’s imperative that we support them in building appropriate SEL competencies to ensure their positive growth. In this session, you’ll hear from Bellwood School District 88 and West40 ISC to learn how they are supporting the professional growth and development of Illinois leaders, teachers and advocates through a new competency-based program leveraging micro-credentials. You’ll learn about the unique value of micro-credentials, how they are being used to help educators and advocates develop foundational SEL competencies, and why they're being used to create a model of change across the state of Illinois.
Many at-risk students are victims of trauma. Trauma informed methods teach us to ask, "What happened to you?" instead of asking, "What's wrong with you?" Practitioners who participate in this session will learn: 1. Underlying causes of student behavior 2. How to open lines of communication with students who put up a wall 3. The power of disclosure when counseling at-risk youth 4. Two methods to change the narrative of at-risk students' stories to help them be successful in school and in life.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
Educational Consultant / Former Principal, DPCP Corporation
Dr. Don Parker is a former principal and is now a highly sought-after speaker and professional development provider. He was the principal of Posen Intermediate School in Posen-Robbins School District 143.5 in Posen, Illinois. Previously, he was the principal of Lincoln Avenue School... Read More →
The Kishwaukee Education Consortium (KEC) Phoenix Academy is an alternative education program in Malta, Illinois that serves at-risk youth from nine surrounding school districts throughout DeKalb, Lee, and Ogle counties, all which have a very culturally diverse population. Walking into our building, a visitor would not know that it was an alternative education program because of the climate fostered in our program. The Phoenix Academy mirrors a small high school environment that serves between 150-175 students each year while providing additional supports that are found in a typical mainstream school day. The Phoenix Academy at KEC uses several unique interventions to help in their 93% average student success rate.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Social Worker
This session is for participants that know the basics of McKinney-Vento. Here we will deal with more complex issues that come up serving McKinney-Vento students. We will provide ways for your district to be spending their ARP II money. Please bring your questions and scenarios and we will spend time working thru them.
Sometimes you have to hear the things you don’t want to hear in order to move forward, to be better and to get results. Hamish will take you on a hard-hitting journey that will challenge to rethink your practices, to disrupt the norm and change the game. Find out if you have or are willing to go one more round, if your willing to advocate for every single person and child. Find out if your willing to take your school or organization to the next level.
Students aged 17-20 sometimes face a crossroads in an alternative setting. For some, getting their diploma in the alternative setting is attainable, however, for others it is not. Those students are encouraged to enroll in a HiSET Prep course that is taught where there is a road map laid out for them to help make their journey as organized as possible.
Women in leadership roles is essential to the future of our students, schools, and communities. Those filling those roles now need to reach out and help others reach those same goals and more. Sit in and listen to a panel of established women leaders in various roles in education as we discuss the how we got here to where are we going. Most importantly, the panel will discuss the why their leadership is important to them and others.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
In this session you will learn about the truancy process, what issues cause a student to become truant, the steps that are taken to reduce attendance issues, and how we work with McKinney Vento and a school social worker to help reduce truancy barriers within the Regional Office of Education #21. Audience: Truancy Caseworker
I have just published my book "Calming Young Minds" with chapters dedicated to, Mental Health, De-Escalation, Trauma, and Restorative Practices in youth.I am currently the Director of alternative education for ROE33.I have been working in alternative education and behavioral health... Read More →
This October, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) declared a National State of Emergency in child and adolescent mental health. In reality, mental health needs were at pandemic levels even before the outbreak of Covid-19. Two years into the pandemic, school leaders are expanding their systems of support to manage increased mental health needs of students, staff and families. In this session, learn how one district with already robust school- based services expanded their systems of support using an innovative community partnership that has expanded on their MTSS structures and staff capacity to meet the growing mental health needs of their community.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
Even though chances are small that you would ever be a victim of an incident while on a home visit, it is always better to prepare and have a plan. This session will help you put strategies in pace to make sure that you get to go home safe to your own family every night.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
Christopher Tennyson is a former Juvenile Detective and School Resource Officer. Since switching over from Law Enforcement to the education field, Christopher has taught High School, served as a High School Assistant Principal, High School Principal, Assistant Regional Superintendent... Read More →
Thursday March 3, 2022 2:45pm - 3:45pm CST
Redbird A
Emotional poverty has become a deterrent to academic success. Research shows over half the nation's children have experienced trauma, which has a profound impact on behaviors, relationships, mental health, and/or learning. Educators should be resourced with a better understanding of the social-emotional needs of children of trauma to reach them, teach them, and avoid using ineffective strategies and consequences. As we navigate the repercussions of recent universal traumas, this session will draw upon a practitioner-developed model and strategies contained in Dr. Joe's books to keep wounded children engaged in their educational settings to ensure physical and emotional safety as well as create a foundation for a HOPE-centered community.
(This a follow-up to the keynote “Meeting the Social-Emotional Needs of Wounded Students”, building on the foundational information with more in-depth strategies). This session provides a wealth of strategies for teachers and principals who work with wounded students―those students who are beyond the point of "at-risk" and have experienced trauma in their lives. Based on evidence in his most recent book, key strategies will be shared for creating hope-centered school cultures to transform the lives of students. Recognizing the power of relationships and empathy in creating a sense of community and safety for all students, this session seeks to assist in redesigning school environments and empower educators to position wounded students for HOPE.
With the onset of the Covid pandemic there is a huge need for building students' confidence and competence with tutoring strategies (especially homeless students that may already have been struggling) that spark meaningful, accelerated learning. Done well, tutoring can repair a student's damaged relationship to learning, address unrealized potential, and alter the course of a young person's life. Six essential components of an effective tutoring intervention will be discussed: Establishing relationship; addressing student confidence; setting goals; helping a student learn how to learn; teaching and learning content; and establishing a habit of deliberate practice.
I put this training together from the lens of a survivor of Educator Sexual Abuse to help people recognize that a child is being groomed into abuse in an institutional environment by someone in a position of authority and what they can do to help.
Homelessness is a devastating circumstance for any child or youth; but for youth on their own, the stresses of homelessness are multiplied. The number of challenges faced by youth experiencing homelessness on their own puts these students at risk of dropping out or school failure. A video interview will be shown of a young adult that experienced homelessness in high school and what lessons we can learn from it. Best practices for supporting these most vulnerable students will be shared and discussed.
Audience: Homeless Program, Truancy Caseworker, Social Worker
Every student you work with has a brain that developed differently. Understanding brain development gives clues to understanding why students do the things they do. This workshop will explore how to understand the behaviors you are seeing in your classroom through the neurosequential model of brain development.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
I have just published my book "Calming Young Minds" with chapters dedicated to, Mental Health, De-Escalation, Trauma, and Restorative Practices in youth.I am currently the Director of alternative education for ROE33.I have been working in alternative education and behavioral health... Read More →
In youth serving spaces, adult social and emotional learning (SEL) is critical to the well-being and success of those youth. In this interactive session, participants will: understand why adult SEL is so important to effectively nurturing and teaching young people; learn what it means to practice SEL through an equity lens; identify personal areas of strength and opportunities for growth; and learn strategies to enhance their SEL skills.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
Prioritizing the social-emotional needs of students is essential to academic and life success. To do so, we must prioritize the social-emotional needs of the professionals who are serving them. We cannot give what we don't have! This empowering, interactive session will speak to enhancing our overall wellness both personally and professionally as educators/child advocacy professionals. Through a comprehensive, practitioner-based approach found in the presenter's book, we will examine how secondary trauma and/or personal trauma can lead to compassion fatigue and why it can impede effective self-care. Remembering our power of influence, participants will be resourced with strategies for mental, physical, emotional, and professional health with the goal of positioning ourselves for HOPE and overall wellness.
For some, engaging in conversations about race, equity, diversity, inclusion, or social justice is uncomfortable and can be intimidating; to act on those conversations takes courage--courage to be what we are meant to be and do as educators: to be champions of the future of every child and to serve the unique needs of each of them. In this session, leaders from West40 Intermediate Service Center #2 will share what we have learned on our journey moving from conversation to action as we attempt to positively influence every student we directly serve and every student across Illinois, no matter their background. During this session, participants will engage in dialogue around action steps focused on equity in education and will be asked to share areas to which they have attended as well as areas that need attention with the intent that they will receive material and/or moral support from their AESA peers.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Truancy Caseworker, Homeless Program, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
A positive educator-student relationship is the number one finding for combating the effects of trauma and dysregulated response systems. However, in working with challenging students, we know that they are often the most resistant to engaging in positive, trusting relationships with adults. Key strategies will be presented to support fostering relationships with even the most resistant students, as well as embedding social-emotional and academic practices to support academic learning and emotional regulation in the classroom.
Audience: Program Administrator, Teacher, Social Worker, Paraprofessional
Lynn and Therese both work at Chana Education Center. CEC houses two programs: a K-age 22 therapeutic public day program for students with significant special education needs, as well as a Regional Safe Schools Programs for 6th-12th students who have been frequently suspended, expelled... Read More →
Explore the possibilities that have come from field experience through a HUD-funded program. The removal of barriers in education has a new definition. How do you effectively and meaningful support students and their families? Come find out!
I am over the Truancy and Homeless Education Programs for ROE17Truancy Review Boards in all 4 counties and parent groups in McLean and DeWitt Counties. We have 4 outreach specialists that work in the field.
Friday March 4, 2022 10:45am - 11:45am CST
Redbird A
